Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters

Fantastic experience: If it can keep a 10 year old's attention for a couple of hours, it is well worth a stop. Very interesting, with a lot of touch pools. The staff is more welcome to answer your questions.

Positive experience: Encounters with sting rays is very unique. One staff member was incredibly nice to my 8 year old and warm and friendly. The rest of the staff seemed like they were bored and at worst unaware of what they offered or why I would dare ask questions of how to feed the animals. Worth a visit if your kids would think touch tanks and feeding animals (or sitting with sting rays!) was cool. Definitely glad I went, but I had researched extensively to know that these were experiences my kid would like.

Fantastic experience: Was very nice to be able to interact with many sea creatures. My kid had a blast

Fantastic experience: Had a great time with family. Fully recommend to get the feeding pass. One of the best aquariums out there!

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff. You have the option to feed various types of fish and rays. There are touch tanks, big fish, sharks, and a shark tooth dig. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Fantastic experience: Very relaxing cool place to visit. Feed the baby gators, tarpon and jacks. Super fun .

Positive experience: Super cute place for family day.. kids are able to touch so many animals.. sting rays.. starfishes etc.. so much fun and not that big of an aquarium..

Fantastic experience: Small but very interactive! My 7 year old loved it and thoroughly enjoyed feeding all the marine life.

Fantastic experience: Place was great! Very educational. The stingrays were our favorite to touch and see.

Fantastic experience: Was amazing and love all the hands-on interaction with all the animals

Fantastic experience: The wind was blowing. We couldn't take the boat out so we decided to take the kids to the aquarium in Marathon. It's not very big but the staff is very knowledgeable and there's a lot to see for such a small place. Definitely a go-to.

Fantastic experience: This place is awesome! We got to pet some sharks (extra cost) and rays (no extra cost). We had an absolute blast and can't wait to go back!

Positive experience: We had a great time at the Florida Keys Encounter Aquarium! It’s super kid-friendly with tons of sharks and colorful fish to see up close. The highlight was the touch tanks — lots of chances for kids (and adults!) to safely touch and learn about ocean animals like starfish and stingrays. The staff was friendly and informative, and the whole experience was both fun and educational. Highly recommend for families visiting the Keys!

Fantastic experience: Aquarium Encounters was a fun and unique stop during our trip! Our kids absolutely loved feeding the turtles and getting an up-close look at all the exotic fish. The experience was hands-on, engaging, and perfect for young animal lovers. The staff was friendly and informative, and we all learned something new. It’s a great spot to spend a little time with the family and get a taste of the local wildlife. Highly recommend for families visiting the Keys!

Fantastic experience: We loved our time here even as two adults, no kids. I do highly recommend purchasing an “encounter” or some experience to make it more enjoyable - we went with the cheaper option of getting a feed pass for 6 cups of food to feed different animals and loved feeding the stingrays!

Fantastic experience: The aquarium in Marathon is ideal for a visit, with or without kids. You get to feed fish, pet sting rays, see lots of turtles and many types of fish and see the turtles being rehabbed from injuries and disease.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful place, very well done. Not huge but a fun place to visit. Interacting with the animals were great.

Fantastic experience: Members and worth every trip. Feeding everything from tarpon to turtles to stingrays. Kids love it. Wear some sun screen and stop by.

Fantastic experience: Great place with very knowledgeable friendly staff. You are able to feed almost every animal on site. They have multiple touch tanks also. Definitely recommend this place.

Fantastic experience: A great experience while down in the Keys. We explored it due to some bad weather that came in and had a great time. Did the snorkel experience feed the fish and sharks! It is outdoors but almost everything is completely covered by tiki type huts. You can feed things like turtles, lobsters, And Tarpon.

Positive experience: Pricey and small. However, I enjoy the venue. My guests were not willing to pay the rather high admission.

Fantastic experience: A truly unique Aquarium experience. Definitely interactive as promised. It was worth taking an hour drive from Tavernier to see

Positive experience: It is nice and clean. Got some nice animals to see. Pretty small for the price.

