gulf world marine park Reviews

Our family had an amazing time at Gulf World. We watched a sea lion and rough toothed dolphin show, a bottle nosed dolphin show, and we did a dolphin encounter. We had a blast. I highly recommend Gulf World.

We tried to visit your park today.our car got into the flooded area and the motor is ruined.there was no signs posted of flooding. Our 11 year old son was hoping to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately we are having the worries of how we are getting our car towed and our family home.a black car had the same thing happened and was towed.please address this issue.we hope to bring our son tomorrow.

Great little park, with tanks full of rays, sharks, turtles and fish. The macaws were a real treat to see. We stayed for the first part of the sea lion and dolphin show, and saw a seal being tended to while we walked around. Good spot for a couple hours' distraction, with a wonderful mission.

The staff has a ton of knowledge and love the animals so much it makes the whole experience better. Harbor seal encounter amazing life time experience

It was great the staff were both friendly and knowledgeable, shows were both educational and fun would really recommend anyone going to Panama City FL to visit.

Did the dolphin meet and greet, this was so awesome but wish I would have swam with them. An awesome experience! Staff was super helpful and friendly!

Took the family here today and we all enjoyed it from my 1 year old and up . . Well worth the admission when you first start you might think different but its the shows that make it great . . Don't miss the dolphins ,sea lions , or birds shows

Was not happy with our experience.Two employees were very rude.And we had 8 people "swim with the dolphins", Felt like more of a photo shoot to me.They don't actually do anything but a few tricks with them and they won't let your kids look your way so you can't have pictures.They take the pictures and then want you to buy them.Would never do this again.

It was ok. Loved seeing the sea turtles and shark and loved getting to touch the stingray.

Nice little Marine aquarium. They have some great animal encounters involving harbour seals, stingrays, penguins and dolphins. They are also the only facility with rough-tooth dolphins. Their shows and encounters are short but fun and informative. I did the harbour seal encounter with my mother and we both enjoyed it. Only reason not a five star is the lack of a changing room with a shower to rinse off after the animal encounter. To get out our wet swimsuits we had to change in a simple small bathroom stall with a toliet. Their was no place to put our items down while changing.

Me and my mother were in Panama for a mother/daughter vacation. I had booked a few months in advance for the Royal Dolphin Swim and it was absolutely amazing. My mother just wanted to observe this and it was great for her as well. Jet & Cajun were so wonderful to swim with. This was truly the experience of a lifetime. Though I forget the trainers names, they were wonderful ladies . They gave such great instructions and were super friendly.
The photos the professionals took were absolutely amazing. The show afterwards was truly wonderful . Seeing those beautiful dolphins swim with their trainers was truly inspiring. I fully intend to return in 2020 and do it again.
Above all my experience was the VERY best. My heart goes out to all the dolphins, trainers, and other animals at Gulf World.

Several, really neat exhibits. Sorta pricey for the show. The sharks and dolphins made it worth it.

Need to see the shows otherwise it is dull. The shows are included in the price of admission

Great place to take the children! They are very educational and a lot of fun. We love all the animals there especially the dolphins!

Such a fun place to take the family. The shows were wonderful as always. There is still construction though so some exhibits are not open.

I highly recommend this place. They have great exhibits, but the best thing is the shows they do. You would think you were at sea world, except without the crowds and long lines. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They show a lot of enthusiasm as they work with the animals. They also focus on recycling and other things to keep the animals safe. All of my family felt the price was worth it.

Very educational for all ages. Personally witnessed the care the Gulf World team/staff has in caring for local area marine life. Whatever your opinions about captive animals may be, I have witnessed nothing but professionalism and care when dealing seeing their rescue team in responding to local marine life calls. Must see the diving show, has been years but was really amazing. A must visit when in PCB, Florida.

It appears nothing like what they show in the commercials. A couple of the exhibits are in need of repair. The only thing I really like was the birds.

This was a spur of the moment decision to go to Gulf World and we drove about an hour to attend on a rainy day. I do not recommend this place. Think "Tiger King", but with dolphins, sea lions, etc. Kids thought the dolphin show was alright, but the place seemed dirty, the cages/pools seemed very small for the animals. I'd give it less than a star if I could. I wish I would have read the reviews before I purchased the tickets. Best part about it was the kids slept in the car on the way to Panama City.

