Clearwater Marine Aquarium Reviews

I loved this place. It's not SeaWorld but it's also not the price of SeaWorld and most importantly it not being SeaWorld is THE WHOLE POINT. They are there to rehabilitate animals. If you want to do any of the special things book ahead.

My daughter had her 3rd birthday at Clearwater Aquarium.She enjoyed it a lot.

The kind of place you re happy to give money to because you know they re doing good for the world.

I haven't been in a while, but i have been quite a few times. It just makes me mad to see some of these comments #1 $24 isn't that much to spend when it's going towards saving an animals life. #2 these are living creatures that have been rescued, not trained and abused for your entertainment like some other places. Clearwater Marine Aquarium...Your staff and aquarium are awesome!
Keep up the great work and thank you

Was wonderful to go to the place where A Dauphin Tale 1 and 2 were filmed and to see Winter and Hope in person

The aquarium was smaller than I thought it would be but for it to be a non profit place it was pretty cool. Even though we went for winter Hope stole the show. She was very entertaining.

While the staff was friendly, I was very dissatisfied with the attractions. The website showed pictures of fish an turtles and animals being fed. None of which took place. I felt like I walked in a big circle to look at empty tanks. One section was completely closed off. When I asked where the animals were I was told they had them at another facility and hadn't brought them over yet. I was expecting a fun and exciting experience.

They are really focused on the animals, which I love. They've expanded a bit since the last time I was there, and they're building a new spot for the dolphins. All of their staff were helpful and well versed in their fields.

We spent about 3 hours there. They take pictures of you in front of a green screen. The pictures make a great souvenir, but they are more expensive than I'd like. All proceeds go right back to the animals so despite the cost we did purchase some pictures. We did see Hope and Winter, but you can only see Winter with her tale for Physical Therapy, which doesn't occur on a regular schedule.

It is not you average aquarium little higher prices worth it because the money via going to help our wildlife. Being able to see winter was awesome and the sea turtles they are rehabing

Just overall an awesome and educational experience. My family fully enjoyed it. Everybody should definitely opt for any of the boat tours they offer, especially the ones later in the evening, since more wildlife is active.

Everyone was very nice and the presentations were very informative.

Expected more,.but there was a lot of construction. Seems like in the future it will be amazing. Dolphin show was cool. They have an amazing mission and take opportunities to teach kids about Marine life.

Very cool. My son enjoyed the divers in the tanks.

Not at all what we expected the old lady directing people in the ticket line was rude! It was exspensive for no more than they had just wasn't impressed with the experiance at all!

Awesome small little place. It really is a 2 hour spot. You sit down and enjoy the movie as well and shows.

Amazing staff, interns, staff, volunteers. Shows, explanations and all are spot on

The grandkids love this place, especially the boat ride.

Super fun and great learning experience! Staff is super nice and wonderful help if you have any questions. Also love the stories about all the rescues. Love what they do!

I absolutely love what Clearwater Marine Aquarium believes in - rescue and rehabilitation. The establishment is small and the visitor can experience it in half a day, but keep in mind it is first and foremost for the animals. The gift shop has cute stuff. I love the movie they show, and catching a glimpse of Winter always makes me smile.

Great staff! Great mission! Loved the dolphin training demonstration! Cool place!

That was the best time in my life and I can't wait to see winter and hope again

Throughly enjoyed our visit, showing the amazing work they do in helping marine animals. Totally worth a visit and knowing the money you pay for admittance goes towards keeping this amazing place going. Keep up your fantastic work.

A great facility. The staff are caring and kind to the animals. The marine life at the aquarium are well taken care of. We enjoyed the hours we spent learning about all the marine life.

Felt very disorganized and sporadic. The exhibits were small and it doesn't take long to see everything. Many of the viewing areas were also very narrow which made it easy to get way too close to other people trying to view the same animals.

It does a wonderful service saving sea animals, but the place could be a little more exciting. It is under some kind of refurbishment: I hope it improves!

Very educational and such a great place to go!!! Most definitely will visit again!!

It's gotten to be so expensive and now they even charge 10 dollars to park.

A little bit of a hassle because of the ongoing construction, other than that great deals and a great experience!

Beautifully located along the canal of Clearwater. Small aquarium that offers a full display of rehabilitating of local marine life. Staff was very helpful. Likely to be finished with whole exhibit in an hour or so.

$25 per person seems steep for what is offered but since it's to help the dolphins I guess it's understandable.

OMG! This place is just wonderful. Watch the film, read the literature. What they do is fantastic. Winter, Hope and Nicholas are such fabulous permanent residents. My kids follow them on the live feeds everyday.

I think what they're doing as an animal hospital is great, but they shouldn't advertise as an aquarium or charge so much to get in! They had hardly any sea life there at all. The dolphin "show" they put on lasted about 5min. There was so little to see and do that we paid $50 to spend not even an hour there. If you'd like to see an actual aquarium, check out Florida Aquarium in Tampa instead. Very disappointed with this experience.

