Who knew they had a wildlife center in Sylmar. You can find a Groupon for the admission. They have private encounters with certain animals for an extra fee. Wanted to go to "sloth social" & see the owl, they only have one visit per hour... so we left & came back. I suggest arriving when they first open because they do get busy on the weekend. Close up encounters vs going to the zoo. I loved seeing all the animals!
It was all right worth it for small children somewhat educational
Really cool displays and lots of informative guides, the work they so here is really amazing and can tell they are very passionate about what they are doing.
Great place for all ages. Fun and informative! Reasonable prices.
Cool to check out. Not a whole lot to see, but we didn't go on the nature trails and the turtles were moved elsewhere for construction. Friendly staff. $5 a person. Worth it.
Small, but quite interesting. Lived the movie showing a sea turtle's life span.
We had so much fun feeding the stingrays and learning all about the birds! They also do great work rehabilitating animals and releasing those who can be back to the wild!
Very surprised by the number of animals that have been sick. Informative and fun.
Good place to learn about marine life and great for children, hands on experience. Entrance fee very reasonable.
Very small but wonderful stingray exhibit. Help support the turtle rescue center.
The employees and volunteers here do great work rescuing and rehabbing all sorts of wildlife, in particular sea turtles and birds. Definitely worth a visit to see the wildlife recuperating, plus exhibits on local ecosystems, educational classes, etc. They had Cownose Rays in the "touch tank" during our visit - very cool to touch them and even help to feed them! Great place for kids and adults to learn about the local environment and how to help preserve it. The staff are very welcoming and helpful in sharing the rescued turtles' stories. Only $5 for adults, less for seniors and children! We will definitely be back to see the turtles' progress and to continue supporting the work of this organization!
Great wildlife rehabilitation center. Small but full of fascinating exhibits and extremely educational!
The Customer Service was great. Lots of fun cute things to buy! Love to see how they help and all the great things they are doing for the turtles. It was a good experience!
My kids love here
They give you good exposition for different animal in extinction
It's not crazy but its educational and you do met the cutest stingrays. It's small but its a fun little trip if you can't go in the water. Ifnyou want some crazy next level thing, this place isnt it. But if you want to learn somethings and pet some stingrays. This is the place.
Very educational for all ages!
See how they rescue the local animals...
Great place for a family visit. Our 3 year old loved the touch pool and looking at the fish and titles through the glass. Staff were helpful and engaging as well.
Closed for pandemic, boooo!
Open up!
Very fun and inexpensive to take the family. From opening to close they have multiple educational experiences for the family. The place is not very big but lots to do. You can pet sting rays and during select times you can also feed them. They were very good about teaching my kids and being patient with them when feeding the sting rays. This place is also a rehabilitation center for sea turtles who have been injured and you can view the turtles from an elevated platform. It s amazing how large they are and how much respect they have for marine life. In the same parking lot is a wild bird sanctuary where you can see a handful of birds including bald eagles who have been injured in the wild and can no longer fly.
This place is great for all ages and is well worth the inexpensive admission tickets.
Feeding and petting the sting rays is priceless for the little ones!!!
It's a wonderful day trip and to learn about the turtles everyone should go and visit it
Nice center for learning about marine animals. It's only a single a building/room so not a lot to do, but we'll worth an hour and $5 to visit.
Fun place for the whole family to spend a couple of hours learning about local marine life and birds. The staff is passionate about their work and happy to share their knowledge.
I want to be a marine biologist when I go up anyways so I've seen most of all of these animals before but to someone who's never seen before more like a place with as much as I they it's mostly after seeing all before
Great center, good animals. It is strange, each time we visit it, our kids get sick, I do not know if it is connected or not, but we are a little bit concerned.
Wonderful folks that are doing a great job for the marine wildlife. We try to stop by every year when we are on vacation. Make sure you also check out the birds.
Amazing, educational, interesting & interactive! I highly recommend a visit no matter what your age!!
This may be my favorite science center I've been to.
Very nice place for the young one to learn about marine life and conservation
Turtle day. Free admission. Big mistake. Screaming kids everywhere. Nice demo with the great horned owl. Would have loved to learn more about the turtles
We loved the ray petting and feeding time. You should know it is a very small place.
We go here every time we visit Daytona! It's inexpensive, educational, and fun! They help marine life and are very knowledgeable! Where else can you feed a stingray for $5?
It's very small and not much there. There are a few marine animals and birds. The money you pay does at least go towards the rehabilitation of the animals.
