Clearwater Marine Aquarium Reviews

Seeing the amazing animals up close was SUPER cool.

Way over priced, and we weren't even able to see Winter, which was the entire reason we drove an hour and a half. It would be a no star rating, but for the rehabilitation work. Granddaughter was disappointed and bored. :(

Very nice...love the stuff they do to help the animals

It is very beautiful but what a pity that they were not clear at the time of buying the tickets when saying that there is no dolphin show when they told us. That the last show was until 6:00 p.m.

The dolphins were hands down the best part! Everyone is so friendly and they're doing an amazing with covid! I left feeling more educational and a huge smile on my face! 10/10 recommend going to visit and doing as much as possible!

Wonderful place and very educational. I enjoyed all the animals and the staff was very polite. I miss it and look forward to going back.

I saw the movie with my daughter and Cella fell in love with the dolphin, I took her to meet winter as a birthday gift it was a great experience for her and for me

Realizing this is a Rescue,not an Aquarium had sticker shock for admissions for our family of four,there is also massive construction going on.There was not a lot of Marine animals to see.Although we did see Winter and Hope.The gift shop was$$$$

It's amazing how they tell you about the real story and the dolphin presentations are amazing. Just don't go in there expecting the animals to be playful all the time. They enjoy their rest. You will too after the cramped spaces. Thank goodness for the renovation.

Very expensive for an hour's worth of exhibits. Exhibits are nice though.

Young and old, we all enjoyed the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and boat ride afterwords

I was expecting an aquarium of all types of sea life and it was basically just a rescue center. Which is not bad if you like that and are expecting that but I was there for maybe 30 minutes and basically saw nothing. I was very upset and wish I hadn't wasted the money to go there.

Always a great visit when you are in the Clearwater area. It's our 3rd year in a row attending their summer camps. They do so much at their facility!

As a rescue aquarium it's worth seeing. Don't expect a true aquarium type display.

We have been here a few times now. It s good in a lot of ways. Best for kids over 6 or so. Not bad as part of the city pass but I m not sure I d go apart from that. A few years ago when we went it was cheaper and it seemed they did a lot more of the little stuff like closer encounters with the dolphins, a boat tour that went out and caught a bunch of fish for the kids to look at etc. As it s grown it seems to have lost some of these touches or maybe they re in a transitional phase. The dolphin shows are good! Try to go on a weekday and avoid crowds.

I came here on my honeymoon for the first time, I actually been here twice and wl keep coming. You get to see and do a lot for the price of the tickets

Love the staff!! The care they give these animals is amazing!!

Friendly and knowledgeable volunteers. Can't wait for it to be bigger!

Nicely done currently under construction but definitely worth a visit. Very informative staff and love that they have such a good rescue.

This isn't your typical aquarium. Although a special place that I really respect, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was expecting so much more. This aquarium is home to aquatic animals that have been injured or can no longer sustain their life in the wild. The work being done here is honorable. However, it is rather small hardly what I'd expect in terms of actual entertainment value. If you're looking for a heartfelt and educational experience surrounding the rescue maintenance of aquatic animals that can no longer live in the wild this is right up your alley. But if you're looking for the typical aquarium experience which can last an entire day in which you're exhausted from walking this is not that.

This was so fun and such a educational trip our kids had a blast My daughter loved seeing the animals and learning more about them. our son is 5 months and was very entertained and loves his Hope. We will be back this summer

Not very big at all and not too many animals like a normal aquarium, however, they are doing great work as a Marine Biology center and have packages that let you look into the hospital side of things and see the work they're doing.

Very educational an amazing what they can do for the animals. Very friendly staff.

It was awesome. We got the behind the scenes tour and it was a lot of fun. Everything is priced very reasonably considering that it's a fundraiser

To know the famous Winter dolphin of the movie. Do not expect any show of the poor animal they have there, just float and lean on a mat. Very friendly staff and explain everything you ask.

Our kids got to see Winter and Hope from the Dolphin Tales movies, and thought that was really cool. As of writing this (4/17/19), they are working on expanding. This is a rehabilitation center and has become really popular after the Dolphin Tales movies. The expansion will be good for them.

Love it! So great to see all the animals being well taken care of and all the staff very friendly

Had a great time seeing Winter! Can t wait till the new facility is all done! It was amazing to see how good it all tide into the movie Dolphin Tail.

A one of a kind experience. This is not your typical aquarium.

Unfortunately, this is the worst aquarium I've been too. Maybe if it wasn't so expensive, I would have been okay with it. But $30/pp, $10 parking and it took 15 minutes to look at the exhibits. I really hope the construction leads to a better place. At this point in time it is not worth a trip.

Loved it. Learned so much. The volunteers were great and they seemed to be super passionate about what they were doing and why. seeing all the animals that would not have had a chance in life without CWA is just amazing. I am a water person but live land locked and we do things like this aquarium when we can on vacation or travelling. Wish we could have done more. You gotta go if you are in the area even for just a few hours.

So glad we made the trip here. My son loves Winter and Hope and this has made such a lasting impression on him to see the movies and then actually be here. He has wanted to be a dolphin trainer sine he saw the first movie when he was three. I highly recommend visiting here to learn about what this amazing staff does everyday to help these animals. Also parent please watch your children do not leave them unattended one little girl almost drowned in the stingray touch tank while we were here and another mother lost her child. I will say the staff and guests here did a great job assisting in these traumatic events.

It was great, everyone was nice and seeing the dolphins do tricks was cool!

