Miami Seaquarium Reviews

Extremely expensive but a great location and lots of fun things! Overall great experience!

Cute place, but not worth the amount it costs to get in. If you have never seen a dolphin up close you will get to. Overall not worth the money.

Great place to go with kids and family . Kids of all ages love to see the dolphins performing, Manatees, sea lions and manta rays. What a day out it was for my family.

Had so much fun I love this place the staff of knowledgeable and super entertaining

very interesting place. interesting shows. nice place to go with family

Very nice afternoon spent with my hubby. The staff is very friendly and the shows were nice.

It's amazing to read the negative reviews......can't figure out why....???
I've been there three times and my husband and I are going back again next month. I think it's AWESOME!!! The dolphin and killer whale show is GREAT!!
It's incredible seeing, first hand and close up, the wild life Florida is known for....flamingos.....manatees.....parrots.....& more!
I would recommend it to everyone!!

Don't waste your time and money. This place needs a LOT of maintenance, better shows and more animals. Parking lot is 10 dollars plus 50 at the door plus anything your going to eat inside ( water is 4 dollars ). Now if your going to charge people this amount of money you need to have a REALLY good place to show ( not the case ). I gave 2 starts because the idea is really good and the killer whale shows is ok.

Great experience for the whole family. Military free and 50% off for up to 6 guest. The staff was very friendly.

Great facility and staff. Yes, I've seen Blackfish. It's a powerful film for anyone who loves marine animals,. but there are clear differences in people who love animals and people who mistreat them. It's clear to me that those at this facility - mainly marine biologists and research students - love these animals dearly. Both seem to prosper humanely and happily.

This place had great pizza, better than your standard pizza joint and has a level of pricing. I will visit here again. Thank you!

Admission is extremely overpriced as is all the food and refreshments. On top of that they charge you $10 to park. This place is falling apart and it feels like you've gone back in time to the 80s, so they're obviously not investing the money back into the facility. Animal enclosures are very small and cruel. Only worth it if you get your tickets at a deep discount. I've gone to much larger and nicer aquariums that charged much less for admission.

Oh, the protesters at the entrance and parking lot are entertaining. Some will even chastise you for visiting via a megaphone.

They left The animals out in the tanks during the hurricane! They left an Orca out during the hurricane and 2 dolphins died! This place is disgusting!!!!!

Great performance. It's nice to see intelligent beings train humans how to perform. Now, if I could find someone to love me, take care of me and protect me from Mother Nature's cruel balance of nature, life would be perfect. For all the nature lovers, go check out wild Orcas separating a whale calf from it's mother.

We just came from there, and we are all extremely disappointed. Poor killer whale, spending 25 years in that small pool.
We had booked the dolphin encounter. Extremely disappointing. Each person could touch the dolphin when it passed a few times. They used the first 15 min on posses for picture taking. No fun or a wonderful moment with the dolphin. Really sad. On our last visit to Miami we went to "theater on the sea," on the keys. It would for sure have been worth the 2 hours drive to go there.
I do not recommend to go to seaquarium. Not worth the money. And they want 50$ for one photo. Bad experience.

I had a good time. The dolphin show was great for the kids. Even got some great pictures of the killer whale doing tricks. Beware if you sit on the front row of most shows you will get wet. I wish they had bigger adult shirts and the pictures are over priced.

Had a great time. The staff is awesome. The only thing was the prices. Parking is 10.00 plus 58 something to get in and the food prices are crazy. I think water was $4.00 a bottle. Glad we went, the kids had fun.

This place needs a little love. Maybe an expansion to make it a bit bigger with some new attractions or something; it's virtually unchanged since at least the early 90s. It's not bad, but for what you pay you expect more.

I loved the fish in the touch thank that suck on your fingers.

Loved it!! A bit pricey but I get why... wish the shows were a little longer but other than that what an awesome place !!

Had such an awesome time. Was able to catch most of the shows with too much of a rush and was still able to check out the exhibits. The food and drink prices are a little overpriced, but it's expected for an amusement type park. Overall, well worth the visit if you had a day to burn.

Very clean and very organized. The map is easy to follow and shows with time. We got the picture book for $40 which I thought it was a great price 3 big pictures, wallet, keychain, magnet. (It is print in paper but the quality is excellent) it was humid, but that it is normal in south Florida. It was few people since we went during the week, so it wasn't crowded or big lines.