Very fun and entertaining for the children. As well as the adults. Dolphin show was our favorite attraction!

Highly recommend Gulf World!! The dolphin encounter was priceless .. My family had a blast and made some unforgettable memories .. Erica (dolphin trainer) was a total joy as was meeting Mr. Cajun !!

I'm reviewing just the general park admission. It's a nice little half day break from the beach. The place is incohesive and hot and crowded at times/places. And the exhibits aren't that much by themselves, but the staff was informative and shows were entertaining.

We had an amazing experience at Gulf World. Two of my kids did the Adventure swim with dolphins one of my kids was too afraid. We happened to strike up a conversation with a wonderful staff member who took my child who missed out to meet her favorite dolphin and the trainers who were so nice to my son and gave him one of the best days of his life. I can't thank them enough. I am forever grateful my high anxiety child was able to participate.

Really neat place! Great activity to do while here at the beach!

Very entertaining! We went when everything was 50%off great deal My wife and 6 yr old swam with the dolphins and had a blast! However, they shouldn't charge such outrageous prices for photos $89 is just way too much to get all the pictures from your encounter. We had to just go what we had on the phone.

Used to be good, sold out to big business. We used to love the feel of Gulf World Marine Park. It seems that they are now trying to be like seaworld.The rates changed and they have all these "extra" programs that were just not needed.

Would not recommend. Also they do NOT answer the phone. I called for over an hour. The lady never called about a reservation. Wouldn t give me a refund. Instead try to sell me other stuff

I swam with the dolphin Luna and was able to cross that off my bucket list! Was disappointed that they didn't have all the exhibits open, but understand maintenance is necessary. Would recommend to anyone looking to have the experience of a lifetime swimming with dolphins!

Gulf world's "encounters" were a major rip off. They refuse to allow cameras and charge over 55$ for photos. The encounters are more of a photo shoot rather than the experience. After paying an overpriced amount for the "encounter" we couldn't afford a single photo. They don't allow food or cameras. 1 star for the the friendly and helpful staff. I would not recommend. Save your $$$.

Most of the exhibits were closed for renovation or sad bc they were so small. The swim with Dolphins expierence was great though! I had a great time.

What a great park! Just the right size, many shows kept the pace moving so you're not walking place to place or "bored" much, and you can knock everything out in a half day if you want. Wish we would've been there for the big stingray exhibit they're building. It's nice to get up close and personal with the birds, too - some talk to you. The dolphin show was enjoyable and the sea lion show was also entertaining.

The Dolphin show is great! Loved the stingray pool. Not a fan of these sorts of places, makes me want to free the animals but they all seemed very healthy and active. Good rainy day activity.

My family enjoys our time at Gulf World. We take our time walking around the sightseeing part and watch a show or two while there. We would like to see a change to the picture taken rules.

Really enjoyed my time here! There is a mice variety of animals and interactive options even if you aren t paying for a swim adventure. I would definitely recommend this place!

This place is amazing! Haven't experienced anything like this since I've been a kid. So glad we got to experience it with our little one:)

Fun activity for a change of pace , the dolphin trainers were awesome, loves watching then jump in with them and swim, it was beautiful

We were terribly disappointed in this place. For the $30.00 price per person we expected a LOT more. We literally saw everything in 20 minutes and what we saw was not impressive and felt sorry for the animals poor conditions. This should be a $10.00 per person place at the most.

My family loved it the animals were amazing and staff was friendly. You can tell they put it a ton of time and care into what they do. We had time to see the sealoin and dolphin show then eat there and see another dolphin show after we ate. All day pass and military discount.

A little pricey. You have to pay extra for the cool stuff and the park isnt big enough to keep you busy for long. But it is nicely maintained and the staff is nice

Your safest and closest bet in a dolphin encounter, loads of fun ,super intelligent creatures.

We had a great time loved the shows and Halley was Excellent when we did out Dolphin encounter she was helpful patient and knowledgeable she truly deserves recognition for what she dose

Awesome place! We visited while on vacation, we had a great time and our kids loved it! A lot of amazing animals and people that truly cared about them.

