Monterey Bay Aquarium prepares for return of all guests in mid-May
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) The sights and sounds of the Monterey Bay Aquarium will soon be open to all guests as staff are slowly able to re-open. After 14 months, the Monterey Bay Aquarium opened its doors this past weekend to members. Starting May 5th, all guests can make a reservation to visit beginning May 15th.
The staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are excited to once again welcome visitors back. Like most post pandemic restrictions the way you see each exibit will be a bit different.
David Rosenberg, Vice President of Guest Services at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, "We’ve created one way visitor paths, which allows you to go through all of our exhibits, same direction, and make sure you see the entire aquarium.
Allowing for plenty of room to space out. There's also a new time ticketing system. Guests are required to reserve a specific time and day online before arriving. And if you enjoyed the cafe, ordering can be done on your cell phone.
Rosenberg continues, " They can order food and beverages ahead of time, make a reservation for their food. And
then they pick it up when the food is ready. So we have really used technology to enhance the experience."
Of course the Monterey Bay Aquarium has plenty of hand-sanitizer on sight and visitors are asked to wear masks. Guests say, they're ready!
Cyndi Bonetti, Member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, "It's such a lovely facility and it's so good for the area. I actually miss all the tourists and all the people that come down here to see everything that the aquarium does for everybody."
It's not just the guests who are thrilled, Rosenberg says the staff, volunteers, and even the animals are ready to return to their normal.
"Our animals are definitely excited to have guests back. We see that especially with our otters who just enjoy playing with our visitors and I think they are very excited to have visitors back."
To slowly adjust to having visitors, the the aquarium will only be open five days a week throughout May. They will return to seven days a week, come June.
