Location

7 with deals

Things to do in Santa Monica with kids

Museums, tours & cruises and family fun — 20 places to go with kids in Santa Monica, California. 1 free to enter · most admission $12 to $45. 7 have a verified saving right now.
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Indoor things to do in Santa Monica →

Museums in Santa Monica6

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Tours & cruises in Santa Monica4

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Family fun in Santa Monica4

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Adventure in Santa Monica2

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Zoos & aquariums in Santa Monica1

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Escape rooms in Santa Monica1

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Ice & roller skating in Santa Monica1

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Theme parks in Santa Monica1

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What’s on in Santa Monica

Within 25 miles of Santa Monica. Dates and wording are each venue’s own.

Free in Santa Monica

One attraction in Santa Monica gets you in for nothing, in the venue’s own words.

  • Santa Monica Pier

    The venue says: “keep the Santa Monica Pier free, fun, and full of life”

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Places with deals in Santa Monica

See each venue's offer wording and ticket conditions before choosing.

Santa Monica's attractions lean heavily toward hands-on experiences and museums, with virtual reality venues particularly well represented. The Cayton Children's Museum offers 21,000 square feet of hands-on, discovery-based exhibits where children ages 0 to 8 explore creativity and imagination through play. Heal the Bay Aquarium displays over 100 local marine species in exhibits focused on protecting bay wildlife beneath the Santa Monica Pier. Museum of Illusions features perspective-changing rooms, mind-bending installations, and optical illusions where visitors explore interactive exhibits at their own pace. The Santa Monica History Museum preserves and interprets the Bay Area's cultural heritage through rotating exhibitions and permanent galleries. For older kids and adults, VR HOUR offers virtual reality escape room experiences where players use VR headsets and controllers to solve puzzles and explore immersive environments, while THE CUBE VR Immersive Park puts visitors into virtual worlds using advanced VR technology and motion simulators. Traditional attractions include Playland Arcade on the historic Santa Monica Pier, featuring arcade games where visitors play and win prizes, and Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, an amusement park with rides and games.

What this list covers

Santa Monica has 20 places to go, mostly museums (6), tours & cruises (4), family fun (4).

15 of them publish an admission price, 19 publish opening hours, 1 has something dated on now, 7 are running a verified saving.

Every figure here was read on the attraction’s own website, most recently on November 1, 2026.

How we know these are real

Savings here are quoted from the attraction’s own website, word for word. This one, for example:

“EBT (cardholder): $6.00”

Quoted from healthebay.org · checked on

Common questions

How many attractions in Santa Monica are running a deal?
7 of the 20 attractions in Santa Monica currently have a verified saving, covering 15 offers in total. Each is quoted from the attraction’s own website. Examples include Cayton Children's Museum, Heal the Bay Aquarium, Museum of Flying. Check each venue’s offer wording and eligibility conditions.
How much do things to do in Santa Monica cost?
Most admission in Santa Monica runs $12 to $45 per person, and 1 place is free to enter. Published prices run from $7 to $89 — $7 at John Drescher Planetarium, $89 at Malibu Discovery, across 3 attractions in Santa Monica that publish their own. Each figure is that venue’s own price line for what it names, which is not always plain admission, and each attraction’s page carries the rest of its rates.
What’s on in Santa Monica right now?
1 attraction in Santa Monica has something dated running, 1 listing in all. Each carries its own dates and the venue’s own sentence, and nothing is listed once its dates have passed.
Is there anything free to do in Santa Monica?
1 attraction in Santa Monica says on its own website that admission is free. We only say free when the venue does, unqualified — a child rate priced at nothing is not a free attraction. Examples include Santa Monica Pier.
What kinds of attractions are included?
museums (6), tours & cruises (4), family fun (4), adventure (2), zoos & aquariums (1), escape rooms (1), ice & roller skating (1), theme parks (1).
Are these deals guaranteed to still be available?
No. Every deal here carries the date it was last checked on the attraction’s own website and a link straight to the page it came from, so you can confirm it before you travel. Prices and offers change without notice.
What can we do with a toddler on a rainy afternoon?
The Cayton Children's Museum offers 21,000 square feet of hands-on, discovery-based exhibits designed for children ages 0 to 8 to explore creativity and imagination through play. The Museum of Illusions features perspective-changing rooms and interactive exhibits visitors can explore at their own pace. Both provide indoor activities suited to younger children.
Are there things to do beyond museums and arcades?
Holey Moley Golf Club Santa Monica offers 27 holes of mini golf combined with a full bar and karaoke entertainment. Ice at Santa Monica is a seasonal ice skating venue. Pickle Pop is a pickleball facility on the Santa Monica Promenade. Surf City Tours operates open air vans on guided sightseeing routes departing from Santa Monica.
What suits teenagers or adventurous families?
VR HOUR offers virtual reality escape room experiences using VR headsets and controllers to solve puzzles. Player One VR World features free-roam virtual reality with full-body tracking technology and 5K immersion. THE CUBE VR Immersive Park uses advanced VR technology and motion simulators. LifeRush Adventures operates guided tours using premium electric mountain bikes through the Los Angeles area.