Marineland - near St. Augustine, Florida

[snookhams]

Having left it to late to book Discovery Cove, completley book for the whole 22 days we are in Florida, we found a website for marineland, and wondered if it was worth a visit, as there Dolphin encounter is alot cheaper than DC's, although it is about a 2 hour drive to get there, they are not taking bookings at the moment they allocate the encounters on a first come first served basis. Really wondered if it was worth the money or should we book DC for our visit next year ( we have already visited DC once 2 years ago)

 

[cinamin27]

according to my 11 year old daughter that has visited several times for school or summer camp field trips, it is not worth the time or money to go. she says its very boring & doesnt have alot of shows & the shows she saw were nothing compared to sea world. marineland is a very tiny park that is struggling to come back from bankruptcy.

 

[Snoopymom]

I do not know what their Dolphin Encounter is like, but in my opinion the park (if you could call it that) is not worth a two hour drive to visit.

When we were there last Summer, there was only one show and it was a short 10 minute dolphin show. We waited around for a presentation about sharks that my ds was excited about that was canceled with no explanation. I believe we watched them feed a seal for about 5 minutes and that was about it.

It is a very small place and can literally be toured in about 30 minutes. I don't think they've changed a thing since the 50's. The veiwing area for the main aquarium still has little portholes and narrow metal stairways. They have the oldest dolphin in captivity and it was the first ocean aquarium...I found the history fascinating and enjoyed the quaintness, but kids will definitely be disappointed.

I remember going about 10 years ago and we were practically the only ones there, so we got to pet the dolphins and play catch with them, and the people working there were so friendly and informally talked to us and answered questions...we had such a wonderful time. Now there is a cage unit thing built around the dolphins, and workers were non exsistant. My in-laws live in St Augustine and tell us that there are always newspaper articles about how it's struggling and threatening to close. It's a shame that they can't find the funds to do a rehab.

I think I'd wait and do it at Sea World. Hope this helps