Alabama Aquarium at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Fantastic experience: Plenty of cool critters to see. Live things to touch. Interesting exhibits to read. Nicely curated gift shop. Small but worth the visit.

Fantastic experience: The aquarium was small but it was very exciting to see variety of fish in the Stingrays.

Fantastic experience: Great little aquarium to let the kids run around. Plenty of stuff to touch and interact with. The shark and ray petting pool was so much fun! Don't expect to spend much more than 90 mins here, maybe a bit more if you explore the outside portion with the boardwalk.

Fantastic experience: Very impressed with this aquarium! Wide selection of sea life, great exhibits, and fun interactive activities for adults and children. Wonderful activity for the whole family, especially if you are trying to escape the summer heat!

Fantastic experience: The children loved the stingray tank. My favorite was the baby seahorses. It was a real nice day, followed by ice cream next door, then off to the fort.

Positive experience: Great place to learn what's in our waters. Enoyed petting the sting rays.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic fun for all of the family! This is a smaller aquarium, but the perfect size to be inside, learning, and getting out of the sun. My kids had a blast and we will be back next time we’re at the beach!

Fantastic experience: What a fascinating treasure! So educational and fun. Wonderful layout. The outdoor boardwalk through the dunes was fun too!

Negative experience: Clean. Staff were not excited to serve at front desk or gift shop. Staff were friendly inside. This was so small and just some fish tanks. It was so expensive for what’s inside. If you’re looking to pay a big price for little to nothing this is your place.

Positive experience: The cost was $14. very small. went through it in 15 min and that was with stopping and looking at each exhibit. liked that you could touch stingrays and sharks.

Fantastic experience: Its small but very hands on and interactive. They have displays that you can touch and feel.. and they even have a horseshoe crab and a sting ray/shark tank where you can pet them

Fantastic experience: Very nice aquarium. Just enough for the kids to do and enjoy but not to much to where you're too tired to finish it all.

Positive experience: There's not much to see. Thought we would get to see some of what they do in the Sea Lab. Not a single display or information about their work.

Fantastic experience: My kids loved this place!

Fantastic experience: Very friendly and helpful employees. They took the time to explain to the whole family

Fantastic experience: We took 6 teenagers! It was so much fun. Its a small quaint aquarium but so educational and we had a blast at the stingray pool!

Fantastic experience: Our grandchildren loved this place! Great day out to see some amazing sea life and to touch a hammer head shark, stingrays, and a horseshoe crab.

Fantastic experience: Kids had a good time they loved touching the sharks and the rays. It is a fairly small aquarium but it's inexpensive and informative

Positive experience: Quick afternoon adventure. Just large enough to learn about crustacean and marine life. There are areas where kids can touch sting rays, sharks, fish, conches, alligator skeletons, bird feathers, and alligator skin. There's also an interactive play area with a microscope and artificial reef. We printed off activity sheets from the aquarium's website before arriving and it was a great way for the kids to find the animals while we walked around.

Fantastic experience: We so enjoyed our visit! We spent about 2 hours here and really took our time to see and read everything. Staff were friendly. Loved the jelly fish, seahorses, interactive map, and ray and shark pool, especially. Beautiful view. Plenty of photo op areas. Definitely not a big aquarium, but we kind of liked that about it because it wasn't overwhelming and exhausting.

Fantastic experience: My kids love the aquarium when we're on the island for the summer and enjoy the programs they offer

Fantastic experience: Nice walk through! With indoor and outdoor displays. Lots of interactive things for children or the children at heart.

Positive experience: I wish it had more the best thing was the petting tank of course and the jellyfish but not worth the 60 I paid we looked at everything in 30 mins I was disappointed it wasn’t better

Positive experience: Small but good experience. We are two older adults so this review isn’t about children. We enjoyed the exhibits, read most of the information and spent a little over an hour there. I think it would be more enjoyable for someone to spend time on the island experiencing the wildlife then go to the Aquarium and explore what these animals/fish are. There is a nice pier to walk on as well. $14 for adults. Entrance is to the water side of the building, not the street side.

Fantastic experience: We had a blast going there for the first time. The ray tank was our favorite part

Positive experience: This aquarium probably takes 40 minutes to go through, and that's being generous. It's severely overpriced. The seahorses and the touch tank were the highlights. It was neat to go once, just to know what it's like ,but we won't be going back. There are changing tables in the bathrooms.

