Miami Seaquarium

Negative experience: Miami Seaquarium advertises as educational and family fun but it is misleading. They sell the idea that they’re helping but the long history of animal suffering is heartbreaking. The animals appear playful and smiley during the shows but the reality behind the scenes - there’s cruelty and neglect. There are cramped tanks, forced interaction for food, social deprivation, health problems, emotional trauma. Animals are performing because they have no choice and not because they’re happy. Tokitae, a wild caught orca, was kept in a tank only 20 ft deep — the same length as her own body — for over 50 years. She lived alone and unable to dive or swim properly, and died in 2023 still trapped in those conditions. They no longer have orcas, but dolphins and others still remain within the bare minimums of the law not welfare standards Marine mammals belong in the ocean, not in tanks. Watch Blackfish. Support sea sanctuaries and say no to Marine parks. For Tokitae, Tilikum, and every animal still held captive.

Fantastic experience: Okay so I'll just open with the downside, the whole place looks like it could use a fresh coat of paint. But, and this is the important part the staff the attractions they're doing the absolute best they can with what they've got me and the family had a great time the price was right it was a fun day out make sure you bring water there's plenty of places to fill up a canteen cuz it is hot as blazes out there. Also they deserve a special shout-out the staff was completely and totally friendly and cool and helpful, that can be a little bit of a rarity in Miami a lot of people more interested in looking good than actually doing their job so totally check it out thumbs up big 5-star review.

Negative experience: Out of towners. Show up for my birthday. Only to find it’s closed. Disappointed. How can you run a business and close it for two days in a row. Rented a metro car to come. Need to be clear what days you are open and closed . Not show up and it’s closed

Negative experience: This place used to be a beautiful destination to enjoy with family and friends, but sadly, it's no longer the case. The Miami Seaquarium has become a shadow of what it once was—run-down, dirty, and lifeless. The animals appear neglected and in distress, clearly lacking proper care. It’s heartbreaking to witness. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. The conditions are unacceptable, and the high ticket prices only add insult to injury. It’s time for the government to step in, shut this place down, and relocate the animals to sanctuaries where they can live in healthier, more humane environments. They deserve better.

Fantastic experience: For people of all ages, the Miami Seaquarium is a fun and educational destination. It offers interactive marine shows with dolphins, sea lions, and other animals and is located on Virginia Key, which is a beautiful island. Guests can explore exhibits showcasing sea turtles, manatees, sharks, and tropical fish. Families will enjoy the park's emphasis on ocean conservation and education. The overall experience is still enjoyable, even though some facilities feel a little out of date. Even though they require additional fees, special programs like swimming with dolphins offer unforgettable experiences. With scenic views and a variety of marine life, the Seaquarium offers a pleasant escape into the wonders of the ocean world.

Negative experience: The short version of this review is don't go. Don't waste $30 to $40 a ticket and then have to pay $20 for parking. The detailed version is half of the exhibits are closed. There's only two actual water shows one being dolphins that's like 20 minutes and the other one being seals which is like 15 minutes. There is a giant children's play area that is completely closed. You can touch some manta rays and that's about it. As far as actual fish in display in fish tanks, you will actually see more fish in a fish store than at this aquarium. There is also a penguin display with like five penguins that just stand there, not even really any room for them to swim. This aquarium is a disgrace. They need to permanently close it and relocate the remaining sea life to other aquariums because this one looks like it's bankrupt.

Negative experience: This place is a joke. It might have been great back in the day, but now it seems half the exhibits are closed. There are no manatees. $20 to park AND paying $40/person between the entry, sales tax and “ticketing fee” is a rip off. I do not recommend and would not return. The golden dome sea lion show was okay. The trainers clearly care about their animals.

Negative experience: We visited the seaquarium on Father’s Day. We were VERY disappointed. There’s not very much to do here for the price you pay for a ticket. A lot of the displays were not labeled correctly. Did not have a lot on display either. When I think aquarium I think displays of all sorts for sea and freshwater life. Not here. Don’t waste your money if you are looking for a real aquarium experience.

Negative experience: Over priced and a waste of money. They mashed us together when we were visiting the dophins like sardines. I wish it could’ve been better. The pictures are crappy and overpriced. The cashier at the picture Booth had a sour attitude. Disappointing…………

Fantastic experience: Best birthday experience, ever!! My boyfriend got me a dolphin encounter, and our assigned trainer, Erika, is a very knowledgeable and loving trainer and person overall. She asked me if I ever had any surgery in my past because of the shyness the dolphins experienced, and we had a quick chat about that, which made, to me at least, my experience more special so that I could better understand the loving trio of dolphins there.

Negative experience: Several things were closed, after paying nearly $30 a person you shouldn’t have to pay an additional $20 to park. We did meet and greet with the dolphins and my son had never been around or touched animals from the ocean. He broke out in hives due to an allergic reaction and NO FIRST AID for their customers. DANGEROUS!! They advised us to drive out of the park and to a pharmacy that was as a few miles away!!! This is unacceptable and a possible lawsuit waiting to happen.

Negative experience: We drove one hour to get there. Bought tickets for the family (nearly $100 for 3 people, plus $20 parking which was already insane.) Once we got inside, we were told they that were closing in one hour for low attendance so we paid a lot of money only to be deceived about operating hours and had one hour to see the entire place. We discovered ourselves that since they were closing early, they had several exhibits closed! Feeling like this place was a scam.

