gulf world marine park Reviews

Fun but the first time was more organized. This time we were rushed thru. Over all we had a great time.

Good, but why do they constantly promote recycling and don t have recycling bins for their bottles on site?

I marked something off my bucket list when I stepped into the pool with the dolphin. The experience was awesome! The trainer was great and aware of everyone under her supervision during the session. I was a little anxious and she realized it without me saying anything.
Kudos to the trainer and Cajun for being such a loving mammal.
Memories to last a life time.
Thank you

Packed full of fun for the entire family! The shows are entertaining and educational enough to satisfy everyone in the family. We enjoyed feeding the stingrays!

The dolphin show was the only thing that made it worthwhile. They were supposed to have a feathered friends show at 11 am when we went but it never happened. The place needs some love.

Enjoyable couple of hours. Be sure to buy tickets online and save. Be sure to plan around the day's show schedule.

It's such a fun place, from the amazing animal shows to the fun times with family

After spending $600....$135 of which was a CD with pictures of our dolphin encounter, the code (manually putting it in and scanning the barcode) that they give you so you can download the pictures does not work. I have emailed twice and called. Therefore, I am seeking legal action. If they take your money and do not provide the services you are price gouged for, it is criminal.

Main attraction for the place is dolphin show and a sea lion show. Children can watch, learn and enjoy.

The staff was absolutely amazing! We had a great time the kids got to do the meet and great with Striker the dolphin and it was awesome! My litte girl couldn't contain herself she was so happy! Thank you to everyone who worked their and was so good to us! We spent 5hrs there and enjoyed every show and exhibit!!

Paid for daughter to swim with dolphins to which only one spectator could go in if 18, two could go in if under 18 for an additional $5.00, on top of $28.00 it cost to get in. Did not know the 17 rule or we would have lied about her age. I know, not the right thing to do, right. I offered to pay the five dollars to get in to watch her, they said they could not strict policy. So I asked for My money back which they gladly refunded. Wife said arena was empty and I could have just walked in because they never checked wrist bands. Now that is customer service at its best. Instead of gaining a happy customer and an additional five bucks they got an unhappy customer and lost 28. Not to mention overpriced.

This was a pleasure, had lots of fun. It might be small, but it is quality entertainment !!

The show were nice and the interaction with animals.But for the price you would think there would be more to see than 4 shows and more fish to see

Very recommended!! Amazing experience swimming with the dolpins!!

This attraction was ok. We attended a couple of shows. The first was hard to hear the cast but the animals presented - cat, dog, rat, iguana and a couple of birds did some pretty good tricks. We then saw the sea lion/ dolphin show which was really good. Some attractions shut down due to updating of the area. Shark/ sea turtle area was cool but hard to see due to windows not cleaned well. Attraction has been there a while and it looks it. Really needs a big cleanup and updated. Gift shop / ticket area had leaks in ceiling. Staff was exceptionally good in accommodating our granddaughter who was having to do a bolus feed while we were there.

I went to gulf world this spring break and was very excited as I was remembering it from my life in Panama City. It was a great experience! The animals and food were wonderful! However I got to the dolphin show and saw this particularly foul faced young woman she seemed to not like what she was doing and it started to Change my overall mood. She was on photo staff, constantly checking her cellphone and putting the sign down as I was trying to read it. And when I finally bought my ticket for the dolphin hand shake after the show she was not paying attention a and it seemed the other worker was doing it on their own with no support and seemed overwhelmed. I think I head them call her kassie maybe it was loud I might be wrong. Regardless it was a great experience and a wonderful activity on my vacation. But because of this short interaction at the last show of my day at gulf world I am very disappointed.

Wonderful, lots to see & do...we swam with the dolphins... Kids and adults loved it!!! GW focused on taking so many pictures, CD was little expensive.... But overall it was a fun day!!