Fantastic experience: Wonderful small aquarium! Very well done. Spend the money and let your kids feed the fish, turtles, lobsters, and stingrays! So much fun. Very few places allow this much feeding and close interaction. Friendly staff, wine, beer, food, and dig for shark teeth. Loved it!

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit with plenty of shade. They have a great staff and there’s a cafe onsite. Don’t be in a rush and spend enough time to watch all the feedings. You’ll receive a bracelet at entry that will get you back in before closing on the same day. Very clean restrooms as well.

Fantastic experience: This place is totally underrated. I had such an amazing time I didn’t want to leave. It cost a little bit to get in but it’s totally worth it. I made so many memories I wont forget. It might not be that big either but it really is a little slice of paradise. You get to see huge and beautiful fish. You get to feed them and interact with so many things. You dont get to do stuff like this at sea world. My favorite part was feeding the string ray. They love food and the huge ones come up right to the side to eat. It’s insanely cool. Not to mention you get to see a bunch of Sharks, Tarpon, and a bunch of other huge fish I dont know. I really enjoyed this, and you wont regret going even if its for a little bit. Highly recommend this beautiful fun place.

Fantastic experience: It was a very neat place with a lot to see and do. All the different touch tanks and feeding opportunities were a neat experience

Fantastic experience: We are adding this to our must-do list when we come to the Keys, seeing the sharks and talking to the passionate kind employees made this experience even better! So much to see and learn and touch, truly a great experience for nearly half of the theater of the sea.

Fantastic experience: Good place to take the family. The staff is very informative, helpful, and eager to answer all your questions.

Fantastic experience: This is one of the best aquariums I've been to. It's reasonably priced, and has a lot of options for activities. The staff is very helpful and knowledgeable and there's a wide variety to see.

Fantastic experience: A "must see" for my wife and I every time we stay in Marathon. We spend the entire morning there. Gtrat way to relax and enjoy the exhibits

Fantastic experience: One of my favorite things we did in the keys, “small” compared to many aquariums we have visited but I could still spend all day there. Buying tickets online gives you a 10% off discount

Fantastic experience: Last minute plan to go here. So glad we did. Super interactive. We loved feeding the stingrays. Very nice facility & exhibits. Maybe get here early hard to find parking.

Fantastic experience: A wonderful experience and worth every penny! We payed for the feed pass that was 15$. Definitely stop by!!

Fantastic experience: Petting the stingrays was one of the best things! Feeding the Turpin was exciting as well!

Fantastic experience: Such a GREAT experience! Came here on a Wednesday in early April. We let each of the 4 kids choose one encounter. No one was disappointed. 3 of the girls did the stingray experience. Mackenzie did a really good job with the girls and we loved having her spend time with them. Highly recommend this place!

Fantastic experience: This is an amazing experience. A number of employees just stopped what they were doing and explained experiences or creatures in the the tanks. Everyone who worked there was amazing. The whole family loved our time there. If we were local, we'd have a membership.

Fantastic experience: Super cool experience. Feeding the animals was great and I have older children. Staff were also kind and helpful.

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium but very interactive which I love. The kids had a blast and you are able to feed rays, two types of turtles, fish, etc. You pay an additional $3 per type of food or get the $15 punch pass where you get an extra thing of food. I would recommend getting that. I contemplated doing the ray experience in the water but I am glad I didn't because you could touch and feed the rays without spending the big bucks and I was satisfied with that!

Fantastic experience: Fun, educational, and interactive. Learn about the Keys ecosystem!

Fantastic experience: We had a great time during our visit. I definitely recommend paying extra to feed the animals as this was part of what made our experience so fun.

Fantastic experience: Lovely place to visit as a break driving down to the keys , love the encounter and variety

Fantastic experience: We loved this outdoor aquarium, especially the petting tanks. So nice to be able to touch things if you have a kid who likes to touch everything. You can also feed different fishes in the lagoons. A small and easy facility to get around.