Negative experience: Just went today...although I liked the attractions (mainly the dolphins and feeding the stingrays), it was a really expensive trip that left me disappointed. $20 for parking and tickets are actually $39.99!!! Not like they say on the website. Highly recommend buying tickets online, don't be like me and buy tickets in person.

Negative experience: We did not enjoy this at all. The people who worked here were not friendly. The exhibits were old and outdated. Very few actual animals to see. No inside aquarium to enjoy. Did I mention everything was old? Don't waste your time or money on this one. The South Carolina aquarium and even the one in Tulsa Oklahoma(although way smaller) are BY FAR better. Im sure there are others but this one in Miami is not it. I hate I gave them my money for this awful experience.

Negative experience: I don’t recommend, you have many other attraction in Miami to spend time on. Even though closing time is 5pm they started closing from 3pm, and asked us to leave at 4pm. So plan your visit early if you are visiting weekday. They give reason of low strength. Swimming with dolphin is a good experience, but they expect you take the photos from them, trainer was intentionally blocking view while trying to take mobile photos. And photos from them also didn’t look promising and they want 100$ for those regular photos. Most of the vending machines were out of service, and many attractions were closed.

Negative experience: My family visited here 5/25/25 and what a disappointing experience. We are originally from Miami and used to come here all the time and have a lot of fun. We hadn't been here in years and must say, that we couldn't believe this place was still open. Most of the exhibits are empty; those that do have mammals, they look starved or sickly. We saw fish that looked as if they were dying, baby sharks in the bottom of the tank not moving, penguins that were in a warm exhibit, no ice or snow and there were maybe six total. There weren't any manatees and a handful of dolphins The park was mostly empty and hardly any employees. Most of the food spots were closed; mind you, this was not even 1 in the afternoon! To make matters worse, as we were leaving, not even an hour later, because it was so bad, there were people outside with signs and bull horns letting people know how bad the conditions were, about animals dying and how they were starving. Had we known about any of that, we never would have known. I would seriously take a second look before going here. Had we known the conditions were this bad and animals were treated so badly we never would have come. This is NOT a good environment for any living creature. To spend so much money on tickets and see absolutely nothing and have every exhibit almost empty was very disheartening. How can they possibly still be in business?

Negative experience: Please don’t support this disaster of a place. They neglected and allegedly killed Lolita in a filthy tank isolating her in the worlds smallest tank the tank was not up to code and the water was disgusting she died a slow lonely death. They allegedly fired a veterinarian who spoke up they also had several dolphins that died and had some had to be transferred to another aquarium. Behind the scenes is a disgusting abusive mess with roaches and filthy conditions. The bathrooms are gross. The citizens of Miami want this place gone they do not put the animals first they only care about money and are fighting several lawsuits it’s a disgusting old sad place please do not support this mess

Negative experience: Absolutely a waste of money!!! We were on our way to Miami fornour vacation and decided to do something fun along the way. First thoughts, $20 to park in an empty lot.. should have been my first red flag. Second, the place looked worse for wear. It had definitely seen better days. Like walking back into 1980. We paid almost $75 with a military discount and all we saw were dolphins swimming in a large tank. It was actually pretty sad. That was unfortunatly the highlight of this run down place. The aquarium was empty and most the tanks were dirty. Some of the exhibits had nothing. No manatees, no sea horses. My kids were SO disappointed. Most employees were not friendly and seemed very bored. How is this place still running? I wish I had read reviews before waiting time and money on this place.

Negative experience: This company is the worst. They care nothing about the animals They see them as profit and that it. You think this park is bad .. wait Google Gulf World in Panama City. You will be shocked! 5 dolphins have died from the conditions there in just 8 months. They do not answer requests for comment. They make no effort besides granual chlorine poured in tanks to clean the water which burns the dolphins and causes blindness. There is bacteria, algae, containaments, parasites. The water is green and dark black. To the point the USDA said you could t even see a dolphin if he was 3 feet under. They are an embarrassment to our community and very close to being shut down for good and the dolphins moved. These owners care about money. Conservation my ass. Special place in hell for these people.

Positive experience: What a wonderful experience! Super knowledgeable staff! For whatever reason, the park was not very over run with patrons. We went on a Saturday and basically had the place to ourselves. Highly recommend!

Negative experience: The Receptionist at front check-in is really rude. After rudely telling me a QR Code wasn’t correct & wasn’t specific. She proceeded to say she was honestly tired of “This”. Better Customer Service but overall great educational experience.

Negative experience: How is this place still open. The owners don’t care and they keep buying aquariums, running them into the ground and then killing and injuring animals. Look up Gulf World in Panama City Beach, Fl. The owners of this aquarium bought it a few years ago and due to their negligence 5 dolphins have died since November. And let’s not forget Lolita the Orca stolen from the wild and held captive here for 50 years only to die of multiple diseases due to captivity. Stop supporting places like this.

Negative experience: This place was very misleading. Paid $538 for the Royal Dolphin swim only to find extremely rude employees, depressed rundown appearance, and what looked like animal abuse. We looked at the filthy pool to swim with the dolphins and opted out rather than risk an incurable infection!!! Do Not Go! Money was non-refundable.

Negative experience: Shabby and run down park. This place hasn’t seen a renovation since the 70’s. Most of the tanks appeared dirty. Most of the staff has poor English. Paid extra for the shark and ray encounter and the attendant disappeared without a word and left me to swelter in neoprene with no direction. The trainer was running late, which is fine but communicate that. Instead I was given an arbitrary time line after I baked in the heat for a half hour. There was no communication what so ever, the staff at the encounter counter dose not care about the guest.

