Help Us Preserve Pacific Marine Life

Friends of the Waikiki Aquarium welcomes support from individuals, organizations, companies, and foundations to sustain educational programs, conservation efforts, research initiatives, exhibits, and facilities.

You can also make a donation via mail, please fill out our Donation Form.

If you have made a provision in your estate plan to include a donation to us, please fill out our Planned Gift Declaration Form.

Donate Now and Help Us Preserve Marine Life

Corporate Membership Program

Offers you or your company the opportunity to become an annual supporter of the Waikiki Aquarium and its mission to inspire and promote understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Pacific marine life.

  • Coral Reef Circle: $1,000
  • Nautilus Circle: $2,500
  • Mano Circle: $5,000
  • Hawaiian Monk Seal Circle: $10,000

Matching Gifts Program

Companies that match monetary donations or volunteer hours include:

  • Alexander & Baldwin
  • DFS Hawaii
  • Delta Airlines
  • Disney
  • First Hawaiian Bank
  • Hawaiian Electric
  • Home Depot
  • Island Insurance
  • Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation Inc
  • Northwestern Mutual
  • Pepsi Co. Inc
  • Prudential
  • Starbucks
  • Verizon

Please check with your HR Department for the appropriate forms.

Recent initiatives

Opening of the Living Reef Exhibit, which was funded almost entirely by FOWA. Dedicated to the late Dr. Ruth Gates, the Living Reef Exhibit showcases the beauty and diversity of both soft and stony corals. It includes 12 wall tanks featuring representative coral species from throughout the South Pacific.

The exhibit incorporates a highly advanced life support system that uses energy-efficient LED lights as well as the Aquarium’s first water-to-water heat exchanger. An interactive kiosk offers detailed information on coral ecology and physiology, marine ecosystems, and much more.

Purchase and installation of shade umbrellas. The new umbrellas offer much-needed shade for our hardworking volunteers who provide educational outreach at the Edge of the Reef and Monk Seal exhibits.

Production of Ke Kani O Ke Kai, our popular summer concert series featuring live local entertainment under the stars. The 2019 lineup included some of Hawaiʻi’s top performers, including Grammy winner Kalani Peʻa, slack key guitar masters George Kahumoku and Kawika Kahiapo, Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner Josh Tatofi, Streetlight Cadence, and much more. We saw a significant increase in 2019 revenues year over year, in thanks to our generous sponsors and attendees.

Continuation of the Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS). In March 2019, we welcomed Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Oceanography professor, for a presentation on the ecology of the deep sea and the value of understanding fisheries and deep sea mining. Dr. Tim Tricas, a professor of Biology at UH Mānoa, followed in October 2019 with a presentation on Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs, the approximately 600 species of fish that inhabit them, and the new bio-acoustic technique that’s invaluable to coral reef research.

Celebration of our members at Members’ Night! The event included live entertainment by Uncle Wayne and the Howling Dog Band, hands-on activities by the Waikīkī Aquarium and the Department of Facility Maintenance Storm Water Quality Branch and Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, and food for purchase by Simply Ono and Banán. Mahalo to our Members’ Night sponsors, as well as the over 170 people who joined us for the celebration!