gulf world marine park Reviews

Great day! Highly recommend, especially if you are sunburned and do not want to go out on the beach. Great shows, exhibits, and sea life all under one roof.

The place was a pretty good experience for a cloudy/rainy day at the beach. Choosing the "Dolphin Meet & Greet" package was great. Charging my family an extra $200 to get the pictures, not so great. The dolphin show was very cool. I really liked the overall message about keeping the beaches and oceans clean and clear of plastic garbage and trash. However, there were NO RECYCLING containers to be seen on the premises and most all of the drinks came in plastic bottles. Kind of counterproductive.

It was a great day filled with shows and into. Only complaint was the cost of the pictures
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Gulf World is a day long adventure location. I recommend the purchase of a souvenir cup to keep the liquids flowing as you will be walking all over for the different feeding events or shows. The staff is knowledgeable and courteous.

The family loved the dolphin experience & the shows! Picture options of dolphin experience could be cheaper, but overall a wonderful time.

Was great that most of the animals are rescued, however their living spaces were way too small

Pretty cool place, a must do one time, my Kiddos had a good time

Great family fun not to big you can get the shows in and tour the place in a few hours which is just perfect for the little ones.

Loved it. Close to where we stayed and great alternative to a beach day if too sunburned.

We re from Georgia, so I guess we got spoiled by Georgia Aquarium. Sad thing is both cost about the same, but there is not much to see here. For how expensive this place is, it s ridiculous to have so much closed off. You have to wait for shows or pay for the extra experiences. The exhibits are tiny. The worst part is the lack of air conditioning in the indoor parts. The ONLY part that felt cool was the gift shop. We went to the bird show and there was NO AIR. Everyone was hot and sweaty. You could buy a paper fan for $1. For how much they charge here, the fans should be free... especially with the lack of air. The Icees are $8. Very disappointing experience. Would not recommend.

Great place to escape the rain. We had a blast. Dolphin showes, sea lions,sting rays, birds, etc. Alonh with very nice staff!

Great staff and a very good experience. Had a blast.

The beginning of our trip started out bad and ended not much better. We couldn t find parking so end up parking on some grass behind a dinner and hoped we won t get towed. When I asked the staff they said it should be okay but I was still upset they don t have enough parking. They said they are building more so hopefully for people that comes in the spring of 2019, they will get parking in an actual parking lot and not on dirt or grass. I saw price for dolphin encounter for $89 but when I booked it online, it became $129. Then I realized in some parts of the webpage it says $89-$129. We went 5/23 so I guess it s peek time for the park. $129 In my opinion is a bit much for 30 minutes of a group of people interacting with dolphins. I thought we were suppose to get 30 minutes each. Not worth the price. I think $89 would have been plenty for this activity. My child said it was boring. I was upset with this because it s suppose to be her birthday present. It s an expensive and boring present! What parent wants that! We couldn t take pictures either because they wanted to charge everyone for a picture of our own kid. $55 for pictures on a cd. $35 for one printed 8x10 picture. So we end up spending $55 for pictures on a cd. Way too much in my opinion. Thank god the pictures at least came out good! Thanks to my child who is photogenic. There are a few shows but I think the only okay ones were the bottle nose dolphin show and the rough tooth dolphin&sea lion show. Most of everything was outdoors so it was very hot. Food price was okay but they ran out of ice cream so we couldn t get any even though we paid for it. Very disappointed especially when it s so hot! Then we had to go back in a long line to get a refund!!!! So we spend $264 in 3 hours for a hot and not so fun time. I wouldn t suggest this. I think it s too expensive and boring.

The best place ever I highly recommend it! Go here if you want fun! I go every year. Its the best and is totally my dream job! GO OTTO! (That's my favorite sea lion btw)

Awesome to see things up close but not near as much as I thought there would be.

Gulf "town" is a tacky place that charges for practically everything. Not a single water fountain can be found in the entire place. The corporate greed is painfully obvious as you literally stumble thru this hellhole. Parking is terrible and surprisingly free. Gulftown is very small and the events are unorganized. Most of the enclosures are outdoors for your sweating pleasure. I am surprised they do not charge to use their bathrooms. LOUSY

The do not care for their animals as they should!!!

Gulf world was really cool, and I was very impressed to hear them encouraging people to help pick up trash to save marine life but I was also disappointed to see that some animals did not have very much space! The large sea turtles as well as the crocodiles seemed crammed :(( I hope they are humane and that they are giving the animals a good life... Sad to think they could have a better life in the ocean, but instead they are kept in tiny enclosures here...