You can't blame the staff and trainers for infrastructure neglect. Our experience with staff was excellent but this place needs a major upgrade. Best way to describe it is to use an analogy, so you've heard of 5 star hotels and 1 star hotels, this place is comparable to a roadside motel. The tanks were murky, the paint was chipped and peeling, and there barely any fish in the aquarium exhibit.

Even a dolphin was pleading with my 3 year old for help!

Com'on guys, let's invest some of those tickets sales back into the facility or someone will be making a documentary on you guys (think: Blackfish)!

Terrible place....
1st. Customer service: THE WORSE EVER, pretty common in Miami, too Rude. We bought the tickets online in order to save time and go thru for the entry. NO there is not a bar code scanner device to go thru. You have to make the line like everyone else doing to buy the ticket (which we already bought), after you have to email the electronic ticket to them, they print them, you get the the old fashion way tickets you can go. Conclusion: the easy and less traumatic way to get the ticket is buying there.
2nd. The infrastructure: the installations, building, store for food and drinks, the pools for the marine animals, TERRIBLE. Everything is really old, the pools for the Reef is a joke, all crystal are dirty, if the marine animals don't approaching enough to the crystal you wont see nothing, the water is very cloudy.
3rd. The pool for the Killer whale. I can't believe how small it is. I asked someone there if the pool has a gate to release the Killer whale to a bigger pool after the show and can feel a little freedom, the answer was NOT, but the justify was how deep the pool is, bullsh*t, the pool es really really small for that kind of animal.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT PLACE. If fact I think the city must close it.

Second visit to this place .awesome views and entertaining sea animals.clean restrooms. Was greeted by a live iguana coming out of the killer whale show.my kids were very entertained.

The animals didn't seem to be really happy in that place and a lot of them had wounds on their body. Also a lot of exibitions where closed. Not worth it for the price

is Barry Wasserman amazing place I never seen that before. it's enjoyable place. very very awesome place. weirdest day what did whole day without tired.

For the fact that they talk about animal conservation and the happiness and welfare of marine life, the enclosures are tiny, and very fake. The penguins made me sad, as did the sea lions and the manatees were just in a giant pool with lettuce floating on the top.

With the prices of the really bad food, and the entrance fee, the walking space should be half the size and the enclosures twice the size and the food much much better and cleaner all around. I work on cruiseships for a living and am a certified deep sea scuba diver and I ve seen 18 different aquariums all over the world and this was by the far the worst

I just loved the fact that they study animals and help the planet by cleaning beaches, keeping pollution away, being green, etc. but the park itself is a little dry. perhaps, bc of the construction (visited in March '18). but I'm sure it will finish soon. Good for kids, affordable (Groupon).

They haven't maintained so well. Water is too dirty for sea animals. Do not recommend when miami is too hot. But yeah when temperature is little better then you can visit.

Daily Animal Abuse! Lolita has been Enslaved in a Fish Tank for 50 Years!!! It's Time to Shut this place down and retire her to a sea pen. Her suffering and enslavement is NOT viewed as entertainment.

Good place for spent a morning but I'm would not go again. The worst is that there are very few staff and nobody to ask when you need.

Great experience.... Enjoyed A fabulous Day! The staff really does an excellent job!!!

Don t waste your money or time in this place. I went there 3 years ago and it was different than now. The place is very dirty and the shows are very boring

After see the killerwhale I was concern about the tank size, after doing some research I am even more disappointed. She should be transfer to a bigger place.

I was hoping for something better. But i guess thats not what you guys have. Never going here again!

This place is run down. It literally looks like they have tried to do any up keep. And lastly i was disgusted in the fact that they have the Orca in a tank that only about twice her size..(and she shares the tank with six dolphins.) the food is the equivalent of high school lunch.. 44 dollars a ticket is a rip off. Pleas support the orca and just dont go... I couldn't even watch the show after looking at the tank she had to live in

Great place for the family. Interact with sharks, dolphins and sting rays. If you want you can even suit up and get a hands on show with the dolphins. Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Would go back.

Not their fault the heavens opened up on us. Next time five stars and a beautiful sunny Florida day.

