Greet a sea turtle as he swims up to say hello. Get eye-to-eye with a bald eagle. Touch a bat ray in an interactive touch pool. Visiting The Living Coast Discovery Center is a chance to experience Southern California's plants and animals on the 316-acre Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge on San Diego Bay.

A walk-through aviary encompasses the tidal slough habitat of black-crowned night herons and red-breasted mergansers. Bald and golden eagles await up-close encounters at the Eagle Mesa, but the rays get even closer: an interactive touch pool puts the aquatic creatures beneath your fingertips. Raptor Row hosts the Center's non-releasable rescued birds of prey, all of which have injuries or other conditions that prevent them from surviving outside the refuge on their own. Visitors are also free to follow their own path along the center's 1.5 miles of walking trails.