I'm giving three stars because for what we paid, I felt we didn't get to see much. We are from Cincinnati area and pay about the same at the Newport Aquarium which offers a tremendous amount more in regards to exhibits. I completely understand that there are repairs due to the hurricane, but feel that either prices should be adjusted for this or the exhibits not available should be stated online. The staff was very friendly however and the shows were cute. We come to Panama City every year but this was our first time at Gulf World. Might give another try next year to see if any improvements.

We got to swim with dolphins!!!! Flipper met our bucket list. Great service, however a bit of bait and switch with picture. It was $95 for pictures afterwards, just be ready for it.

I haven t gone yet but I was looking at the reviews and I think my kids will love this

I wish the tickets were cheaper or that they had an ala carte option so you could just show up and pay and watch the dolphin show. It was at 3 pm and the only show we really wanted to see needless to say my toddler couldn't wait that long because it was so hot and with the dolphin encounters going on we weren't able to see any dolphins :( I will try it again once he's older but I didn't think it was a good option for a 2 year old. Nice staff and facility. Great gift shop.

Love this place great shows very impressive place to see

Great staff, very knowledgeable. Good group prices. Very clean.

So we went on September 8 th, the lady never asked us if we were local so until I spoke up we were going to be charged regular price. No signs about first responders which I could have got in free had I known. The price we paid for 5 people and this is what we saw. Three birds, a turtle and some small shark. The snake was not in the display until we started to leave. No sea lions no show except the dolphin show. The food was awful and stale. Never again. And the staff was rude and very unprofessional looking.

I work here now ive worked here before and they have definitely done some upgrading! But one thing that hasnt changed is everything is handicap accessible and we also have interactions that handicaped people can participate in! Truly an amazing place qith great people who genuinely care about the animals!

We scheduled a meet and greet for our 6yo daughter. She loved it!! It was worth the money. Very happy with the disc of photos that was included in the package.

It was spectacular!!!! Royal Dophin Swim with Haley, Sandy and Amaya (sp?)

Even with the small crowds during off season they stay open for the people that are here.

The kids had a great time at the dolphin encounter!

Great place to discover dolphin, parrots and creatures of the sea.

Great place to let the kids get one on one attention with the dolphins.

The dolphin swimming experience should say, "swim with dolphin for 30 seconds and then watch everyone else get their 30 seconds" NOT swim with dolphin for 30 minutes! Overall the trainer we had was nice, the dolphin was adorable, but the price you pay for what you get to do is a bit outrageous. My son and I were SO excited to swim with a dolphin for THIRTY minutes... until we had to stand in a line to pretty much pose for pictures with the dolphin and the swim with it for 10 seconds so the next person in line can do the same thing. The groups are large, the observer area is tiny. We understand now why they have a strict no picture or video policy because they don't want the truth of what the "experience" is to be shown! Not only that you just get the feeling that they have the system down to a T. Get the people in, stand in the pool with a dolphin for 30 minutes, get them out and then bring in the next group. Also the price of the pictures (which is the ONLY way to get any picture with the dolphin which is pretty much all you get to do with them is pose) are SO expensive! Like beyond! And YOU do all of the work. They have you stand at a computer choose all the pictures with you in them, then you pay for them and follow the directions to download them to your phone. Meanwhile they are making a LOT of money off of you and the other 15 people who were in the pool with you.

We scheduled a Dolphin Encounter at Gulf World in Panama City Beach Florida for August 7, 2017. What an AMAZING time we had!!! Caroline (dolphin trainer) & Turk (bottlenose dolphin) made an INCREDIBLE team - we had a BLAST!!! We will plan to come swim with the dolphins again at Gulf World!!!

BOVINETT FAMILY

Took our 2 grand kids, 2 1/2 years old, here on December 21st. It was a cold day and not very crowded. The kids loved the fur and feathers show with the pet rat, dog, cats, and birds. Very entertaining. We also saw the dolphin show at 1 pm which was spectacular! They usually nap at this time but the show kept their attention! Such excitement in their faces. Also fed the sting rays which generated many laughs. Will come back!

Wonderful experience with Dolphins. Recommend Royal Swim. Most people very nice. Others probably need a other job. Expensive bit worth it.

Absolutely amazing place. Love all the exhibits and such a friendly staff. I highly recommend this adventure!

Seems like a mom and pop operation still growing. Bird exhibits inside were nice but could have benefited staff interacting with birds. Dolphin show was average as well as seal.