Annual passholders, locals, the kids just love it. 3 hours tops to spend here. Check the show times before you go and schedule around those. It is not the best maintained park I've been to but since these are so few and far between I'm just grateful we have one so close. Animals all seem healthy and well cared for - a lot of rescue work done by the staff. Shows are fun and touch tanks sting Ray tank is huge.

I totally enjoyed every single minute of the royal swim. I will definitely do it again.

Great place to take your children and is great for all ages. The dolphin show was exciting as they went through the tricks and sea lion was added to dolphin show. Sea lion actually kissed the dolphin on its head. So cute ! Have live exhibits of birds also . entry fees apply.

This felt people-centered rather than animal-centered. Exhibits were minimal and shabby. Crowds were not observing mask ordinance.

I work here , it s hard work as an employee you are in the light of the guest. Every morning I clean the park then water the tropical gardens. Making sure the park is ready for our guest that come to visit.
Thank you for being a part of our life s on your holidays.

Wonderful afternoon here. Lots of stuff to see and do.

This place was so disappointing and disgusting. The tanks were all very filthy! The poor fish would have a much better life out in the real world obviously. The sea turtle stayed close to the side of tank as if he wanted out. His space seemed too small. Some of the exhibits smelled horrible! Not sure how this place stays open.

**bass pro has nicer tanks if you want to see fish well maintained.

The best swim with the dolphin anywhere. My trainer was fantastic and swimming with Sandy and Nate(dolphins) we're outstanding. If your in PCB, it is a life memory to visit Gulf world and swim with the dolphins.

You can't miss these shows. Kids or no kids. We see it every time we come to PSB. Love it.

School feild trip was awesome. Glad we have y'all local to us.....we had a great day...and the burger was great also.....

Very entertaining for the whole family. Inexpensive and a great way to spend time away from the beach.

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Awesome time. Trainers were great. All the animals were so much fun. Will definitely come back for another visit. Only thing that was not cool was all the undisciplined children from the Conley 2nd grade field trip. No parents or teachers were doing anything to prevent the children from ruining the dolphin show. Very disappointed in our future generation.

We had a great time here. We participated in the Royal Swim with dolphins and it's such a cool experience. The trainers are great with dolphins and humans! The photos of your time with the dolphins is a little pricey. The rest of facility was under construction when we were there, there wasn't much else for us to do. Hopefully, they can finish updating their facility, because they offer really cool experiences and it has the potential for being an all around great attraction.

Ive been here twice and i loved it both times and i will go back its awsome for all ages

Always enjoy visiting Gulf World. It's an annual tradition

Love Gulf World! We watched 3 shows and learned so much about dolphins, seals, and "feathered friends". The kids enjoyed every minute of the shows. Also, you can pet sting rays, talk to the parrots, and see up close "Big Sea Turtles".

What a great time. I did the Penguin Encounter. Was a dream come true. Being able to touch, play and feed them was so awesome. The staff was friendly, the facilities were super nice. After playtime with the penguins was able to see a few shows and walk around the rest of the day checking out the other animals. Was a great day. An absolute MUST in PCB.

The aquarium's needed to be clean the water all look kind of greenish. The coral reef area did not have even one piece of coral in it. With the crowds it was very difficult to get in to see some of the attractions. No place to get out of the rain when my husband wanted to smoke. Would not recommend it.

You should get here by 11:00 AM. The petting pool is cool. The tropical theater is boring for adults.The dolphin show is very cool.

Great experience for the kids. All of the animals were adorable and the staff was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We were touched by how good the staff was with the animals, although it felt like production and entertainment value of the show's took a backseat. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals in the shows but the performance itself could use some refinement. Overall for the entire experience: Worth the money and 5 stars.

We had A-blast! A couple of the habitats were under construction like the coral reef aquarium. But all in all we had a lot of fun. They have quite a few meet and greets available with different animals. Definitely worth the trip.

We had a wonderful day at Gulf World, the dolphin encounter was definitely the highlight of our vacation. The different shows were entertaining and educational as well.