Negative experience: This place is pretty pitiful. Looks like it's on its last leg. Charging premium prices PLUS $20 for parking is insulting to say the least. The drive coming in was nice though.

Negative experience: The dolphins were great! The photo staff was rude and over priced. $200 for pictures after paying $500 in tickets for a ran down Zoo not a “harbour”. Save your money go to sea world

Positive experience: We had a good time. Not much to see if you're just looking at exhibits, but the shows were great! Price is reasonable, and even the upgrades were affordable. We went on a Sunday and there were no crowds or lines for anything, which was great.

Negative experience: This is not an aquarium. This is the aquatic version of an El Salvadoran prison. I've never paid so much for an experience and left so depressed. They might as well have been playing the Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial music on a loop. What did the dolphins do to deserve this? Human trafficking? Drug smuggling? Ritual murder? Half the exhibits are closed. A quarter have nothing of interest. What is left are poor animals in squalid conditions with no enrichment. I felt terrible that I had in any way contributed to their ongoing misery. Any online photo that makes it look decent is a lie. It is a hovel. A wretched pit of algae and despair. A seagoing gulag. I've been to great aquariums, and this is not it. It is not just old and outdated, it is also expensive. But you can tell that the money isn't getting reinvested appropriately. $20 parking, $35 ga tickets, $10 drinks. I left within an hour and I wish I could demand my money back. This is the best Miami can do? The shame of it all. I hope everyone involved steps on a Lego every day for a year.

Negative experience: Giving one star because of the employees other than that the park sucks. I spent almost 160 To get four adults and a child in Only to be met by a bunch of closed attractions Dirty bathrooms, The penguin exhibit only had about 3 to 4 penguins And on one side there was only one penguin by himself alone. The only entertaining thing to do here is the shows but in between shows there’s absolutely nothing to do. And as we all know there’s no longer an Orca Which was one of the best shows to come see. The employees deserve A much better cleaner environment maybe the park is more lively on weekend Coming on a Friday afternoon felt like a Friday wasted. I came here as a child and wanted my daughter to experience the same But I feel as if they’re the part has not been updated since it was built. The photo booths have curtains With mold on them, And the aquarium itself feels Like a ghost land.

Negative experience: To be honest we were disappointed when we came here on the website it shows mantees and whales which they had neither. which is the only reason we came here. We are from out of town and it is miss leading. I did speak with the manager and she did offer a discount and explained to us they hadn't had the whales in two years someone should fix the website.

Negative experience: I will give the one star because the shows were good. Other than that, it's the worst aquarium I've been to. There were some flamingos, 2 turtles, some birds and a few touch pools. I've seen nicer fish tanks in people's homes. I kept looking for the exhibits, and there just wasn't much to see. The penguins are visible in tiny tanks, only through a window. Really sad place, especially for the price. And they try to upsell all along the way. (Pictures, 'experiences', food, etc.)

Positive experience: Overall the Seaquarium has something for everyone! From touch tanks, feedings, diving, animal shows, fun photo opportunities (additional cost) and kisses from some of the more popular residents, it’s a great time for all! The food at the bar in the Dolphin Lobby wasn’t great…go for the pizza or BBQ! You can tell the Seaquarium is working on improving and without a doubt the animals are happy and well cared for by quality employees. I highly recommend the sea lion show and watch the divers! My two absolute favorites!!! The parking is overpriced. Bring your ticket prices up just a tad and remove the parking fee. Unless there’s an issue with beach people using the lot. Maybe we could show our tickets and get half refunded. Some criticism, lower the music during the shows so we can hear the trainers, keep working on your maintenance and improving your shows…the Lifeguard show was the best! Thank you for all you do for the animals in your care, and for sharing the world of conservation.

Fantastic experience: This is a great attraction. Very clean and well kept. The shows were well planned and entertaining.

Negative experience: Half of the exhibits were closed. Expensive for tickets for such a small place, and parking is also $20 on top of that. Since not much was available to do, we barely spent an hour here. The dolphins were the only redeeming quality.

Positive experience: It truly has declined in the last decade. Sadly, I love this place but the dolphin and seal show is cool. Not sure if a family of 5 or 6 it would be worth the $$ but it was fun for 3.

Negative experience: We were at this place on May 2nd. I would never recommend this place to anyone, it was a waste of money. Photos with a dolphin cost $35 per photo. The photographer who works there takes the photos. The photographer takes terrible photos. We refused to take these photos as soon as we saw them. I am from Philadelphia and our aquarium in Philadelphia is 10,000,000 times better! We couldn’t see any animals outside except for stingrays and parrots. And for that we bought a ticket for a child to touch a dolphin, a similar ticket for an adult to touch a dolphin, and two regular tickets to see all the animals that live there. We bought 4 tickets considering that there were only 2 adults and 2-year-old child. And parking cost $20. Believe me, this is a terrible place. Absolutely everything was closed, we couldn’t go into any building except for the building with fish. Everything was closed I just wasted my money! I am so angry! I will never come back! And I do not recommend this place to anyone I know. And I am writing this review to save you from wasting your money. We were there for a very short time. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get a refund for this nightmare, although I would be very happy to get my money back.

Fantastic experience: We had a blast . We went there we have seen the dolphin show and different kind of birds and wildlife. We took so many pictures it’s a good place to bring your kids and teach them About different wild life and animals. It is an awesome place to visit. We definitely recommend it.