I totally appreciate what they are doing and helping animals. That is the only way I could justify the cost. Upon arrival you are directed to a parking garage given a parking ticket and told to pay at the ticket area for parking. On the first floor of the parking garage is some weird bathrooms that are like a trailer and it is tight on the stairs for two people. They smell odd and like port a potties but in a mobile trailer. The ticket area is semi organized but the prices for entry became expensive. It was $90 for 4 people and one was a child under 10. That did include the $6 Parking. The boat tours were extra and sold out so book ahead. You then are sent to walk down the road and around the parking garage to gain entry. It is very disorganized here. People are leaving and arriving through the same tent like entry. They take pictures and you can go from there. Once yo get inside it's gift shop in the center and everything leads to it. Prices in there are typical of a gift shop on the higher side. The aquarium itself is a little run down in my opinion. It was way crowded and didn't really see many animals. You couldn't hear whatever they were saying over the loudspeaker and it wasn't much to it. I was overpriced for the experience we had and the dolphins are blocked in one area which is where they stay so seeing them isn't often. I also worry if they are happy. It isn't worth the money in my opinion and we were done in less than an hour. They try to sell you pictures which were $25 for one $35 for 3 on up. If you go it would be better to go during specials in the evening entry for $10. That is what the entry should have costing

The children enjoyed it very much. The claim is Winter basically

Absolutely loved this place. Make sore you watch dolphin tales cause winter and hope are there with a great show to put on

A great place to take the kids they will definitely enjoy it not in winter time

was more of a hospital than an aquarium, very interesting though

They didn't spend much time there. Short time was there I really found the place to be extremely Pleasant. Great place to vacation at , or even better live there.

Much smaller than I expected it to be. Staff was very friendly and helpful, just no "wow" factor. Live 2 miles from the ocean and I'd choose the drive downtown to go to Florida Aquarium without a doubt.

Not many animals to see but the boat ride was amazing. Best part of the visit and worth every penny.

A great facility that is, for better and worse, currently expanding and enhancing their facilities. Stories behind the animals in residence hits you in the feels. Highly recommended.

Cute little place to take your kids and learn about saving marine life. Lot of rescue animals. Most attractions are around the movie Dolphin Tale.

We enjoyed seeing Winter, Hope and the other rehabilitated animals. What a great aquarium. We can't wait to see the aquarium after the expansion is completed.

We got a great spring special price and took our family of 6 on a dolphin tour and their amazing rehab facility for a little over $100. That's an unbelievable deal. We find very few fun family activities that cost so little for us! The staff was super friendly and had lots of fascinating information. You can tell they love working there. Even popsicles on the boat were excellent. It was a very cool facility and intimate. I wish we could have seen more but we were exhausted from a long day already. This is a great destination. Definitely make time to see this great aquarium. A local employee at our hotel tipped us off (thanks Tamara!) on this place and we're very grateful!

Some of the dolphin tanks were TOO SMALL! I saw one dolphin losing it emotionally because it didn't have enough room to swim! Poor creature. I left because of this and will never return!

Fun place to take kids to learn about the different dolphins and other animals

The worst aquarium , nasty , dirty everywhere. the a/c doesn't work right , it is very hot inside , the shark tank is dirty needs cleaning , a/c vents are nasty . poor show . Customer service bad , rude . Someone from the main office needs to come and do something about it . It is pretty bad.

Absolutely amazing!! Not a sea world. They help!! All money helps the animals get rehabilitated. Winter is amazing. As is all of the ocean life there. The time they spend rehabilitating the animals is awesome. They all look very happy. The ones that are there for life is because without these guys @Clearwater Marine they wouldn't have had any life. Winter's prosthetics alone cost a fortune. Its amazing how they help her have a life. She is there forever as if they let her go she would not survive as she cannot hunt for herself. She is extremely happy. Wonderful place. Please support them. Picture is grandaughter with Winter. You can see her prosthetic on her tail in the picture! Enjoy!

Worth every penny. Staff top notch. They really show passion. Saw both Winter and Hope. My kids loved every bit. The boat ferry staff were great. Definitely return trip next time we're in the area.

I'm only giving it an "ok" rating because it's pretty small and there is construction. I am certain that once the construction is complete, it easily earn four stars. We took the Dolphin boat tour and saw a few wild dolphins... Each employee and volunteer seemed to be extremely knowledgeable about the operation. It was worth adding it to our Orlando vacation!

We loved it! Awesome how many animals they've rescued. Wonderful education opportunity for our daughter

Dolphin tale 1 and 2, it was awesome movies, due to these movies gave us some ideas and business humanitarian on this facility, I hope to continue this series.

A little pricey considering there is not much marine life to observe, but it's for a good cause, the care of injured creatures.

Educational and inspiring! The work they are doing to rehabilitate and care for these animals is astounding. Loved it!

Not worth it. You can't see or get good pictures of the animals because there's so many people. The workers won't give you space and they say you can't stand in a certain area, even though it's behind the ropes that are already 2 or 3 feet from the rails. Winter stayed in one spot and acted sad the whole time.

Love it so much, can't wait for the expansion to be finished for next summer!

Took my kids for my daughter's birthday. She loved everything about it. Totally made it worth it. Staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. My daughter is very smart and she had lots of questions that they were more than happy to answer.

Organization, Friendliness, Excellent care of the species ... Excellent

It was amazing to watch the movie and then actually be able to go there and see Hope and Winter. My 6 year old daughter was so excited. What an amazing example of what can happen while following the heart, working hard and being determined.

Very neat place. Staff is excellent and very knowledgeable. They do great things!

Good reception and shuttle service due to heavy rain. The animals are very well treated and can be observed closely. A bit short as visit duration but the site seems expanding. Nice activity for a quieter day!

This place is a tourist trap and was so crowded. My son with a mobility issue had trouble getting around. A friend had given us passes for our kids to get in free, or we would've spent a fortune to get in. Just enjoy the beach and save your money!