So much fun. If you dont go to interact with dolphins you will be disappointed. But you will NOT be disappointed with the dolphin interaction. Staff was very friendly and made it fun. I will do it again. Well worth the money. Other things to see and do, but not much.

A little pricey but greqt fun for family about a 4 hour adventure.

I had a great time there with my son.There was plenty of staff around who could always answer my questions and we're real friendly.My only problem was that the seating in the for the dolphin aND seal shows were not handicap friendly and done of the doors were automatic and was hard to push him and open doorsbtoo.Thankfully there were a lot of friendly people who helped open the doors.

We really enjoyed our day at Gulf World. I woild have given a 5 star review. However, my two children did the bottle nosed dolphin meet and greet. I completely understand that photos are not included. I wanted 1 photo of each of them. I was told I had to buy the photos on the CD. So, I pickeed out 6 of the 21 they had taken. They still wanted me to pay $80 for the CD . I think this is a bit ridiculous considering I had already spent over $200 just to come into the park . I don't understand why a single print is not an option. So, now I have NO pictures of my children participating in this wonderful event.

Excellent place to visit. I highly recommend Royal Swim with the Dolphins!!!! Unforgettable experience.

I m not usually one to write negative reviews, but I feel compelled to save anyone else from wasting their money at the Gulf World Marine Park after our experience. We went for the Dolphin swim adventure. For 4 of us, we spent almost $700. I had an idea things were not looking good from the moment we entered. The facility was extremely dirty and the exhibits were very limited (saw a snake, a few sharks, and some stingrays). We were told to make our way to the waiting area for the dolphin swim adventure. Our adventure started promptly at the designated time. They send several workers around to ensure all cell phones are put away. The experience lasted 25 minutes total for our group of 12. Your dolphin ride lasts 5-7 seconds and your encounter maybe another 45 seconds. There were several young kids in our group. Our dolphin handler was stern and robotic with the kids. There is a photographer capturing pictures bc you are not allowed to take any of your own pictures. If you had one person in your group the price to have access to the photos was $55. It went up with each additional person. For us - we had 4 people in our group, the photos were $160. So you mean to tell me we spent $700 for a 25 minute experience and in order to have a photo to show from the experience it s an additional $160??!! This facility is a sham and only in the business of making a profit. Save your money and swim with dolphins anywhere but here!!

Shows are not that great, but swimming with the dolphins is pretty cool.

Although our swim with the dolphins was exciting, the amount of time we got and the cost for what we got was outrageous. They take pictures of your swim, and charge a phenominal fee for a CD of them. In my case, my CD did not work, and I attempted several times to contact them. They also had overcharged me when booking. All around, the customer service was very poor in taking care of these issues. For the amount of money this place charges for the services they offer, I would hope to at least get your money's worth, as well as good customer service when something does go wrong.

If I could give this place zero stars I would! Don t waste your time or money! It s a complete scam! It s $30 to get in and there are only 6 exhibits. Will take you about 10 minutes to walk through. The shows were only 5 or 10 minutes long and the dolphins didn t put on much of a show honestly. We saw the dolphins in the wild do more for free!! The stingray exhibit was down for construction, which we were not told that over the phone when we prepaid.
We also prepaid for my daughter to swim with the dolphins (it was the dolphin encounter package). It was $120 which was a little expensive but She s always wanted to swim with dolphins so we went ahead and did it. I paid and ordered it over the phone. We are on vacation with our parents so I asked the lady if they would be able to come back and watch her too. She said of course but it s a $5 fee for every additional observer besides one adult. At check in they refused to let them come back with us( there were only 3 of them) even if we paid extra as told on the phone. They told us there wouldn t be room for them but it was in the large dolphin stadium that seats everyone for the shows. So they had to Uber back to the condo alone. Then the online description makes it seem like it s going to be more one on one with the dolphin but there were 10 other people in the group with her and they all probably touched the dolphin for 30 seconds each, the rest of the time is spent watching everyone else have their turn. And you can t take your own pictures or videos of your child. They basically force you to buy the $60 picture package because you ve already paid for the experience so who wants to walk away from that with no pictures of your child. And there isn t anyone taking videos, just pictures so you can t take videos to have. It s insane! They did tell us that we couldn t take pictures and videos but not until we had already paid and were checking in and we couldn t get a refund at that point. I asked to speak to the manager and she was completely rude and unprofessional. She got smart with me and my husband and another couple that was complaining. Then she told another employee she would stay in the encounter to watch us and the other couple to make sure no pics were taken. So basically treated us like criminals that needed to be watched to obey the rules. I can t even believe this place stays in business. Dont fall for this scam!

