Charleston Marine Life Center

10/22/2026

Young people ages 0-5 and their adult are invited to celebrate our favorite cephalopod at a special storytime at the University of Oregon's Charleston Marine Life Center! You’ll enjoy octopus rhymes, songs, stories and an eight-legged craft. Free entry for storytime participants. Check out a local treasure today!

📅 Thursday, October 22, 2026

⏰ 10:00am – 10:30am

📍 Charleston Marine Life Center, 63466 Boat Basin Rd., Charleston

10/16/2026

Put on your costume and join us for free, family-focused Halloween fun! Then hop over to the Charleston Marina for a trunk-or-treat put on by the Charleston Fishing Families and local merchants.

10/15/2026

Enjoy live Music at the CMLC, Saturday, October 17th, 11am-1pm! No extra charge -- standard admission. Enjoy our exhibits and Celtic music with the Little Match Girls.

10/08/2026

Happy World Octopus Day greetings from Bubbles and Sq**rt! Our new, little Pacific Red Octopus, Bubbles, appeared to be giving a thumbs up to her name this morning, when she moved to sit by the bubbles. Thanks to all who voted on a name and to our high school interns who came up with the options. FYI to the Octopus Prime supporters, that name came in as a close second.🐙🐙

10/01/2026

Help us name our new, small Pacific Red Octopus! Our high school interns put forward some fun options: Bubbles, Octomus Prime, Professor Inkling, and Pearl. Votes are taken in person at the CMLC. One vote per visitor. The winning name will be announced on World Octopus Day, October 8th. And yes, Sq**rt is still here as well. 😄🐙🐙

09/29/2026

Our new piling tank is gorgeous! Come take a look and challenge yourself to find mussels, barnacles, anemones, worms, sponges, tunicates, fish, algae and more!

09/23/2026

School is back in session and we're ready, with programs and tours available Tuesdays through Fridays. Check our website for more information and registration links. cmlc.uoregon.edu/programs
Homeschool families--we also have K-6th grade activity sheets for individual visits. Ask for them at the check-in counter.

09/07/2026

Thanks to the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau and Travel Oregon, we have EnChroma Glasses visitors can use at the CMLC!

The first time I saw a video of someone oohing and aahing after trying on a pair of EnChroma’s color blindness–correcting glasses, I was intrigued. My father is color-blind, and I was excited at the prospect that after a lifetime of confusing reds with greens, he might finally get to see the wor...

09/04/2026

The Eager Geezers are coming back to see if they can make the octopus dance! Join us for music on Saturday, September 5th, 11am-1pm.

09/02/2026

Voting is open for Toast of the Coast now through September 16th. https://toastofthesouthcoast.com/vote/
You can vote once per day per subcategory, and we were nominated in 5 different subcategories! THANK YOU to all who nominated us!
The 'Family Attraction' and 'Family Fun' subcategories are within Activities and Entertainment.
The 'Customer Service', 'Nonprofit Organization', and 'Place to Volunteer' subcategories are within General Services. Go CMLC! Thank you for your support!