Positive experience: The Alabama Aquarium at Dauphin Island is a decent stop if you’re already in the area, but overall it didn’t quite meet expectations. On the positive side, the facility was very clean, well-maintained, and had plenty of accessible restroom areas, which is always helpful when visiting with kids. It’s also conveniently walkable from the ferry landing, making it easy to get to without needing extra transportation. Admission was $14 per adult and $6 per child, with kids five and under free. While the price seems reasonable at first glance, it felt too high for what’s actually offered. There’s very little sea life to see, and almost no opportunities to interact with animals outside of the stingray touch tank. We’ve been to many aquariums, and this one felt more like a small educational center than a full aquarium experience. Honestly, my kids spent more time playing in the children’s play areas than they did looking at the exhibits, which says a lot about the level of engagement. For the price, I expected more variety and depth. Overall, it’s fine for killing an hour if you’re already on Dauphin Island, but personally I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit again. It just doesn’t offer enough for the cost, especially compared to other aquariums we’ve experienced.

Fantastic experience: Great way to know the species in the Gulf. Catch the sting ray feeding

Fantastic experience: Modest aquarium by the water. Some docks and lookout areas. Ice cream shop attached. Good parking.

Positive experience: We've been to many aquariums. This one was on the smaller side for the price. It was still very interesting.

Positive experience: A well done, small aquarium that provides exhibits and education for a variety of locally relevant species. This is a good place to spend up to two hours.

Positive experience: Kind of a small and sparsely populated aquarium is saved by a tank where you can view and touch a variety of local rays and skates.

Positive experience: Nice staff. Not as many species as other aquariums but nice and clean.

Positive experience: Very small and not put together. I’m sure it will be nice. Once the construction is over.

Fantastic experience: Educational and informative. Our grandsons loved it.

Positive experience: Meh, not the best Aquarium I’ve ever been to. It’s a decent aquarium if you happen to be around the area or if you can get the ferry but it’s definitely not worth the almost 2 hour drive from gulf shores. Extremely small, takes maybe 20 minutes to walk through. You can touch rays and horseshoe crabs though.

Fantastic experience: Great place to take the kids and see the sea creatures. Staff was friendly, and pricing was fair.

Positive experience: Small Aquarium, good way to kill 30 mins or so...no more than 1 hr to see the whole thing...

Fantastic experience: Such a sweet place! Very interactive and educational for kids. You can touch skeletons, horseshoe crabs, sharks, and stingrays. The volunteers and staff were so sweet. It is small, but definitely worth the trip!

Fantastic experience: We have visited a number of aquariums across the world, and we found this one to be highly educational, very informative, and fun. We had children from the ages of 4 to 12 in our group and they enjoyed it a lot. Would definitely recommend.

Positive experience: My family visited The Alabama Aquarium yesterday. It was almost a 2-hour drive to Dauphin Island just to visit this place. I have to say, everything was very clean and neat, but it just seemed like they did not have a wide variety of exhibits. After visiting the aquarium in New Orleans, maybe we expecting more. All in all, it is not a bad place but aquarium only takes 10 minutes to walk through. Not worth it if you ask me.

Positive experience: Small but well done. Got to see feeding of fish as well as rays. Excellent hands on and touching areas. Happy to see research too.

Fantastic experience: Took a trip here with my son’s 5th grade class. The staff was excellent and very informative. The trip out on the boat was a great experience and educational catching a wide array of sea life. A great experience overall. A trip that should not be missed if possible!

Positive experience: Took the ferry over. Aquarium was small but nice. Got to pet the stingrays. Ice cream shop next door was yummy.

Positive experience: Not all that big an aquarium, but great for what it is! The highlight is definitely the ray & shark pool, especially at feeding time around 2pm. A lot of text for an aquarium, though it is all well wrotten and interesting of you're into ecology and conservation. Went on a raony Saturday afternoon in January, so it wasn't busy, but there was still a fair amount of people. Took about 1.5 to 2 hours, reading nearly everything.

Fantastic experience: Loved this place inside and out. It's not very big, but worth a visit. They had a little hammerhead shark in the touch tank - my first time touching a shark. Outside (that part is free) we saw cool birds including Oystercatchers, a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret. There was plenty of parking and the aquarium wasn't crowded.