Positive experience: Place is good. Definitely needs a little bit of TLC. We did the feeding dolphins, sharks and sting rays. Absolutely an amazing experience.

Positive experience: This is a nice park and the animals were well kept and cool to Experience, We paid extra to feed the dolphins and get pictures taken with them, They lost 2 stars because we We're misled into thinking they were going to give us pictures on-site. After we paid $70 for the pictures on top of paying extra to be able to take the pictures with the Dolphins We were then taken into the picture office where our Photographer showed us the pictures and had us pay for the pictures and then after that told us he would send them to us in our email?? and that they don't print the pictures out on site, Then on our way out we saw another family holding their pictures So we asked them where they got the pictures and it turns out that you pay extra on top of the $75 you pay to purchase the pictures, which ouer photographer Failed to tell us about even after we questioned him about it. He blatantly lied and told us that they don't print them out there.

Negative experience: Waste of time and money, careless and rude staff, empty exhibits, everything is for spending ridiculous amount of money. If you want to watch a show, make sure you ask the staff right away if you are at the right spot as it is a bit confusing which show is where due to similar names of locations. If you are with children make sure they are not in strollers sleeping because they are not gonna be let in the “stadiums”. And if you have two kids and one is in a stroller and the other one is less than 10 years old they can’t go in by themselves to watch the show. The dolphin encounter entails a touch of a dolphin for a picture which costs anywhere between $35-$100+ (don’t know what’s the max here). The concession stand is super expensive for small amounts. Not sure if it was just my luck but everything we got-ice creams and pretzel were all priced at $9 plus tax each. In addition to feed the birds or turtles is additional $5-15. Photos with birds or sea lions $15 per pic. Parking $20. Not to mention empty exhibits, abandoned food stands, water sprinklers for cooling off worked only at one spot. Gotta say the only show we were able to see was the sea lion show in the golden dome was good. Guests services were notified about the horrible service and even though I wasn’t complaining to get money back they greeted me with “no refunds for bad experience”

Positive experience: Seaquarium is a bit outdated and has several exhibits out of service which makes the visit a bit short. Great shows with the Dolphins and Sea-lions. Sting Rays were cool as well.

Negative experience: Was interested to go but after finding out what they did to those orcas, I find it horrifying how these people can be still in business after doing such awful things to these beautiful creatures. Don’t give any money to these orca abusers.

Negative experience: There is absolutely nothing at this park worth $30 a person. Maybe $10 but not $30!. It is a circle around a building. I remember this place being so fun and full of activities to do. Also, I could've sworn this place was larger. I took my daughter here when she was 4 and she had a ball. Now, I go back for some nostalgia moments at age 15 (yea, I know!) and we just sat there looking at each other. I mean, it's a dead zone. Even the shows seem as if they are elongated just to take up time. I am a teacher and I can't imagine taking my 2nd graders here on a field trip. What do they do? We looked at everything in 1 hour and 3 shows (dolphin, seal, and a bit of the shark feeding). I would recommend this place to a toddler because it takes them long to do things(walk, eat), they are in awe for small things, and they can do the water boat thing. However, they won't remember. The place where they hold the dolphin show doesn't have seating either. I couldn't believe it.

Negative experience: This was a very sad experience. I always loved Sea World as a kid or places alike. Seeing things from an adult’s perspective was a major wake up call. The whale exhibit was shut down because the whale died (if you read the articles it will make you sick) and the building is still up and all rundown. The nurse sharks are all in a shaded corner trying to stay out of the sun in very shallow water, birds, three sea lions in a small enclosure, penguins if you can see through the glass and little marine mammals that might not mind where they are living but, likely, would rather be where they came from. Most of the exhibits were not open. You can walk through in ten minutes. After reading about the whale we decided to walk out and request a refund which many other folks were doing. The staff was friendly and you could tell they loved their jobs but were ashamed they were there feeling guilty for them. The cafe that has pizza at the entrance was PHENOMENAL all around! Highly recommend the margarita pizza! Other than that I highly recommend a boat tour to see these things in their natural habitats and not in captivity.

Fantastic experience: My 7-year-old son and I had such a magical experience at this place! We went on a Saturday, the weekend before Easter, and we had the park virtually to ourselves until about noon. I'm born and raised in Florida and grew up going to SeaWorld, but this was 1000 times better if you want the same experience without the crowds (and rides). The dolphin odyssey experience was worth every penny and I would do it 10 more times. My son was able to ride a dolphin through the entire length of the pool and feed him a fish. The trainers are also friendly and knowledgable. It's a shame because I think animal-rights activists have hijacked the reviews on this page, because I did not see any mistreatment or cleanliness issues at this park. Also, the orca is no longer there. Please visit this amazing place and help keep it open! The ONLY complaint I have is the food, which is overpriced and not good. The cheeseburger and empanadas we got were nearly inedible.

Positive experience: It was really fun. The shows were nice and the dolphin show didn't get you wet. I had a lot of fun and even got to ride one. They feel smooth and soft and I really liked it. I went with my mother in law, son, and daughter. It was $216 for four people's photos. On the website it is $40 each. Otherwise really fun and definitely worth it.

Negative experience: The dolphins are fantastic! Sadly, there wasn’t much else to see. The parking cost $20 and the ticket alone was $35… that seems way too high for the experience. We were only there for less than a hour. The staff was very friendly and the dolphins were great! I wish I could say it was worth the money.