Loved it from the beginning to the end from the stingrays, sharks and flamingos at the beginning all the way to the whale show and dolphins in between let's not forget about manatees ,sea turtles the sea lions

This is not worth the money at all! I have been to the Atlanta Aquarium and the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Far better than this. The orca has been in the same small tank for decades I'm told by the staff and the water was murky. The entire park was small and outdated, the exhibits were terrible. I was completely unhappy there. It was over 50 with tax per person to get in. I cant see how they charge that much and not update the park. The food selections were terrible the restaurant looked like something from the eighties and awful food. The ac was leaking water down on people! The penguin exhibit was not designed for kids. I had to lift my kid up to see them. The only thing that was nice was the dolphin show. Great job there with the exception that the trainers spoke to fast and had a nasally pitch that you couldn't really understand what they were saying they were completely not engaging. It seemed like they just wanted to get it over with. I'm telling you it is completely not worth it. I'm serious do not go to this park. People who say this park is great have not been to an aquarium before. Very displeased. Go to the Atlanta Aquarium or the Baltimore Aquarium and you will see what I am talking about. Our just look up videos it is a distinct difference.

We had a fantastic time! All of the shows we're so fun and the staff seemed to car for.the animals well. The tickets were reasonably priced for all of the stuff you get to see.

Don t encourage this kind of barbaric entertainment. This is just wrong on so many level.

A must, if you are in Miami with kids. Love the live shows!!

It was pretty cool. A bit over priced. Skip the pizza stand, it's basically frozen pizza sold at $10 for two slices and a drink... The Orca show was awesome...honestly, the iguanas around the bird exhibit are really fun to watch...beautiful scenery throughout the park. I've seen manatees in the wild, the one in the exhibit looked pretty sad...they have algae growing on them...Protesters are always fun...I'd go back, just not too regularly.

All the refreshment centers shut down at 4 PM. Really? Otherwise, great place

This was a very sad place to visit. It's very run down and the animals are not in good living conditions. There were protestors outside of the aquarium and honestly I wanted to join them. The place is worn down and the food is barely edible. Would never recommend this place. The staff seems to care about their job and were kind and loving to the animals but overall the facility is bad. Wish I could give this place zero stars.

TL;DR: overpriced and maybe an hour or two worth of activities.

First off, admission is $45 a person for adults, which is a little extreme. Add to that the fact that parking is $10 (despite the fact that the lot was nearly empty during peak hours on a Saturday when I went). Admission for 2 adults plus parking is already $100. To put that in perspective, my local aquarium (New England Aquarium) sells year-long memberships which give two people unlimited admission for a year for only $10 more.

So with the exorbitant price out of the way, you might be wondering what there is to do. The answer is not much. Once you've seen the dolphin show, you've seen it all. The only large fish tank is incredibly dirty, and has no labels, so unless you're a marine biologist you won't know what you're looking at. The only things worth looking at in the tank were a nurse shark and a few moray eels. This would be fine if there was more to the aquarium, but there isn't. There are a few small tanks around the dolphin area with some interesting fish, but pretty much all of them were mislabeled which was a bummer as the fish in the description plaques were obviously not the ones in the tank.

I was seriously disappointed. Given the subtropical location and local biodiversity, the Miami Seaquarium is already luckier than most in that they have easy access to plenty of interesting ocean animals to display. However, it seems that they've chosen not to take advantage of this. I don't think I've ever been to an aquarium this bad. The Denver aquarium is thousands of miles inland and still has loads more to do.

My advice if you want to see fish or do something ocean-related: go to Biscayne National Park and go snorkeling. You'll see more and learn more.

I had an Excellent time . Credit to the girl working the first exhibition.
It would be nice if the ice cream stands were open . Most of them were closed

Get down there now to see the baby manatee! The knowledgeable and friendly manatee keeper is a gem too.

Overall, it's a fun place for kids to visit and play for an afternoon. Be sure to bring their water wear so they can take full advantage of the water play areas, including splash pad and slides. Little kids will have a blast.

Older kids will enjoy the dolphin show, seal encounter, and penguin exhibit. They might notice that the aquarium could use a bit of TLC. The water quality could be better -- some tanks have hair algae, and the exhibits could be re-designed to highlight educational content in a more engaging way.

Overall, it's well worth the admission price, especially if you take advantage of one of their many discount offers.

My family and I had a lovely time here. For sure we will back again! The staff was superb.

Luvved itt!! Shows are fantastic as well the presentations. Really worth the money!

A great place. The buildings are aged, the seating is aged, yet the exhibits are good. The show's are entertaining and informative. The animals seemed well taken care of. The animal trainers seemed passionate about their jobs. Best part, part of the profits go to protecting, saving, rehabilitating, and releasing these gray creatures back into the wild.

Nice place to plan a day with kids. Small shows of sea Lion, dolphin, whale are worth watching. Food options are limited.

