Any recent experiences at Coral World on St Thomas?

[TxT365]

We are looking at taking our 5 year old to Coral World on St. Thomas. However, we'd like to see what others have thought about this facility? I found something from 2012, but wanted to see if anyone had experiences that were more recent.

Thanks!

Trish

 

[BigredNole]

Glad you posted this because it looks like a great place to visit.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

Coral World is nice, and we are taking our 5 year old to this (on our own) on an upcoming cruise.

It's small for a US-standard aquarium but is more of an ocean rehab park with some exhibits and lots of areas to view the open water through glass (appearing like a tank). Lots of sea life, and several different shows and educational things during the day. Their website has good videos to show what you may experience and prices for different options.

Our five year old doesn't weigh enough/tall enough for most of the specialized animal encounters, so if that's important to you be sure to check those details out.

It is in no way a full-day thing. We plan to hit it first thing that morning, then perhaps some beach time at Coki, lunch and afternoon elsewhere. Definitely worth your time though.

My son LOVES all things sea creatures, so we thought this would be fun and something just for him on the cruise vs what the adults want to do/beach time.

If you book it yourself there are a few $2 off coupons you can find for USVI Coral World from a quick internet search.

 

[Mickeymouseisking]

I personally do not recommend going to Coral World, as we had a really bad experience there. The staff is completely unprofessional and not trustworthy. I wrote about our experience on that website where you grade tours and hotels and give Trip Advice...lol...I don't know if I'm allowed to name it here...and their response to my complaint was so shocking and full of lies I was shaking...and that site doesn't give you the option to answer the business's reply. Anyways, if you want to read about our experience I'm the one who was bitten by the giant sea turtle and I have the scar around the nuckle of my ring finger to prove it. But the problem wasn't that it happened - the problem was the way they handled it.

Due to their lack of professionalism (which included them assuring me there was no need to see a doctor when actually I needed a tetanus shot and antibiotics + the dr considered stitches but decided against it) I really wouldn't recommend going there.

 

[TxT365]

Coral World is nice, and we are taking our 5 year old to this (on our own) on an upcoming cruise.

It's small for a US-standard aquarium but is more of an ocean rehab park with some exhibits and lots of areas to view the open water through glass (appearing like a tank). Lots of sea life, and several different shows and educational things during the day. Their website has good videos to show what you may experience and prices for different options.

Our five year old doesn't weigh enough/tall enough for most of the specialized animal encounters, so if that's important to you be sure to check those details out.

So you've been before then? How long ago? Thanks!

 

[TxT365]

Due to their lack of professionalism (which included them assuring me there was no need to see a doctor when actually I needed a tetanus shot and antibiotics + the dr considered stitches but decided against it) I really wouldn't recommend going there.

Headed to find that review. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Budzooka]

We are looking at taking our 5 year old to Coral World on St. Thomas. However, we'd like to see what others have thought about this facility? I found something from 2012, but wanted to see if anyone had experiences that were more recent.

Thanks!

Trish

We went in June 2016 and it was underwhelming. Took our 5 and 13 year old on the semi-submarine ride and then had time in the park. We did get to feed sting rays and saw a sea lion performance, but wasn't anything we wouldn't see at Sea World. We had about 30 minutes to spend on the beach before they picked us up.

In hindsight, I wish we would have just gone to the beach the entire time.

 

[disneyholic family]

i don't recommend coral world.
Like other posters, i was unimpressed both by the place itself and by the staff. Even the transportation to get there was terrifying - truly unsafe even when compared to all the pretty unsafe transportation you find on the islands.
In our many caribbean cruises, this is the only excursion we've been on that i would NEVER do again (even if it were free), nor can i recommend it to others.

.

 

[llachance]

My husband, son-in-law and daughter did the Snuba, my grandson and I did the submarine. It looked like they were working on hard on improving the experience (it had just been bought by a new vendor). The folks enjoyed the Snuba and my grandson enjoyed the Sub. I had my toes licked by an iquana It was a bit underwhelming but it was awful. I do agree that the transportation wasn't the most fun but it was adequate. Would I do it again probably not but it wasn't a horrible experience in my opinion.

 

[RedSox68]

We did Coral World in 2009 and from that experience, I'd only give it 2-1/2 out of five stars. The place was nice to walk around in as far as the gardens, but much smaller than we expected. At that time, it also wasn't kept up very well and we felt that the marine life was not well cared for and many of the tanks were dirty and the water in some of the ponds was not well filtered. It looked very run down and we were very disappointed. We had wanted to go there for years and expected more.

 

[kdogfister]

I was at Coral World in July with a 6YO, 3YO and 20MO. I've you never been to St. Thomas, just know that there are Iguanas everywhere and especially at Coral World. This is no an issue for me, but some of the children in our group, including my 6YO were a bit scared by them as they are the size of a small dog.

We only did the park, not any of the extras, and 90 minutes was enough to see it. We went to the Butterfly gardens after that, which was also cool to see. If you go in expecting to be wowed at every corner, you will be disappointed. If you go hoping to see some neat sea life, maybe pet a stingray, or if you're doing some of the other excursions like the Snuba, you won't be disappointed.

I'm so sorry to hear that some posters had trouble with the staff, especially the one who had the encounter with the Sea Turtle. In my time there I noted the staff was generally very passive, but would step in and help if asked. They all appeared to be about High School or College Age (mostly girls) and friendly and polite, but not catering to every need certainly.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We went in June 2015 and I was not impressed. We didn't pay for any of the extra experiences. I did enjoy the sea lion presentation they had that was part of the park admission, not the separate "sea lion encounter". But overall, it was small, had limited exhibits, and seemed run down. I wouldn't recommend it.