Located in Stamford’s Cove Island Park,  the SoundWaters Coastal Education Center opened in the fall of 2000. Our Center is free and open to the public, and home to hundreds of species native to Long Island Sound. It includes a Teaching Aquarium with aquatic tanks that feature benthic animals from the Sound and coastal salt marshes, fresh water animals that live in local rivers, special tanks for horseshoe crabs and Diamondback terrapins, and a touch tank. It also houses a Learning Lab and environmental displays.

Situated in a public park within a few feet of coastal habitats – including salt marshes,  sandy beaches, mudflats and rocky shorelines – the Center programs and exhibits focus on the animals and habitats of Long Island Sound and its watershed. It is uniquely positioned to engage students and the public with hands-on science enrichment right outside our Center.

Rent the Center

(4:30 minutes, Windows MediaPlayer)

(Approx 5 minute download)

In the spring of 1999, SoundWaters entered a partnership with the city of Stamford to expand programs to a coastal education center.  The SoundWaters Coastal Education Center is located in the historic Holly House in Cove Island Park, Stamford. The Coastal Education Center serves as a year-round central venue for environmental education.

At our Center, adults and children together learn and work on meaningful and rewarding programs integral to the well-being and success of a community located on Long Island Sound. SoundWaters offers a wide variety of programs, many of them at no cost to the public, to ensure accessibility to as many people as possible. Situated within a few feet of coastal habitats – including salt marshes, sandy beaches, mudflats and rocky shorelines – the museum focuses on the animals and habitats of Long Island Sound and its watershed.

The centerpiece of the museum is an aquarium with tanks that showcase local freshwater & brackish water creatures of Long Island Sound and its watershed. A learning laboratory adjacent to the aquarium draws school groups from throughout the region. Multi-purpose exhibit rooms serve as galleries and gathering spaces for local groups. The site of the Center allows easy access to the marshes and varied habitats of Long Island Sound. The Center is also available for rentals.

The SoundWaters Center is open from 10:00 – 5:00 daily, Tuesday – Saturday. From Memorial Day to Labor Day a parking pass is required for the Cove Island Park.