It sorta saddens me to give this a bad review, as I wanted it to be the fun place from my youth. But out of everything,we enjoyed the two touch tank areas the most. They are grossly understaffed and the staff that is there isn't super polite or helpful or anything. I went there with my Summer Savings Pass, so we didn't pay full price. It was $10 additionally, just to park. And if I was one of the people who did pay full-price, I'd be pretty angry. The dolphins apparently weren't wanting to perform at the show we went to. But instead of telling us that at the beginning, they just let us sit through waiting for it to start & then a 20 minute lecture about dolphins - in the blazing sun - only to find out there wouldn't be a show. I'm not sure why they didn't just tell us not to come in and sit down. But the stands were packed and they never mentioned it, just talked for 20 mins then told us to come back to another show time. There's a super unkempt splashpad area with sitting water, which made me nervous for what the kids were gonna get from that putrid water. The cafeteria style food venue has ridiculously long lines (again, understaffed) and we chose what we wanted off the menu while standing in line for a half hour, only to find out they we "out of" those things. So then we had to repick what we wanted while standing up there. And it wasn't exactly cheap. Then once we paid ($45 for one adult & 2 kids meals), there was nowhere to sit. We wandered around inside and outside looking for a table. Same issue at the end of the day when we wanted ice cream. 20+ minute line, because there was one person working it all - cashier and food service (which just seems unsanitary to me). Then after the 2 families in front of us got their food (or left out of frustration) we got up there & found out they were out of almost everything again. We gave up on ice cream at that point. The orca show was nice. The kids enjoyed getting soaked (bring a towel if you plan to go in that section). But honestly - as much as I hate to admit it - I'd rather go 4 hours north to Sea World and spend a day doing all sorts of things, than to go there again. Which I feel bad saying, cause I'd rather support my local seaquarium. But I don't think it's worth the cost of admission for my kids to see one show & go to touch tanks. The kids are young enough that they still had a decent day. But I wouldn't go again, unless the management does a total rehaul of the staff, cleaning, food sales, etc.

Nice place for kids to interact w ocean life ,beautuful setting w miami across the bay!

Great fun be sure to pack water as vendors are not always open when you need one. Also drink machines only take cash if you want to buy a bottle of Aquafina. Only brand sold in this park.

They had a couple of nice shows, but I have a hard time recommending it.:(

I love this place. We went on Friday around 11-00am it s was not crowded; we catch up 3 shows: dolphins; sea lions and whale it s was amazing. They have a nice playground for kids.

Wanderful place to have fun with your kids and family.

The shows are excellent the staff Is well train To help you with your needs.

Older aquarium that is well maintained. 5 Star view of Miami skyline. Great dolphin shows. Great way to spend an afternoon in Miami.I see
that they are upgrading the facility so can only get better.

No animal should be forced to live in such inhumane conditions. This place needs to be closed down.

It was ok... very outdated.. has to pay xtra to see certain animals, food was terrible and overpriced

Don't go there, Their tank is to small for their orca, Make them give her up so she can enjoy the rest of her life.

I liked this place. It is not huge but big enough to serve its purpose. It s clean and you get too see marine life well taken care of.

Nice small aquarium for kids and adults. Very nice shows throughout the day. Not so crowded and easy to get good seats for the shows.

Was okay, pricey for what you get. Ran out of popcorn and didn't tell anybody so I had to wait in line a half hour for nothing

Very few exhibits. Dolphin show was very good. Moss covered Manatees were in a small pool. Dissapointing for the price.

I really loved the place very good for family and for the kids as well dolphin show is not as good as it cocerns about telling info about the dolphins, too much talk and less of a show flipper show is nice and the black wale was a hell of an experience highly recommand it

Just ok!!! Old!!! Where is Lolita??? Not so much to do

Pretty boring for the price but the dolphins were good...

I have gone several times and every single time I am disappointed. It is not very well kept. The animals always smell horrible.

For what they charge for admission and the 10 dollars for parking they should keep the place much cleaner, when you first go in, the flamingo bird area stunk soo bad and looked unsanitary for the birds, then the viewing areas for the aquariums the glass was so full of mold and unclean you can barely see the aquatic sea life thru them. A lot of the restaurants were closed to the public and it was a Saturday, go figure, I will not go back here again, so sad.

This place is expensive. It's not worth it. The tanks are filthy Lolita has been there for 47 years. That place is as far as you can get from a sanctuary. Please save your money go somewhere else when they don't use animals.

Wish there was more here for the amount one has to pay. Plus pay 10.00 for parking. We was all done with in a few hours. Food and drinks are way over priced. Will I go back again, no.

Swimming with the dolphins was a wonderful experience!