Fantastic experience: This was a very cool aquarium. It looks very small when you drive by but it is much bigger than what it looks like from the road. I would encourage you to look at some pictures that people have posted and go to their website. They had SO MANY opportunities to interact with the animals there, both for extra money and for free. The only thing that we paid extra for was to feed some of the animals but it was reasonable. It was 15 dollars for a punch card and you got 6 little cups to feed your animals of choice. They gave you a list. I would bring some quarters so you can buy some of the pellet foods they have in old gum ball machines to throw to some of the animals to. Things that were free were the touch tanks, classes/workshops/guides that you could do at specific times (if not they had QR codes so you could scan them with your phone and listen on your own), They had a sand pit for kids (and me even though I'm an adult) to look for shark teeth to keep that they buried for the kids. My daughter really enjoyed feeding the turtles and tortoises the most but there were also alligators, sting rays, lobster, tarpon, parrot fish, and others that you could feed. Very informational and fun place. We finished it in about 1.5-2 hours.

Fantastic experience: My wife and I are here in the keys for a couple days and decided to come to this aquarium. We are very pleased with our choice. The staff is very friendly, all the animals are very well fed, and being able to interact with the animals makes it the best. The pricing is not bad, and parking is fine, it is also family friendly! Anyone looking to see animals and spend time with your significant other, family or friends this place is a great option.

Fantastic experience: Had a great time. We fed Rex the tortise and he was fun. Also fed fish, turtles and stingrays. Lots of fun for a smaller place. So glad we did it. Staff was super friendly.

Positive experience: Deserve 10star because it's an amazing place to see and interact with ocean habitants... But one person kinda spoiled a day for me... Called ahead to see if it's ok to purchase a stingray encounter as a present for my mom because she doesn't speak English but I said that I'll be there to translate everything and that I've already done that encounter myself before. Received an answer that it's cool as long as I'm behind her telling her the instructions. I purchased tickets for both of us and stingray encounter and shark feeding for Mom. We arrived on her birthday to the aquarium and we're met but Tracey at the register, I explained that I purchased all of that for Mom as a present for her birthday and she went crazy, became angry and said she won't allow us to do any of the activities because Mom doesn't understand English... I politely explained that I called ahead to make sure its ok and that I was given a green light but she kept arguing... I asked if she could check with someone else and she wasn't happy... She left and came back to tell me that people who's going to be with us during the encounter said it's cool but "I'm lucky that she's not the one who's making decisions and she would never allow us to do it"... I felt bad cause my mom was right there and that was the beginning of her day, her birthday... I wanted to ask for a refund at that point... but decided to give it a chance... Finally after all that we were able to enter and after that everything was just wonderful, HUGE THANKS TO KRISTEN who was our lovely stingray encounter and shark feeding guide, super knowledgeable and sweet, she made everything easy and smooth, my mom was very happy and sooo excited, again KRISTEN saved the day!!! Thank you!

Fantastic experience: Just went Feb 12,25 with our kids for their winter brake , Its the best aquarium I have ever been to and we have been to lots of Aquariums. Most Aquariums the fish look sick or over fed, This place is amazing there is alot of natural water from the intercostal and you can feed multiple different fish our favorite was the lobsters and the rays for the feeding will definitely go back soon ive told so many people about this i was super impressed .

Fantastic experience: Grat place to visit during the trip to Key West. The possibility of touching some of the sea animals is really nice. You can expect big Iguana meeting as well.

Fantastic experience: We loved this place! A must see if you are looking to learn more about the area’s aquatic scenery!

Fantastic experience: This is a small interactive aquarium and is far better than the Aquarium in Old Town Key West. Great way to educate yourself to local fish and marine animals. Well kept and clean.

Positive experience: VERY SMALL. The place is nice and all, but we were completely done in less than half hour. Honestly not worth your money for it's size.

Fantastic experience: This place was better than we expected!! It was so fun to interact with all the sea creatures! I highly recommend purchasing food to feed them all!! Our favorites to feed was the stingrays and the lobsters!!! The key lime pie was not a big hit in our group. It was like a frozen store bought Pie.

Fantastic experience: Really great place just to walk in without a reservation. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to enjoy everything. I highly recommend purchasing the feeding card when you enter. The staff are super nice and knowledgeable and the place is maintained really well.

Fantastic experience: Cool little aquarium, you get to feed a lot of fish and wildlife here. Our daughter fell in love with the stingrays.

Fantastic experience: The best aquarium! Very hands on for the kids and the staff was amazing and helpful. We spent all day there. Definitely the highlight of our trip.