Negative experience: The place is very well maintained, but they have practically no marine animals, only dolphins and sea lions. The show is very neglected. It gives the impression that they're closing the Seaquiatium and only putting on the show in the meantime. The few animals they have are well cared for. It's a shame, because it was a wonderful and magical place before.

Fantastic experience: Place was amazing and the shows were awesome. Definitely a memorable experience. I wish there would be more emphasis on exhibits but I give it 5 out of 5 overall.

Positive experience: The aquarium is old and very nostalgic. It was clean and the animals were very well cared for. There were not too many people there so you didn't have to fight crowds. I was able to attend several shows and enjoy them. The food was reasonably priced. It seemed the inside sit down restaurants charged more. The gift shop didn't have a good selection of items and it was overpriced. Lots of shaded areas to get out of the sun. Parking was $20.

Fantastic experience: The seaquarium is a place you can go with family and friends. We had a pretty good time there. I recommend buying the tickets online to avoid the line, also you could find discounts in some apps if you have time to call for reservations beforehand. Also, it is best to arrive early so you can enjoy all the shows. The place is big enough and you will be better off if you wear comfortable shoes. The only thing I didn't like was that you needed to move from one place to another to see the shows. It will be best if they make it in some kind of circle order. It was just too much back and forward. Other than that it is a good place to go and enjoy a good time with family washing the sea lion and dolphin shows. I also find it interesting that there is children's cars parking. Regarding Parking for your car is $20 in cash or card.

Positive experience: We enjoyed our time here very much! It is a great park, the staff is super friendly, very educational and seem to love and care fur the animals very much, the shows are great! The park does need a renovation, more to do (after 3 hours you've seen it all..) and the food is really expensive.

Negative experience: Went today, terrible. Felt so bad for the poor animals. Every enclosure is so small, from the flamingoes to the poor lonely sea lion swimming all alone. It’s run down, empty, and overall very sad. I’m surprised it has not been shut down yet. Please rescue these animals!!!

Fantastic experience: I really really enjoyed it! It is great for families including little children! Staff are also very nice and sweet! I am very very sad that they are thinking of closing or are about to close They shouldn't close at all it's so entertaining and enjoyable to watch the animals to incredible tricks and shows. Please don't close:(

Positive experience: My kids enjoyed visiting her, but you can tell this park is past it's peak and needs upgrades. The animal staff seemed very passionate about caring for the animals, but the rest of the park staff were just going through the motions. The park opens at 10, so if you are scheduling a 10 am animal encounter, know that it won't start until closer to 10:30. We arrived 30 minutes early thinking we would be let through the gates to be to the encounter by 10, but the ticket window did not open until then. Even with online tickets, you have to go to the window to get wristbands. Every animal attraction was within a 5 minute walking distance of each other. We had an elderly person with a walker in our group who had trouble as a lot of the walkways had cobblestones. Decent amount of shade and benches so no one passed out. This was the last place we visited in Florida before leaving and we had held our 8 year old off on buying a souvenir all week thinking this would have a lot of choices. We were mistaken. Lots of toys you could get elsewhere or $35+ stuffies. No "branded" items that would make the visit memorable.

Positive experience: Our family had fun here off season (early March visit). Low crowds. The animal shows were cute. The facilities just seemed kind of run down which is the reason for the rating - also none of the animal shows listed times. I had to go out of my way to ask employees about the show start times.

Negative experience: Hi there everyone to who is possibly reading this I was a summer camp volunteer helping the camp councilor's with the children during the summer time at the Miami Seaquarium summer camp in 2016 for context I'm 27 years old now. When I tried asking one of the camp councilors about Hugo an orca that was there in the 1980s they basically brushed it off like it was nothing! It is ridiculous that a beautiful animal that was part of this Seaquarium's history, Hugo as well as Lolita that passed away in 2023 before she had the chance to be free after being there for DECADES. The Seaquarium was just using these beautiful creatures that were ILLEGALLY caught, for their own gain. Instead of being a CIRCUS for animals to be trained into doing whatever they wanted they could've been a rescue facility like the Clearwater Marine Aquarium! Miami Seaquarium purchased 2 orcas that were STOLEN away from their families in their NATURAL habitat minding their own business then BOOM they're not with their pod anymore, they NEVER got to be with their original pod ANYMORE. Lolita was ALONE for 43 YEARS, orcas are SOCIAL creatures! Putting her with short-beaked common dolphin and a pilot whale during the 1980s & 1990s. Then later paired with Pacific white-sided dolphins because of a unanimously voted for a "symbolic resolution". Some animals don't go well together. For my last piece, if Miami Seaquarium's CEO is reading all of this. SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN! Give the remaining animals that are there a DESERVING PLACE TO LIVE.

Negative experience: I was very disappointed with this place. We were vacationing an hour away and made the trek to visit. After spending $140 on admission to touch a dolphin and $20 for parking, I feel I was majorly ripped off. The park is probably 1/4 of the size of Sea World but charges the same amount. I paid $140 for my son and I to touch the dolphins, but they wouldn’t let you have devices to take pictures. Instead, you can pay $35 per person for a photo! It took us a whole hour to walk to entire park. There are probably more food stands than animal exhibits. This place is extremely overpriced for what you get.

Positive experience: We did the dolphin experience which was something we have been wanting to do for years. The experience was nice. I wish you got more time to swim with the dolphins or a chance to do a free swim. It's expensive and then you have to pay for the pics which is another $200 to $300. The rest of the park is run down and little to see.