Not a whole lot to see...some birds, some fish, a croc, a snake...some seals. It's not bad but it cost 4 of us $98 bucks and it was definitely not worth that much!!

Very fun experience. Animals looked happy. Friendly informative staff.

Wonderful place. My wife & son got to swim with the dolphins and had a wonderful time.

I will list the Pros and Con's of Gulf World:

Pros:
-Adorable and smart animals
-Royal swim
-Amazing Employees
Con's:
-Pricey (I don't care though. I'm a teen!)

BEST. PLACE. EVER!!!!!

Second time I've been love it every time. Awesome place for the kids to see big marine wild life.

Really wanted to take my kids to see dolphins during this trip. Hard to decide if we want to go on a dolphins boat tour (cheaper) and a chance to jump into the water with the dolphins or paying more money to go to Gulf World to play with the dolphins. Turns out we had a great day at Gulf world. It was off peak season and there was not a big crowd. Our dolphins meet and greet time slot required us to miss the only dolphins show of the day but the staff quickly offered us to return the next day to see the show again. We spent about 3 hours there. The kids really enjoyed the stingray pool. Most people left after the last show of the day but we hung around a little longer and was really treated with an extra seal training session where the seals were being fed and the kids were able to interact with the seals in person. That made the day for us! The trainers were very nice to the kids.
We will go back tomorrow to see the whole dolphins show again, can t wait!
I m not feeling so bad about spending the extra money any more.

Overall not a horrible experience. There are some up close and personal things with the different birds and the stingrays. Definitely overpriced and very small. We were disappointed with the whole experience.

awesome place would recommend everybody and i will be returning

Affordable with lots of things to do for both children & adults in one place. The animals are well cared for & the food & souvenirs are reasonably priced as well.

We enjoyed very much. The one thing I did not care for the glass on some on the aquatic aquarium needed cleaning really bad hard to see.

This was an excellent encounter. I highly recommend going to these shows.

Did the dolphin encounter with my 6 and 8 year old..they loved it..have to buy the picture package afterwards as no cameras aloud.but to see their faces was worth it. Dolphin show was good..otherwise not to much to see out of the ordinary.

Staff is friendly and helpful. Lots to see and do and very affordable! the shows were really great. Loved being able to pet the Ray's. Next time definitely getting the swim with dolphins package deal

Nice. Could have been better as lots of animals were missing. Mainly birds

This place is amazing and most definitely got our money's worth. Me and my boyfriend paid for the dolphin encounter which already included the general admission, and the encounter alone was perfect. Being able to be close to a fascinating beautiful animal like that was breath taking. They take amazing pictures of you kissing the dolphin and stuff but it cost $30 for ONE picture which was disappointing because we wanted to be able to show our family what we did. That was the only bad thing, prices for the PERFECT photos. Great staff, animals, good quality pictures, shows, and overall amazing experience.

Customer service was very rude and ignored my sister and I when we tried getting help with our photos from swimming with the dolphins. The same situation with the snack bar, we ordered two simple sodas, and they continued to serve the next people in line, completely ignoring us.

Great for all ages me and my wife had a great time and will go back.

We took our friend as a gift to do the royal swim, she loved it! It was a great experience. The trainers are all awesome and attentive. The air was out when we went but everyone made the best of it. The bird show was creative and funny. The sea lion and both dolphin shows were amazing to watch, engaging, funny, and over all a great time! I read online ahead of time that the photo packages are ridiculously high, but it was reasonable and worth it for us, but we only paid for one person, if you had a family, it could get to be hundreds of dollars easily. I guess as long as you're prepared it won't be so shocking. Overall great time!!

It was ok. We spent $200 for basically the dolphin show that lasted 20 minutes.

Very educational and well kept, even though parts were down for construction while we were there.

Not really worth the price. The dolphin show was good but that was about it.

The place was overall nice but the dolphins are treated HORRIBLY

Kids had an amazing time with the dolphin swim. The added bonus was going on a quieter day, they were picked as helpers in the shows and loved it.

Great place and learned lots.