Fantastic experience: Our snorkel trip was cancelled in key west so we decided to find something fun to do in its place. This place was amazing. They staff was so friendly and accommodating. They gave us plenty of times to feed the animals. We did two excursions and would do both again. We decided at the last minute that we wanted the second excursion. They staff accommodated us and let us do the adventure by ourselves. They took plenty of photos and gave us a free photo. We got shark teeth from some of the sharks we fed and we got a very good overview of each animal. They were very organized, clean and knew their jobs very well.

Fantastic experience: Was a bit pricey, however, it is VERY interactive and anybody would absolutely love this. You can feed sting rays, lobster, alligators, turtles, small fish, etc. Small and easy enough to do for all ages

Fantastic experience: Can always spend a few hours here enjoying the fish and animals.

Fantastic experience: Very cool place to visit. The kids had a blast and it was worth the money!

Fantastic experience: Not large but the staff is wonderful. There are a lot of talks regarding the animals that you can enjoy. We got to pet a baby alligator and feed the stingrays. They give a very nice free tour around the facility that is very worth taking. I highly recommend visiting.

Fantastic experience: What a fun experience! Small but wonderful, we especially enjoyed feeding and petting the sting rays. While we didn't have kids with us, I would recommend it as it is small. We spent about an hour and a half.

Fantastic experience: Really lovely aquarium with plenty of interactive activities such as feeding and petting fish. We took a free tour around the facility and that was very interesting. Lots of information on the animals in the tanks and overall a lovely place to spend a few hours.

Fantastic experience: Stopped in to check out the aquarium and I was blown away at everything they have to do! The touch tanks are awesome, and feeding all the different fish and turtles is so much fun. They have a little outside place to get something to eat, so many activities for kids, the big tanks with sharks , tarpon and so many big fish in there was amazing to see. The staff was also incredibly friendly, personable and helpful. Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Definitely a must go. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the exhibits are great. It’s so nice to be able to see the natural habitat of the Keys before development (mangroves etc) The cafe was a real bonus. Loved petting and feeding the Stingrays. A very peaceful place. Prepare to spend a couple of happy hours there.

Fantastic experience: Best day ever! The kids got to feed and pet a shark, lots of turtles and the Ray's were so sweet

Positive experience: We enjoyed visiting! The sting rays were our highlight, it's a small place for the price but it was fun.

Fantastic experience: Awesome snorkel experience for my sons 8th birthday! Our guide was awesome, our snorkel guy was awesome too, and the kiddos loved it. I only wish we could've had more "free swim" snorkel time and less feeding the animals. I would highly recommend though to anyone wishing to do this! It was awesome and we'd definitely do it again. 5 stars and highly recommend

Fantastic experience: The name says it all. It’s more than just visiting an aquarium…it’s a hands on experience the entire time you are visiting. So neat! The grounds are so neat and clean. Highly recommend for anyone visiting! Support these marine biologists and all the important work they are doing!

Fantastic experience: This is a must go! We went on a weekday had the place to ourselves and the staff are so friendly!! So enjoyed our visit saw the sting rays and a snapping turtle named fluffy and a parrot fish!! Touch tanks are amazing as well. Sting ray feeding was daughters favorite but I thought feeding the spiny lobsters was pretty cool!

Fantastic experience: It was well worth the visit. There was a tank with reef fish and one with sharks. Also petting pools of sting rays and star fish. So much to see and you can feed the sea creatures too. Staff were very nice and knowledgeable. Don’t forget to go to the bay where you will see snappers, and look to the area under the bridge where people are fishing.

Fantastic experience: Great place for the whole family! Friendly staff. Animals are very interactive. Clean and food and drinks available. Huge shout out to Zach! Thank you for honoring our daughter and making our experience amazing.

Fantastic experience: Nice and well maintained. We bought the $15 pass to feed all the animals and it was more than enough for my 8 year old son. The staff was super friendly. They explained how to feed each different animal very well.

Fantastic experience: There was so much you can do and at a reasonable price. Dare I say, my experience here was far better than seaworld orlando. Amazing staff and the animals were very well taken care of. I've never touched a shark before, and that was an awesome experience for me. The interaction with each animal was professional and genuine. I hope to come back to see more again soon!

