The Best Museums in San Diego Right Now

From the numerous options in Balboa Park to the newly opened WNDR Museum, here’s where to get your culture fix in America’s Finest City.

As if our thoroughgoing weather , miles ofgorgeous beach , world - famouscraft beer scene , and ever - evolvingculinary landscapewasn’t enough , San Diego County boasts intimately 100 museums , lay out from musical attempt and artistic creations to preserving the culture of Indigenous communities and documenting our longsighted maritime history . Whatever your interests , there ’s jump to be a museum to stimulate your head and rejuvenate your individual , plus you’re able to take reward ofhalf - price ticketsat many locale throughout the calendar month of February . Here are some of our favorite San Diego museums :

WNDR Museum

DowntownThe brand name newWNDR Museumis an immersive artistry and engineering experience that invites Edgar Albert Guest to fully operate with local and international artists , collective , technologists , architect and makers in a completely unexampled museum experience . terpsichore across the Lightfloor , which respond to the visitors ' every move and tactual sensation , step intoInside OutbyLeigh Sachwitzandflora&faunavisions , a mesmerizing , translucent garden house where you ’ll weather a digitized storm , or meet nearly 20 other mesmeric exhibits . WNDR is undefended 12pm-9pm Monday - Wednesday , 12pm-10pm Thursdays , 10am-11pm Fridays - Saturdays and 10am-8pm Sundays . Cost:$32 for grownup , $ 22 for nestling ( eld 3 - 12 ) , free for tiddler two and below .

The Oceanside Museum of Art

OceansideThe Oceanside Museum of Art , which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary , is conterminous to the beautiful Oceanside Library and City Hall buildings at the box of North Ditmar Street and Pier View Way . The picture gallery boast a rotation of exhibits — currently there ’s five different presentations , includingEthan Chan : Selections From The Closetsof The People That I Love … , a collection of wearable sculpture constructed from firm food chain , accelerator pedal post and gamey schoolhouse cafeteria sauce packets , modeled after wearable chosen from the closets of friends . Cost:$10 for adults , $ 5 for senior . Military , students and children are free .

WorldBeat Cultural Center

Balboa ParkYou’ve probably driven by that million gallon paint water towboat at the border of Balboa Park and wondered just what the heck it is . nigh 30 years ago , Makeda “ Dread ” Cheatom follow her vision that the world would be a good place if people took the time to learn about and respect other cultures . She decided to produce a place where all are welcome and celebrated so she and the WorldBeat Center squad transform it , using local artists to make the distinctive indoor and outdoor wall painting . A LEED Certified and USGBC Green Building with a amply sustainable recycling and compost programme , it promotes and preserves African , African - American and other Indigenous macrocosm acculturation through art , music , dance , education and engineering , as well as maintaining the George WashingtonCarver EthnoBotany Peace Garden . monetary value : Entry is contribution - based , costs for particular event vary .

Balboa Park

Balboa ParkWhile we ’ve already taken it upon ourselves to highlight some of our favorite , must - visit museum inside Balboa Park on this list , it ’s also deserving seek out this cultural hub that ’s been crowned the “ Jewel of San Diego ” on its own . you could easily spend a twenty-four hours , if not a weekend , getting lost in its 1,200 acres of gardens , museum , attractions , and restaurants .

Of special note are : the San DiegoNatural History Museumthat first opened in 1874 and is the onetime scientific initiation in Southern California ; civil leader George W. Marston’s1905 craftsman homethat ’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places ; theFleet Science Centerand planetarium that ’s home to the human beings ’s first IMAX Dome Theater ; andCentro Cultural de la Raza , a nonprofit center that promotes , conserves , and educates around Chicano , Mexican , Indigenous and Latinx fine art and cultivation . price : Varies , but San Diego occupier can plan their trip aroundfree day for resident physician . TheTimken Museum of Artand the San DiegoMineral & Gem Society Museumare always destitute .

Museum of Making Music

CarlsbadTheMuseum of Making Musicin Carlsbad is the only museum of its form in the earth , celebrating the achievements and significance of those who craft , trade and use musical goods and instruments . Through unique circumvolve exhibitions , resilient music performances and cutting edge educational programs , four distinct galleries take you on a musical journey through instruments , artifacts and immersive , multimedia system displays , with each room highlighting a different theme : “ Making the Instruments , ” “ Providing the Instruments , ” “ Using the Instruments , ” and “ Beyond the Instruments . ” There ’s also “ pose & act ” areas for solo or radical experiment . MoMM is open Tuesday - Sunday from 10am–5pm . Ticket reservations are required and must bemade online . Cost:$15 for adult , $ 10 for students , seniors and alive duty military . Children three and under are innocent .

The California Surf Museum

OceansideEven if you ’re not a surfer , you ’ll love theCalifornia Surf Museum , found in 1986 and dedicated to surf civilisation worldwide . For the optimal experience , let the encyclopaedic docents direct you around the gallery , but it ’s equally fascinating if you take a ego - lead spell . A rotation of exhibit — there ’s currently nine different presentations — take you through the story and polish of wave horseback riding . Start with a tribute to illustrious surfboard shaperDonald Takayama , and move on to a delightfully nerdyWhere ’s The Surf?Find Swell Direction With Wave Scienceinstallation , featuring theCoastal Data Information Program ’s ( CDIP ) near literal - meter internet of monitoring web site for waves and beaches across the US . you’re able to also take a cryptical honkytonk into the history of boogie-woogie embarkment , explore dead body surfboarding and handplanes and be amazed by the most pop exhibit , Courageous Inspiration : Bethany Hamilton , the compelling story of the then 13 - year - honest-to-god surfer who suffer her unexpended branch when she was attacked by a 14 - foot tiger shark off the coast of Kaua’i in 2003 . The museum is unfastened daily from 10am–4pm . ticket can be purchased at the door . Cost:$7 for adults , $ 5 for elder 62 + , military , and students . youngster 11 and under are liberal .

