The Cantabrian Maritime Museum in Santander has aquariums with sharks and rays, a full-size whale skeleton, and rooms devoted to seafaring life. It's open Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays, and general admission costs €9, with a reduced rate of €7 for children aged 4 to 12. It's about a 35-minute drive from Bareyo.
Between beach days, there are moments when an indoor plan is welcome, and Santander has one that tends to surprise families who weren't expecting it: the Cantabrian Maritime Museum, right next to the Playa de los Peligros promenade, with over 3,000 square metres dedicated to the relationship between people and the Cantabrian Sea.
This isn't your typical museum of quiet display cases. The ground floor is packed with aquariums holding species that live just a few metres from the coast where you're staying, from rockfish to sharks and rays, and the room dedicated to large cetaceans has a centrepiece that impresses at any age: a full-size whale skeleton. It's a plan that works well on a rainy morning, on a midday with too much sun for the beach, or simply as a stop within a day out in Santander.
What you'll see at the Cantabrian Maritime Museum
The museum is spread over several floors that combine marine biology and history. Downstairs are the aquariums, with different species that live in the Cantabrian Sea, from rockfish to larger specimens like sharks and rays, in tanks designed to be viewed up close at several points along the route. Upstairs, the rooms dedicated to traditional fishing and Cantabria's seafaring history use models and real objects to explain how coastal villages once lived off the sea — something that connects directly with what you'll see afterwards in any port in Trasmiera. The part people remember most, especially with kids, is the whale skeleton mounted at full size: it gives a sense of these animals' real scale that no photo conveys quite the same way.
Hours and prices in 2026
The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday and closes Mondays year-round, though hours change with the season: in high season, from May to September, it's open from 10:00 to 19:30, and from October to April closing moves up to 18:00. General admission costs €9 and the reduced rate is €7, applicable to children aged 4 to 12, over-65s, students, people with disabilities and people who are unemployed. On Tuesdays from 14:00, admission is free, though prior booking is required as capacity for that slot is limited. Bookings, for both the free slot and regular visits with priority access, are made by phone on 942 27 49 62 or through the Cantabria museums booking website.
How to get there and where to park
The museum is in San Martín de Bajamar, next to Playa de los Peligros and a short walk from the Palacio de la Magdalena, in the same area where many families already tend to end their day in Santander. From Bareyo it's about a 35-minute drive along the motorway, the same route that leads to the rest of the capital's attractions. If you're looking for more ideas to round out the day, our guide to what to see in Santander in a day has the rest of the must-sees just around the corner from the museum. Parking in the area is paid and fills up during the middle of the day in summer; if you're going on a weekend or in August, it's worth arriving early or leaving the car a bit further away, towards El Sardinero, and walking the last few minutes along the seafront promenade.
What you need to know
- Closed Mondays year-round; open 10:00 to 19:30 in high season (May–September) and until 18:00 the rest of the year.
- General admission: €9. Reduced (ages 4–12, over-65s, students, unemployed): €7.
- Tuesdays from 14:00, free admission with compulsory prior booking (limited capacity).
- Bookings and priority-access visits: 942 27 49 62.
- Allow between an hour and an hour and a half for the full visit with kids, more if you linger at each aquarium.
The full-size whale skeleton is one of those things no video explains quite as well: you have to see it whole, from below, to really take it in.
It's a plan that doesn't need a beach or good weather to work, and it fits nicely between sunny days on the Trasmiera coast. If you're staying at Villa Camino or Villa Monte, less than 40 minutes from Santander, the Cantabrian Maritime Museum is the kind of plan you can decide on the same morning, with no restaurant booking needed and nothing to work around except the Monday closure. The villas, each with its own garden and plenty of space to come back tired after a day of museum and beach, open their doors in September 2027.