One of the most interesting places you will ever visit and you just might learn something. Children will love it.
A great experience! There is so much to learn and very knowledgeable volunteers.
It's a small place but paying for entry supports a good cause
Great place to spend a rainy day on your vacation! The marine science center is one of the Daytona areas cheapest and neatest attractions for visitors of all ages! They are constantly rehabilitating new animals so you never know what you might see there. They have several aquariums that feature numerous species of fish and turtles, a classroom to learn about and sometimes touch new things, and they even have a bird rehabilitation program and you can see the constantly changing birds that need a little help (it's entrance is located in the parking lot across from the marine centers entrance ramp)....
It was ok relatively inexpensive and worked out to keep my 3 year entertained. It was not as hands on or interactive as we have come to expect. But it's cool and had a few different types of species then we usually get to see.
A MUST visit while on vacation! Hope to come back and enjoy the bird sanctuary! Great volunteers who taught us a BUNCH during our 1 hour visit!
Small but very nice. Lots to see and learn. Petting the sting rays was a highlight. So was watching an octopus feed. You can also touch starfish. The staff are friendly and helpful, too.
Not a very long stop for the cost of admission, but I understand the money is to help their recovery and rehabilitation programs. Might have been the time we went, but found it to be a little crowded/cramped...it might be a bit more fun during a less crowded time
Amazing place to visit for just $5.00. Very involved and knowledgeable. Had a blast
Touching the rays was cool, fun place for a child's birthday. The Bird rehab is neat and they have 2 eagles there.
Great little place! The volunteers are so great, they answered all my nephew's questions and mine. We got to pet stingrays, and saw the volunteers playing with the octopus. We also saw the various feedings- got the octopus, seahorses, and stingrays. For the price, you get a great experience due to the heavy involvement of the staff!
Small but very interesting and entertaining. Kids will love it too
This turtle hospital is something to share with young and old alike.
Not huge, but certainly worth a visit as part of a general day out to Ponce Inlet park. The ray touch tank is great, as are some other exhibitions. Check the website for times, as there are presentations with owls and other native species. The Avery , again not huge, but you get a close up look of a huge pair of bald eagles, owls and hawks.
Great hands-on experience for kids. Can't beat the $5 adult extra entrance fee!
This is an amazing place! They have a tank where you can feed stingrays. They also have a sea turtle hospital. You can watch them work on the turtles and see them in their tanks!
This is a great place for children so anybody who got small children take them here this is a wonderful place
My 8 year old daughter loves this place. My wife and I enjoy it also. It's a great way to get kids involved with nature. One of our favorite activities is petting the live stingrays.
Hands on exhibits were closed but plenty other to see
We had a great time petting the stingrays and seeing all the wonderful things they had. A great learning experience and a very good value.
Great place to visit! The exhibits are cool. The turtle ICU is an amazing place.
Great place to take the kids it's reasonable and everything you buy is helping the trutles and animals
Great hands on experience for kids. The bird sanctuary is wonderful too
Most educational for small area a must stop for children clean restrooms great staff improvements are continuously being made as Grant and donation monies become available....
While the Maine Science Center is fairly small it is a nice place to spend an hour or so, pretty cheap and when you are done you can head over to the lighthouse for some history.
This place is one of my favorite places to visit. Everyone that works here is super friendly. The exhibits are always clean and inviting. The displays are informative but simple for children. The best part is the turtle hospital. It's the perfect size for children. The outdoor bird area is also interesting, as well as the nature trail to the look out point. A great visit every time!
Nice place for kids to learn, the staff are nice and kids friendly!
My wife and I were there July 23, 2014 and it was very educational, interesting and the observation tower 2 stories high just enough to see the area. Bird sanctuary informative. Use BUG repellent for the walk in the marsh areas! Well worth the trip.
Will return next time in the area.
Marc
I didn't get to do a walk-through since we showed up 20 minutes before closing. They did let us look at the birds though.
great place to explore and see plenty of new things. staff very friendly!
Visited 3/31/2019 Awesome, great for everybody, $5 to get in, kids under 12 $2, touch tank, aquariums, sea turtle hospital, Bald Eagles, owls, Hawks, pelicans..really good place to visit.
Ashley and Lorelei and I had a great time.
Lorelei loved trying to pet the stingrays. She had a fun time looking at 5he fish. We also in enjoyed the nature walk. Yes we will be back.
marinesciencecenter.com