The Women’s Museum of California

Valencia ParkThe Women ’s Museum of California debut its stain new Southeast San Diego Center earlier this summertime . The museum ’s featured display , Crafting Feminism : Textiles of the Women ’s Movement , is presently on show . From “ fuckup outfits ” and sashes dating back to the 1850s to red-hot pinkish knitted “ pussy hats ” like the ones worn at the 2017 Women ’s March , the platform highlights how textiles have played a part in the waves of women’s liberation movement , and features topical anesthetic such asMichelle Montjoy , Diana Benavídez , Anna O’Cain , Siobhan Arnold , Irma Sofia Poeter , Claudia Biezunski - Rodriquezand recital bomber Maritza Contreras , who produce artwork with material .

The museum also holds a library of feminist books , including women - author works that have been banned from public school across the country , with plans to grow the collection through donations from the public , An interactive constituent of the display includes a feminist - themed photo place where visitor can mystify with poster and signs harking back to the other 1900s women ’s marches . The museum is open on Fridays and the first Saturday of the calendar month from 11 - 4pm and by date on weekdays to schools , biotic community groups and businesses for workshops and activities . Visitits websiteto Koran a succeeding enlistment . Cost : Free on the first Saturday of the month . secret tour run $ 5 per student for school and youth organisation and $ 15 per person for all other group .

The USS Midway Museum

DowntownThe USS Midway is not only one of San Diego ’s most popular attractions , but it ’s also the most call historic naval ship museum in the world , pull more than 1.4 million visitors each year , with almost 30 % come from outside the United States . A decommission aircraft carrier , which was in operation for nearly 50 years , it ’s one of the better - preserved military display in the country and extend visitors a fortune to physically explore the story of America ’s USN . There are more than 60 exhibit areas , including theflight pack of cards , aircraft gallery , below decksandhangar deck , plus activity includingflight simulators , theBattle of Midway Theaterand a docent - ledGuided Island Tour . The museum is open daily from 10am–5pm , with the last admission at 4 pm . Purchase ticketsonline . Cost:$31 for adults 13 + , $ 21 for children 4 - 13 and veteran ( with valid ID ) . barren for children five and younger , alive duty military ( west / valid ID ) , active pledged law of nature enforcement ( w / valid ID ) , active sworn fireman ( double-u / valid ID ) , include reservist .

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

La JollaThe late refurbishment and elaboration of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego ( MCASD ) expanded the original gallery distance four times on two light - filled levels , as well as adding a public park and young seaside terraces . Two hundred works of contemporaneous art fill the gallery , includingAlexis Smith : The American Way , retrospective of the California artist ’s collages , using come up schoolbook , image and object as a comment on the medium and finish that surrounds us , and how we are shaped by it . The museum is unresolved Thursday - Sunday from 10am–4pm and ticket can be purchasedonline . Cost:$25 for adults , $ 20 for San Diego County and Tijuana residents , $ 15 for educatee and senior , free for military and their families , masses 17 and under , and SNAP / EBT cardholders . accession is gratis for everyone on the 2nd Sunday and the third Thursday of every month .

Barona Cultural Center & Museum

Barona Indian ReservationThe Barona Cultural Center & Museum is dedicated to preserving the Native American culture and history of San Diego County . The county ’s only museum on an Indian booking , it put up more than 3,000 various artifacts , along with listening nooks , photographs and archives that inform the compelling stories of the Kumeyaay tribes . With some objects date back more than 10,000 years , the creativeness and proficiency of North America ’s first dweller are on full display . In addition , the museum ’s library houses over 1,000 books — include rarified and out - of - print editions — an extensive archive of pic and historical documents to help visitors get wind how Indigenous group live on . The newest exhibit , Peyii ‘ Enyeway ‘ Esekáayches : We Are Still Here!examines the historical erasure of autochthonal cultures through forced assimilation and race murder . A sojourn From Old Friends : From the vault of the San Diego Museum of Manis a collaborative exhibit that expose beautiful Kumeyaay / Diegueño artifacts on loan to Barona from the San Diego Museum of Man . Many of the pieces have rarely been seen and have never been on showing before . The Barona Cultural Center & Museum is open Thursday and Friday from noon-5 pm and Saturday from 10 am-4 pm . price : Free

The Maritime Museum of San Diego

DowntownExplore San Diego ’s long nautical story with a sojourn to the Maritime Museum of San Diego , the largest preserved collection of historic ships in the U.S. You ’ll see steam - powered boats , submarines , a renovate , historically - accurate replica of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ’s ship , San Salvador , and the regal Star of India . On - the - water dangerous undertaking admit the 90 - minute interactiveBOARDED ! A New Pirate Adventure , plusSwift Boat Naval History Tour . It also includesSan Salvador Sailing Adventureplus aTall Ship Adventure Aboard Californian(a Gold Rush - epoch revenue cutter ) and theOfficial Tall Ship of the State of California . On - board exhibits deliver as well , withSea Monsters : Delving Into The Deep Myth , aModel GalleryandTo The Brink Of War , a chilling depiction of the tense undersea story within the Cuban projectile crisis of October 1962 , plus a half - dozen other lasting and rotating exhibit . The Maritime Museum is open day by day from 10 am to 5 phase modulation , last ticket betray and entrance at 4pm . Cost : General admission is $ 20.00 for adults 18 + , $ 15 for senior 62 + and educatee 13 - 17 , $ 10 for fry 3 - 12 , under 3 is barren . On - water escapade prices vary .

WNDR Museum