The experience was fantastic the only thing is after you pay the large amount of money to get in there to swim with the dolphins or whatever you decide to do in there then you have to pay exorbitant prices for the pictures that they take cuz you're not allowed to take your own

Sitting at the feathered and furry friends show very disappointed in the show and disappointed in the staff member operating the lights. At 1pm show today. Told my brother he had to wear his mask which he only had it below his nose c at there were 12 other older people not wearing there mask at all and she didn t say anything to anyone else. Do not recommend not worth the price I m very disappointed. Came from St. Louis missouri come here if you like disappointing time

A must go to when you visit Panama City Beach!!! My kids were excited and learned a lot about the animals. Cooper the sea lion was their favorite. And he gave them a kiss. They also touched a dolphin, pet, and fed stingrays!! So cool

Had a wonderful time!! We did the encounter with seals package and it was definitely worth it! The trainers were very professional and kind and you can tell they love what they do! The park has many different animals to see and their dolphin show was awesome!

Have gone twice. Kids really love it. Dolphin show is great

The dolphins show is great. Unless you're paying for a private encounter, it's not worth the money. The aquarium was small and dingy and not coral animals. The view to the sharks and turtles is dingy also. The birds were pretty and it was difficult to really see the penguin.

We did the dolphin encounter. There were 7 other people there. You pay for a half hour with a dolphin and "free time" but only get about 10 minutes if your lucky. We found a coupon on line and saved 35 percent so that was good. The encounter itself was very informative and fun. The grounds were kind of run down but still neat to see all the animals. the two really bad parts were the price of pictures and the customer service at the snack area. The price of pictures I think is way too high. I realize they are in this for money but I think you could still get money if you dropped the price some... like a lot. We went to the snack area outside, I felt she was rude and very unfriendly. she was short with us and very curt. The rest of the staff was very friendly and informative. I would recommend it just surf the web for coupons

Awesome! Just loved it. The amazing staff greatly enhanced an already excellent experience. Bring your family and treat yourself to the dolphins!

I want to say what a great time we had at Gulf Marine World. And let me say Lee Ann was Awesome!! I planned an engagement there and everything went as planned. I talked to Lee Ann multiple times in regards to this and she was very respectful and courteous helping me through the entire process. Me and my now fiance done the swim with the dolphins with a proposal in the dolphin tank. Lee Ann i want to say thank you once again for you professionalism and your courtesy of you and all your staff their. Was truly and amazing lifetime experience. For anyone who wants to think out of the box for an engagement this is the place!

My dolphin encounter was amazing!!!! I can't wait to go back
with my kids :)

Took my daughter to swim with a dolphin. We had a blast. Wish I would have had more time to enjoy the rest of the animal attractions but they had a good variety.

Very bad experience.
Dirty place. I had just a week vacation and planned everything and the only place I didn t enjoy was the Gulf World. It says 30 minutes swimming with the dolphins . But it was literally 6-7 SECONDS. I ve payed almost $250. FOR WHAT????
Instructor was very rude, she was not competent, specially with kids.
Don t waste your money.

Nice place to see what can be done with rescued animals. They're all being taken care of for as long as they live.

this is for all the things @cierramisst has exposed about y'all

Really cool place to relax and learn new things about animals!

Facilities are extremely dated. Water so blurry you can barely see the few (maybe 2?) sharks & sea turtle. Stingray water looked gross. Enjoyed the sea lion & dolphin shows. Did dolphin meet n greet. Said you spend 15 min with them but each person may have had 10 seconds. Staff were very friendly. Pics for our family of 5 visit with dolphin were $200!! I d never pay full price to go here. I ll also never again go even paying the 1/2 price I was able to find.

It's not worth mother they charge you dearly and no animals have. The only thing that this place offers is to swim with the dolphins and it is very expensive.

Awesome experience. It was small enough that it wasnt overwhelming. The dolphin show was amazing.

We did the dolphins encounter. I was a little nervous about the cost, but wow!! I got what I paid for. I had done something similar before, but this was much better. The amount of interactions you had with the dolphins was incredible. The instructors were so nice!! They took the time to learn and remember your name. I was impressed with their great attitude!! May be pricy, but soooooooooooo worth!

The dolphins cost way too much for much time you eat less then 3 minutes while sitting in the pool for a hour

Please, don't go there if you like animals and want them to be treated well.

Sea lions were obviously drunk. While swimming with the dolphins, one tried to give me a rim job.

Wanting to take the grands while at the beach. Called ahead no photos included in price!! We took the youth group from church years ago and the pix with the sealoins was included. Prices should include at least one pix.

Very organized field trip for a group of 60 kids. We all had a blast!