Positive experience: Disappointed. Visited several years ago—the place was full of fun and energy, clean and organized. Quite the opposite from my experience 2days ago. Sorry—barely any animals, the playground is dirty, the water everywhere appears to be muddy. Needs a makeover

Fantastic experience: Went to Miami Seaquarium expecting a chill day — ended up making eye contact with a dolphin that probably knows more about life than I do. The sea lions were basically stand-up comedians, and the manatees? Absolute floating potatoes of joy. Some areas could use a little facelift, but overall it was a splashin’ good time. Perfect for kids, dates, or just pretending you’re auditioning for a marine documentary. Would definitely come back — might even bring a snorkel next time just in case

Fantastic experience: We had a fantastic time at the Miami Seaquarium! It was the perfect place for a fun family day. The marine life exhibits were fascinating, and we loved seeing the dolphins and sea lions up close. The staff was friendly and helpful, and everything was clean and well-maintained. There were plenty of activities for kids, and it was both entertaining and educational. We’ll definitely be coming back for another visit!

Fantastic experience: Very good dolphin show. Great to spend a few hours. If you are in a rental car, take note that you must ELECTRONICALLY pay a toll to get here . No cash accepted at most Miami tolls.

Negative experience: I was here once when I was much, much younger. Too young to understand what I was enabling. This business is being evicted over animal abuse claims. They are also suing the whistleblower. If you care about marine life stay away. Justice for Lolita.

Fantastic experience: Even though the place is quite old, my daughter and I had a lot of fun. It was a wonderful experience! My daughter loved seeing the dolphins, sea lions, and penguins. While it’s a small venue, I appreciated it since I don't enjoy walking too much. Don't pay attention to the negative comments. If you haven't experienced it yet, I encourage you to go—I’m sure your kids will enjoy it!

Negative experience: Horrible waste of money and drive. Most of the exhibits were closed. The price for entrance was over priced for what they had open and available for viewing. Even the soft pretzel that we bought was hard as a rock. Thank God the grand baby was happy with seeing the dolphins and young enough to not really understand that quality of the place itself.

Negative experience: I can’t believe this place reopened. You are responsible for the death and mistreatment of marine animals and should be permanently closed. I would never step foot in there again and am saddened for the animals who are living in cruel habitats. If you love and respect marine animals or animals in general , please don’t visit this place. Use your money to donate to animals in need instead of enriching the pockets of people who could care less about the well being of animals.

Negative experience: I don't normally write bad reviews but here I am. I went to this "aquarium" today and let's just say the website and the place is two whole different place. I love seals and when I saw there's a seal encounter, I was excited but when I got there, they told me the program was down for months. I was pretty disappointed as I came from a different state and they could at least have said that on their website. the second I walked in, something felt off. the place was dark and the fish was in small tanks on the wall with nothing indicating what kind of fish they are. The tanks looks moldy and not well taken care of. The seals were in this pool that does not look deep enough. Seals at other aquariums I've been to (the Virginia Beach one for example) had deep tanks with very NATURAL environments and unlike the ones here, they're very playful. The ones here look sad and bored. I can't blame them, the water is shallow and they can't event do a proper flip in it! Some of the shows had the animals doing painful looking tricks. At the sting ray touch pool, there were little kids splashing the water and such, the person who worked there did nothing! (again, unlike some other aquariums). Just letting anyone feed the rays with no good instructions looks very wrong! The penguins' exhibit is DARK! it honestly looks abandoned and you could probably imagine the environment they're in. The trainers seems nice and thats it. I DO NOT recommend.

Negative experience: Horrible! The entire place is small and extremely outdated. Barely saw any animals and the animals we did see were being treated very poorly. The food made me sick and overall do not recommend

Negative experience: Went with my family and went to two shows that were good and enjoyable but everything else was so out dated. The playground had broken railings and rust everywhere. The splash pad was nothing but sprinklers. I remember this place being a very fun and welcoming place, now it just looks abandoned and not well kept. In my opinion this is not worth the money that we paid at all.

Positive experience: I didn't hate it, but didn't love it. It's too bad they don't have the whales anymore. Honestly that experience would have earned another star. I was able to get a discount through Groupon that was easy to redeem when I got there. I didn't think I'd have to pay for parking but I did, so that $20 basically wiped out the discount. The dolphin and seal shows were fun. A lot of people spent $5 to feed the sting rays but I didn't really see the rays eating the food. The best part in my opinion was watching all the fish get fed by the diver. There are a couple food options that are priced as you'd expect. There's a playground area if your kids get bored but not a lot of spots for shade in that area. The staff was polite. We didn't use the bathrooms. The gift shop looked pretty empty. Also, we were harassed outside the entrance by a older couple that were lying to people that there was free parking down the street (just to make it inconvenient for people wanting to go). Then they yelled through megaphones about how horrible we are for going there. That was really annoying but I guess the staff can't do anything about it.

Negative experience: We drove an hour to check this place out. $20 parking plus admission fees. Only for a few habitats to be open. Definitely not worth the drive or the money. This place could use some updates. It's ok for kids but as an adult. Not so much.

Negative experience: Id give less than 1 star if I could. Parking for $20 is better than most places. That's where the value ends. The amount of animals were very limited and for some animals the amount of space was limited; kinda made us sad. Oh, for three of us (1 a senior citizen) $120. The seals of the seal show was great, but it should be called a lecture with the showing of some seals..briefly showing seals. And what about the bbq you offer? Not available! So a $20 sandwich is what we had to get.....$20 freakin bucks...come on. Some organization I hope will step up and help this place. Could be such a plus but for now a HUGE disappointment.