Honestly, it is fun and kids have a good time seeing all the animals, but it's a bit too pricey for my taste. However, it is worth it to get a season pass if you know you'll be going more than twice in a year, especially if you have children 4 and under since they're free.

cool dolphin show..price is high for everything else..

Nice attraction and some interactive with the animals

Took my brother, sister in law and nephew had a wonderful time, it was way bigger than expected and everyone had a blast. well worth it!

Pretty nice nothing special. The dolphins were cool.

I participated in the Trainer for the day program with my friend's daughter. It was a fun day, however, it was not exactly what we expected. We thought we would have more one on one time with the sea lions & dolphins. We expected a lot more interaction, but were constantly handed off between people in different departments. It is basically a private tour of all the departments with photos. If you are going to swim with the dolphins though, I highly recommend you spend the extra money to do this. You get a tshirt, lunch, all the photos includes on a cd and VIP treatment. It is absolutely still worth the money!

Having a blast with my boy at gulf world. What a great place to have fun. Chase loves it!

On the expensive side for just a day trip. Dislikes that everything was another fee for other services even after paying admission price. We chose to go to several of the free shows during the day. Wouldn't recommend with little ones as it gets very hot and it's hard to find ways to cool off during outdoor shows. Absolutely love that they are rehabilitating and have rescued so many of their animals. Staff that did shows were informative, but kind of dry. (Script fault, not theirs). Enjoyed the sting ray pond and that the birds were in uncaged exhibits.

The Dolphin swim was extraordinary ! Sandy and Soleil, the dolphins, were so sweet, and the trainers and everyone else involved were so professional and friendly ! I loved it !

Again! Another great place to take a break from the beach. There prices first of all are phenomenal and affordable for the amount of shows and the park you are definitely getting your money's worth . My daughter loved the shows as I did. The photo package was one of the best deals because my daughter was able to get a picture with a dolphin and a sea lion. Recommended to all.

Paid $160 PER CHILD for dolphin adventure for opportunity to swim with dolphins. 6 seconds exactly of swimming with a dolphin. 30 minutes in pool with about 10 other kids mostly posing for camera person. Photos were $35 each or package of $55+/- per child. Absurd.

I've been here multiple times and have always LOVED it. However it's gone downhill significantly! Before the shows were great, the place was clean and friendly. Now it's definitely all about the money!

3 stars for overall experience, 5 stars for the dolphin swim adventure. The facilities for the animals were tiny and seemed to be lacking interactive toys for them to enjoy. There was not as many animals/exhibits as I expected, and most of them were empty. The swim adventure, on the other hand, was a fun and memorable experience for me and my two nieces. Roo was cute and playful and a great animal to experience as a family.

Spent about 3 hrs at Gulf World. Feel like we got $60 worth of endearment.

Excellent place to visit educational and very very entertaining outstanding shows.

Great dolphin shows! Small enough so you can see everything in a few hours. You can come and go as needed, which is great, if you want to go in the morning and come back in the afternoon.

Great shows! There's a scenic route you can take to get to different arenas where you can see various parrots and animals like alligators, penguins, turtles, and sharks. Lots of animals are rescues! Loved it