Positive experience: They really done a good job. Animals all look well cared for. They maintain the place really well. Little pricey for the food to feed the animals but oh well. Staff was friendly. Period it’s not so don’t plan on spending half a day there. We probably spent an hour. Worth the trip, especially if you have kids.

Fantastic experience: What a fabulous find on our trip to Marathon. This place is beautiful and has lots of sea and land creatures to look at and learn about. Built next to Vaca Cut, it is infused with natural beauty and tidal waters that flow in and out of this place. Mangroves growing along side the canals and beautiful fish big and small live here. Definitely a surprise place that we enjoyed visiting. Adult tickets are $30 a piece and in our eyes, it is worth it cause we enjoy taking our time and watching and learning about the different creatures. There are also upgrade experiences that you can book. All of it is listed on their website. You can feed different marine life for a few bucks more which is an affordable option especially when you are there with kids. For a few dollars we chose to feed the barracuda. When you finish feeding the barracuda, they had us go to the little pool with fish that eat the dead skin and fish smell off your fingers. There is a huge touch tank with rays who are more than willing to let you touch them. Atmosphere is clean and the workers are friendly and informative. I enjoyed learning about creatures that I have never seen before and I have visited many other aquariums in the US. A must see stop in my opinion because of the way they bring together and support the natural beauty and ecosystem of the Florida Keys into the Florida Keys Aquarium Encounter and all the different creatures that live in the Florida Keys. Looks like a nice place to have a party. They may offer rental space for parties as you will see the space in my pictures. It is absolutely beautiful how they have incorporated the natural beauty into this space.

Fantastic experience: The location is amazing! My son and I stopped by from Miami to spend the day and had a blast! He was so entertained by the touch tanks and getting to feed the animals. I have never been to a location that you can find the sting rays and watch them eat food which is truly a cool treat. Staff was super nice and talked to all the kids and thought them awesome facts of their animals and how to take care of them.

Fantastic experience: Great experience! Being able to do the touch tanks and feed the fish and alligators was amazing. Everything is outdoors. The bathrooms are super clean, and there is also a cafe to get food, drinks, and alcoholic beverages.

Fantastic experience: We took our twin grandbabies here (10 months old), any it was perfect. It was so much fun to feed the turtles and fish. A lot of shade and a friendly and helpful staff.

Fantastic experience: Been to the keys numerous times and finally stopped here, I’d definitely go back!! This place is fun for any age. We went on a Friday afternoon and it wasn’t overly busy which was so nice since we could take out time visiting each area they have to offer. There were some programs going on that we got to watch as well. They have a highly educated staff who are open to any questions you have & the entire facility is extremely clean.

Fantastic experience: We had a great time. Perfect spot for all ages. Kids loved being able to feed the animals.

Fantastic experience: Very nice aquarium, it’s outside with roofs a lot of fish to see and you are able to snorkel with the fish, sting rays and sharks.

Fantastic experience: This is such a great attraction for little ones. Bathrooms are clean and there are food options for sale (with alcohol for the adults). Highly recommend.

Positive experience: Smaller aquarium but good for a rainy day in Marathon. A little expensive at $27 a person but some neat fish, a few sharks, turtles, alligators and other sea life to look at—the coolest part was being able to feed and pet the sting rays. Good for families and like I said, a good activity for a rainy day in Marathon when there’s not much else to do.

Fantastic experience: We had an absolute BLAST at the Aquarium. I couldn't get my husband away from the stingray tank. Be sure and get there early in the day so you get to see all the exhibits. You can come and go throughout the day as well.

Fantastic experience: Such a cool place for kids and adults! There were so many aquatic animals to look at, from fish to turtles to crustaceans! It was an interactive experience as well, you could purchase a $15 feed card. It had five feed punches and one free if you used all five! You redeem a punch for a small cup of feed for animal of your choice. They gave us feeding sticks for all parties involved (humans and animals). Us personal we LOVED the stingrays! They were super cool and fun laugh! There was also an education factor, they do live feedings all over the park for different types of marine life. We got to experience the predator tank and one to its left. You could also have a guided experience of the park, which appeared to be very informational! We loved Aquarium Encounters and would definitely recommend to anyone! Fun fact! They also use their leftover feed for the local wildlife (nurse sharks, groupers, pelicans)!