Fantastic experience: The dolphins were so cute and soft and they are very smart also fun fact right next to there eye the have a little ear and they are good with high pitch sounds also they make noises when you touch them on there chin.

Fantastic experience: Don’t let the greedy developers win!!! This sits on prime property for high rises!!! This has been around for a long time and as a homeschool family and growing up in FL and still living here I refuse to allow another nature center be the topic of a smear campaign. These amazing creatures are well cared for and raised in captivity (so they are incapable of living in the wild). They are all super healthy, habitats clean, and seemed happy and as an empath I can tell. I highly recommend visiting and VIP tours to learn about marine biology. It was raining while there and they provided rain coats. Everything was well thought out. And again all creatures respected. Thank you for helping our homeschool family learn more about what you do, about each amazing creature, and being so hospitable!

Positive experience: Overall it was a good experience for a half day. The kids really enjoyed it. The shows and interactive exhibits are great. The place is rather small. Once you do all of the scheduled shows/experiences, you're pretty. much done. The good thing is it's not too crowded, even on a weekend. Good to go on a nice day.

Fantastic experience: My Partner and I had an excellent time! The staff were super friendly and helped us with reservations for the dolphin shows. Everything felt very personalized even with other people in our groups. We loved that the staff clearly loved their jobs, which reflected on the animal’s. Overall an amazing experience and we’ll definitely be coming back ASAP!

Fantastic experience: miami seaquarium you have my heart. words cannot express how grateful I am to each and every one of you. when we arrived, I realized that I never scheduled our dolphin experience and was sad as it is our last day in Florida. Fortunately you were able to accommodate us and we were able to have the amazing experience of meeting one of your dolphins, cayman. The seal and sea lion show was incredible as was the top deck dolphin show. Everything was incredible. I hope we get to come back some day.

Negative experience: This was so disappointing and depressing. I'm only giving 2 stars because the animal trainers were enthusiastic and seemed to care about the animals but the enclosures are tiny and depressing and I felt horrible for taking part in exploiting them for entertainment purposes. The park itself has an air of negligence and is depressing. And for the price, I would definitely not do this again.

Fantastic experience: Had a great time here and the shows were awesome! Went here in 2023 and it’s a must see attraction in Miami hands down! Staff there were very informational about the animals and super friendly! Thanks for an unforgettable experience!!

Negative experience: A group of us are down from Maine. We figured coming to Miami, an outdoor aquarium experience would be awesome. It was awful! I see why this place has barely any stars. I do not recommend this place to anyone. We were so confused why it was so dead, literally no one there. They had mini shows and events here and there but not much else going on. They were short staffed so anything we wanted to do was closed, the mini shows were pretty boring and felt forced. We actually felt bad for the animals, especially the dolphins. The Seals were cute and seemed well taken care of, but every other animal that we saw (very few) seemed sad and “caged” if you will. The bathrooms were gross (we are use to cleanliness coming from Maine). How are the bathrooms so gross when no one is there? There were maybe 20 other customers max the entire time, and that’s a stretch! The food was absolutely terrible, staff were meh, they seemed like they didn’t want to be there, not the friendliest either or very knowledgeable. Overall we can see why this place was empty, and being on vacation we were very disappointed, if we could get our money back we would have in a heartbeat!!!

Fantastic experience: We had a great experience! We went on a Sunday and it wasn't crowded. I think it really gets crowded during the summer. Don't forget your water, a hat and extra clothes for the little ones who might get wet in the splash pad. Parking is $20.00

Positive experience: Pretty good experience. Online tickets were less expensive than in person. Parking hack lot near was free and walk couple of mins. Food and drinks available at the cafe the were cooked to serve and kids loved it. Once completed everything the skyline view from inside was good. Also they had some beach chairs to hangout. Kids can play in the soak zone. Carry swim dresses to play. Overall good experience would recommend.

Negative experience: Truly rundown, old and nearly abandoned. Not many attractions. There are more concessions stands than attractions. Definitely definitely not worth the price. As another reviewer said, I’m sure it used to be great back in the day but now it’s just a sad pathetic place.

Negative experience: We visited on 1/18/2025. We arrived, and had to pay $20.00 for parking. Before coming, we'd paid for our tickets and an otter encounter at 10:00 AM. The employees were not ready to go at 10:00 and did not seem very happy to see us either. We were told that our encounter had been canceled, and got a refund on that. We tried to enjoy the rest of the aquarium, but found it a bit depressing. Enclosures were closed, or dirty. We left feeling guilty that we'd supported this company, hoping the best for the animals.

Fantastic experience: Excellent way to spend the day with kids! We were skeptical with all of the negative reviews/ comments but if you’re on the fence, ignore them all and go! It is a clean park with tons of sea animals, interactive opportunities and live shows! We went thinking we might spend an hour and stayed for four hours catching all of the live shows and splurging on the dolphin encounter where you can touch, feed, and ask the dolphin to do tricks for only $20-$30 extra above normal admission - well worth it! The live shows keep the audience engaged and get them involved with dancing and feeding the sea lions. By the end of the day the kids asked if we could return tomorrow.

Positive experience: It's a nice smallish place to take the family for a couple hours. The exhibits are well put together and there's tons of shows to see and interactive events for the kids to be involved in. It's mostly outdoor but they do have a nice inside exhibit containing a huge tank with a nurse shark and giant eel which is centered around the dolphin enclosure.

