“Finding Dory” takes place mainly at the fictional Marine Life Institute in the “Jewel of Morro Bay, California,” along the California coast, with parts of the film also set back on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia where Dory lives with Marlin and Nemo.

Quick Scoop: Setting of Finding Dory

  • The story starts on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, where Dory is living with Marlin and Nemo one year after the events of Finding Nemo.
  • After Dory recalls memories of her parents, she sets off toward the “Jewel of Morro Bay, California.”
  • Most of the movie unfolds at the Marine Life Institute , a large marine rehabilitation and aquarium facility on the California coast.
  • In real-world inspiration, this institute is heavily based on and visually inspired by the Monterey Bay Aquarium on California’s Monterey Peninsula.

So if you’re wondering “where does Finding Dory take place,” the short answer is: under the sea near the Great Barrier Reef and then primarily at a California marine institute in Morro Bay, modeled after Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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