Fantastic experience: Five stars and highly recommended! Unbelievable memories made at this place. My daughter and I snorkeled with tropical fish near a coral reef, and fed sharks. We also fed stingrays right out of our hand - unforgettable how they suck the food up. There are also so many opportunities to touch animals such as baby stingrays, who seemingly can't ever get enough petting. On top of it, its located in an absolutely beautiful area of the keys with crystal waters, and there's a nice café, along with a place your kids can dig for sharks teeth. What a place!!!!

Fantastic experience: We were very happy with this gem! Our son loved watching the fish and the other kids there seemed to enjoy the “hands-on” portions. It was very interactive and well done! Well worth the cost.

Fantastic experience: We had a great time here. Most of it is outdoors which is a welcome change. Staff is friendly and informative. Awesome displays, and plenty of hands-on interaction!

Positive experience: Enjoyed the aquarium a lot! Took the family there when the weather was not so great to go to the beach or be cooped up inside. It was so packed and was hard to find parking so we parked on the street. There was enough cover inside to keep us out of the rain. We liked learning about all the different animals and enjoyed the touch tanks and watching others snorkel with the fish and rays. The bigger tank with the sharks was awesome! I wish it wasn't so packed there, but overall it's a great place to take the family. Oh also, they give a military discount so if it applies, ask for it!

Positive experience: Fun spot, a little run down from our past experiences. Signed up to do the coral reef tank experience for 3 people in our group and felt very rushed by the ladies at the front desk who were pushing for them to take the time slot that was only 5 minutes away.....The person in the water with us on this trip didn't take the best photos that we paid $100 for, and was definitely more strict with our time in the tank than in previous visits where you could swim around and enjoy it on your own. Be prepared for an expensive day! Our family of 8 spent over $700 and didn't even eat here!

Fantastic experience: Very entertaining for kids and adults too, great experience was fish feeding by staff, unfortunately Big George (400 lb grouper) didn't come out to feed on the day of our visit.

Fantastic experience: We take our granddaughter often! All the touch aquariums, feeding the turtles, watching them feed the Goliath Grouper, sharks, crocks etc… so much to see and do. Check out our video on YouTube. Search for Wandered Off

Fantastic experience: Awesome family stop while in the Keys. Truly fun place for kids to feed everything and be very hands on. Depending on your desires, you can even feed the sharks if you want. For our family of 6, we had an amazing time and from kids to adults, there was nothing we didn't enjoy. Staff was beyond friendly and well worth the extra $$ to partake in some of the additional experiences. Buy a punch card or two so you can buy 5 feedings and get 1 free. We loved every tank or experience and definitely have great memories to take home with us.

Fantastic experience: This was such a fun stop for our family vacation. My two boys, ages 10 and 7 had a blast! They especially loved feeding the different animals and fish! This is definitely worth a visit! Fun for the whole family!

Positive experience: My family and I enjoyed the aquarium, staff were great and the short show they put on was informative. I only gave it 4 stars because I thought it was small, it didn't take us that long to get through the entire exhibit. I expected more for the cost of entry but I still recommend it, it was a good experience.

Fantastic experience: This is a great place for kids and adults. The guided tour was great. My daughter had a blast feeding the different animals. Being able to touch some of the animals was definitely cool, too! They even had an experience available where you could swim in the tank with different fish.

Fantastic experience: Great experience, but no manatee or crocs while we were visiting. The rays were fun to pet and you can feed fish for a couple quarters. It’s mostly outdoors.

Negative experience: This place would be great if it was priced according to the experience. No way it's worth 1/2 the price of admission. We also paid extra for the kids to feed the shark but they haven't figured out how to make it picture friendly. A simple step would elevate you above the net. They've been there 9 years, plenty of time to have a solution in place.

Fantastic experience: What an amazing experience!!! My wife and I had such a good time. Being able to feed all the fish, stingrays and turtles is a beautiful experience. A must visit for anyone that loves marine life!!!