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Newport, Oregon: Undersea Gardens (Closed)

RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report

Directions:
Hwy 20 into Newport, take fifth left onto Benton St., then fourth left onto Hatfield Drive, then right onto Bay Blvd. On the left, floating in the water.
Hours:
Closed forever Sep. 8, 2019.
Status:
Closed

Undersea Gardens.

Undersea Gardens

A submerged room let you peer out at the murky sea life of Oregon. A scuba diver swam with the fish several times a day as a recorded narrator told you what you really couldn't see. Opened in 1966, closed in 2019.

Roadsideamerica.com Report... [05/12/2017]

Visitor Tips and News About Undersea Gardens

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Undersea Gardens.

Undersea Gardens

I loved my visit to Undersea Gardens. It is an aquarium in a ship, with a gift shop on top and the display down the stairs. There is one big tank that goes around the space. It is rather dimly lit and the animals get to swim around in an environment with various shipwreck items like statues of lions, masks, and headless sculptures. There is a show with a diver in the tank several times per day. The diver picks up and shows the audience some of the animals, rings a dinner bell so the fish come and get food, and the narrative is thankfully devoid of the ominous voice of impending extinction.

This place is small and funky, but with a decent variety of animals. The cost is about half of the big aquarium nearby. Unfortunately, it is due to close and be replaced by an ice plant in September, so better go now.

[Linda Wiener, 04/20/2016]

The town of Newport hopes to preserve Undersea Gardens by towing it to a new spot on the bay in Fall 2016.

Undersea Gardens

There is a (free) dock right next door where sea lions like to lounge. You can get a good look at how murky the water is/isn't before deciding on attempting the Gardens.

Generally, if you want to see underwater life you can visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium (just across the big bridge to the south) for roughly the same price.

[Arne, 07/15/2010]

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