Great place to see Winter and Hope. Very friendly staff, smaller aquarium. The combo ticket with boat tour is worth it. Rufus display is cool to.

We had a great time at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. We went at 10am on a Tuesday and it wasn t very busy and the animals were pretty active. When we left around 12:30pm it was a lot busier and the animals all seemed to be less active. The facilities are older but looks like a big construction project is happening to improve them. However all of the animals were easily visible, staff were very interactive and there were educational programs happening throughout our visit. The only downfall was my daughter spent her vacation money on a long sleeve I love winter t shirt at the gift shop during our visit and when we got home to MN upon closer inspection, still brand new with tags on it, we found three small holes in it. She is super disappointed as we can t exchange it. For a $30 T-shirt I would expect better quality.

Not a typical aquarium, as it is more of an animal hopital/ rehab for marine life in need of assistance. Still fun and educational. We want to return to do the evening boat tour.

Interesting and educational. The admission price is okay only because the proceeds do benefit their facility and their cause. However if you expect to spend an afternoon there, it is hard to do so because it is small and their presentations are short. With that being said, I do recommend going to support the facility and what they do for wildlife.

A little pricey and not a lot to see but it is for a good cause.

Awful. This place is a tourist trap. Please help marine life and do not go to this place.

Friendly staff, great rescue facility. Nice place to spend a couple hours learning about their operations and impact on conservation.

Great place to visit! The kids loved petting the sting rays and seeing all of the animals, plus they learned some things.

Awesome aquarium and rehab facility. Most folks forget that these amazing people are rehabbing these beautiful creatures.

Good to take the whole family. We saw dolphins in the vat near the bridge . I took the area tour.

We had a great time. Similar to what you see in the movies yet much more. It is worth it to pay extra for a few of the special events especially the dolphin boat tour.

Waste of time and money. Not much to see at all. Don't blink because you will miss everything.

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Do the behind the scenes tour. Very interesting.

A must if you're visiting the Clearwater area. Our kids love seeing and learning about the animals. The folks here do amazing work that benefits us all in one way or another.

Nice enough aquarium. Nothing spectacular but we had a nice day there.

The day we were there it was pretty slow. They don't have a lot of animals and my kids are use to going to the Tennessee or Georgia aquarium and we're disappointed that we only got to Winter from afar. Maybe younger children would enjoy it more.

Ok, this is an amazing cause to support, but you have to go into your visit with that in mind and consider your admission a donation. It is a rehabilitation facility, so the only animals who stay long term are those that are non-releasable for medical reasons, which is unlike most aquariums that allow visitors. When we visited (October 2019,) there was tons of construction going on for Winter, Hope, and P.J.'s new habitat, which may change things considerably when it's finished, but I don't see how the aquarium could handle the crowds of the heavy tourist season or even a Saturday. We were there on a weekday afternoon. It's a great thing that the facility is set up for animals and not people, but be aware going in. If you have a chance, see one of the outdoor dolphin training sessions. They aren't dolphin shows with dolphins trained to do unnecessary tricks for the amusement of audiences. Rather, they are explanations of needed exercise and training moves (for health examination, etc) that the dolphins need to be taught for their livlihood at CMA.

I wish I could review the boat cruise we had booked... It was canceled due to weather, which I absolutely understand, but contrary to the statement online, I wasn't given any notice when the cruise was canceled. Refunds are not automatic when canceled, either, but if you ask for a refund at Guest Services, they will refund the cruise, which typically has to be paid for in advance.

I really expected to see a lot more marine life. Loved petting the sting rays!

Working aquarium. Don't plan on being entertained by a show. This facility offers a view of all of the good help the organization does for our FL sea life. Take one of the behind the scenes tours to get a peak at the real workings. Boat tours available for an additional charge.

My kids loved getting to meet the stars of a dolphin tale.

Staff is engaging, animals are well cared for and all proceeds pay for the rescue, rehab and release mission.

A MUST SEE!!! Do NOT miss this place on your trip to Clearwater. Winter was a delight to see, along with the other dolphins and marine animals. Truly the best part of my vacation!

The kids had a lot of fun here. Very interesting exhibits and things for the family to see/do. The staff was well informed but a bit unorganized. Also we never really had a chance to see Winter other than through a small opening in a barrier (which we understood was necessary so she could rest), but nobody seemed to know if or when she would be out again. The only real negative was the very high price. I feel like it was too high for the whole family.

My family and I had a wonderful and amazing experience. Thank you to the staff for a great day.

Great little rehabilitation aquarium. Lots tanks and sea life. New facilities being built. Pricey but goes to a great cause. Kids loved it.

Loved the Dolphins, Nicholas was cheeky. The new tanks should be Amazing!

It's a small aquarium but it is filled with so much to see. The staff has little shows and informative sessions almost every hour with a different animal so you could stay all day and never get bored.

very small. Doesn't worth at all. Won't be come again.