Negative experience: Honestly, I have never seen such a desolated and barren aquarium before. I'm also not a local and caught up on the news as to why this place is the way it is, but $20 for parking dude really??? Everything you have read from those who came before are absolutely correct. This place is arguably the worst attraction to ever existed in the entire state. Save yourself some time and money and turn around right now.

Positive experience: It is not really big, and because of the heat it was harsh, and the aquarium is not really a aquarium they have a section of tanks but that is it, I will don't say you shouldn't go there but you need to know it is a pretty ok aquarium the show of dolphins was good

Negative experience: This place sounds like it used to be great, but in the 1990s. Today, it is claiming to be renovated. Many attractions are closed or “under maintenance.” It isn't worth the ticket they charge. They do have a great dolphin presentation, but it was all. I would not recommend it.

Positive experience: 20.00 dollars for parking. Do they think this place is Disney. This aquarium is run down and old.

Positive experience: Had a good visit, the kids swam with the dolphins and loved it. Each show was unique. Food choices were ok, pretty standard. Seems a little outdated in most areas, but overall a nice aquarium to visit.

Positive experience: The dolphins were great but the place is not all that spectacular aside from the dolphins and sea lions. One of those things you go once to say you've been there.

Positive experience: I visited in Dec’24 around Christmas time and the place was not crowded. Dolphin shows were good , NO Orcas here I believe, sea lion show was fun , food was expensive, on that day beer was discounted priced at $10 for 2 beers. Beautiful view of the city sky line and open seating area. In my view it’s a one time visit.

Negative experience: Me and my family went to this aquarium to go swim with dolphins and I have to say it was a total ripoff. If I could give this place zero stars, I would. This was hands down the worst "experience" I've ever paid for, and at $150 per person, it's nothing short of a scam. We went expecting a fun experience to swim with dolphins, but what we got was 20 minutes of standing in shallow, dirty, poop-infested water. The interaction with the dolphins lasted maybe two seconds—you just get to wave your hands and touch them very shortly. That’s it. The rest of the time was spent standing around while the staff focused entirely on taking pictures that they charge you extra to get. Seriously, the entire thing felt like a money grab. On top of that, the staff were incredibly rude and dismissive, which made the whole experience even worse. And to add, adults who weren’t even participating had to pay an extra fee just to come in and watch us do absolutely nothing. This experience was entirely underwhelming and a completely different experience than what is marketed and expected. we didn’t swim at all nor ride the dolphins. they claim that they train the dolphins so hard to interact with us while there tricks are not even that cool and the dolphins don’t even want to be there. This aquarium is a complete joke, and their "dolphin experience" is nothing more than a boring, overpriced tourist trap. Save your money and your time—find a better place to enjoy marine life because this one is a total ripoff.

Fantastic experience: Good for family with small kids, have live shows day long. Better to enter early in morning and start with flipper show and watch the sea lion show as well. Goods : Kids friendly my two year old and 6 year old has best time watching shows and getting induged in activities Had good activities for kids Bad: Less veg option in food (selfish reason) Less exhibits

Negative experience: Had some time to kill and the wife and I love aquarium so we thought this would be awesome to go and they had a veterans discount for half off so we thought we were getting a deal. First off parking was $20 dollars! Outrageous for it being almost empty. We got our tickets to enter and walked in. Once we made it to the dolphin show tank, you can instantly tell it's an older place with the viewing windows being so small but I don't hold that against them. A few tanks around that with smaller sea life. 3-4 of them were empty with just like an exhibit in them like what was in there passed on and they couldn't fill it with anything else. There is a reef tank with a lot of fish and a very large moray. Then we went to walk around the rest of the place and most of it was roped off or closed. Saw the penguin exhibit, and the seals and that's all there was to see. Took about 30 minutes to see the whole place. Ive never felt more scammed in my whole life. Do not go here.

Positive experience: We showed up when both Google and the website said the aquarium opened, but they’d changed their hours from 10am to 11am. Waiting an extra hour wasn’t ideal, but we didn’t let it ruin the day. Tickets for two were $65—not bad—but parking pushed it up to $85. I’d suggest charging non-aquarium visitors, like bikers and joggers, for parking instead of your paying customers. The place could use some love. A bit of paint and landscaping would go a long way. The centerpiece playground was so overgrown that it wasn’t inviting at all. Just pulling weeds, trimming bushes, or even removing some altogether would help. Adding a concession stand and reopening the bridges would make it more enjoyable for families, especially since kids seem to be your main audience. (The location of it between shows would surely attract some thirsty buyers) The aquariums in the dolphin entry area were disappointing—where are the fish? It’s an aquarium, after all! Having empty tanks in such a central spot just makes the place feel neglected. Concessions were a little pricey but not unreasonable. That said, the shows were the highlight of the visit! The dolphins were a blast, and we had some great family moments at the sea lion show. We didn’t catch the others since we had other plans, but the trainers seemed happy, and the location has so much potential—it just needs a little attention to reach it.

Negative experience: Underwhelming and a complete waste of the day. Not worth the visit, especially if you’re traveling from out of state. I found the aquariums in Chicago and Duluth far more impressive and engaging than this one.

Positive experience: You can visit on budget (for less than $100 for 3 people) and visit 3 shows. We opted for additional activities and ended up paying alot ($250 + $200 for pictures). I didn't mind, since it goes for keeping animals healthy, well fed and trained. The biggest disappointment was gift store, really nothing to buy. This needs improvement, if managed better might bring much more revenue. Pizza is not tasty at all, and (of course) expensive.