Fantastic experience: We had a little trouble with finding the right parking lot as Google had us turn a little too soon, but it was worth the drive on a rainy day.

Fantastic experience: My entire family loved it. It is a small place but some really great things to see and do. We loved the seahorses, horsecrabs, and getting to touch the stingray and hammerhead shark. Can't wait to go back.

Positive experience: Small aquarium like environment. Good for kids and families. Educational. Only downside is it is a less than 45 mine time spent here kind of place.

Positive experience: The price for the experience is pretty high. Need more eye catching attractions.

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium but filled with a lot of knowledge. Enjoyed petting the stingrays. The property the aquarium is on has a lot of information and walkaways. As well as an amazing view of the Bay. Wonderful experience all around.

Fantastic experience: Very cute but smallish aquarium. Was only $14 dollars to get in and it was worth the money. Got to touch sting rays and hammerhead sharks, that was cool. Nice displays. Excellent staff working that answered questions about the local area.

Negative experience: Getting to the aquarium requires a ferry from the mainland, which adds to the cost as the ferry isn’t free—nor is the admission to this small aquarium. My partner and I, both adults without kids, completed the entire aquarium in less than 25 minutes. We interacted with every exhibit, watched all the educational videos, took our time with photos, and even visited the stingray petting area. Unfortunately, this experience was a major letdown for us. As aquarium enthusiasts, we found it lacking in substance and not worth the time or money for those without children.

Fantastic experience: Did not have great expectations going in due to the size, but totally worth it! Definitely better if you have young kids, and although the exhibits are limited and relatively small; it is very well maintained, staffed, and pretty easy to spend an hour or two here.

Fantastic experience: We took our grandson there today and had good fun with him. It is a small venue, however they have many hands-on exhibits. There is a little snack that we visited for a hot dog and a bowl of ice cream.

Fantastic experience: Extremely well done! It wasn’t as overcrowded as aquariums typically are and we actually got to pet large rays and some juvenile sharks! The staff truly cares and were eager to share their knowledge and care for the creatures. A wonderful time was had by all! It is priced very reasonably and you can easily spend several hours there. Absolutely a recommend! P.S. the ferry was cool too.

Fantastic experience: The Aquarium has been expanded since I last saw it a few years ago. The displays reflect the efforts that have been put into them. They look clean and well maintained. I definitely recommend a visit. #DauphinIsland @disealab #buzzybooth

Fantastic experience: Great hidden gem. Not too big, but a nice spot for kids to learn about local sea life. Fort Gaines across the road. Take ferry over to Fort Morgan after.

Fantastic experience: Honestly, $14 is a bit costly but the experience is surreal. Extremely informative of the mobile Delta and great little exhibits... There is an outdoor petting pool where you can pet mantas.. Which they love!!! If they like you, they will follow you and splash you I watched as one followed a young lady around the edge doing just that... If you're ever on Dauphin Island go visit!!!

Fantastic experience: Great little local aquarium with preservation efforts! Got to pet some horseshoe crabs and hermit crabs! The best part was the sting ray touch pool! The rays were like water puppies! They came right up to you and let you love on them! We had a great experience! The only thing that could improve is the employees. They were not friendly at all and it was almost borderline uncomfortable. Very cold and unwelcoming and they acted as if they didn't want to be there and deal with anyone. Please do better.

Fantastic experience: Worth the $14 price tag. Takes about 30-40 minutes to walk around the place and you can pet sting rays. Id check the time of the sting ray feedings before you go. We were a bit early to stick around for that but I'm sure it's very cool and worth planning around.

Fantastic experience: We had a wonderful time cooling off inside the aquarium and learning about the life of the Alabama Gulf Coast community. It is a small place but the cost was worth the visit. They are doing lots of wonderful work and will continue with our collective support. Stop by and support them when you're in the area.

Fantastic experience: We loved our visit! It’s not the biggest place but it is very hands on and lots of things to see and do! No long lines and great air conditioning for a hot summer day! Friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: It was small, but mighty! It was a lovely selection of local fish, etc. There were interactive exhibits and people on hand with fossils, bones, and other fun fishy things! They were super nice and informative! You could also touch the rays, and that was fun. The outside area was cool, although it was too hot to spend any quality time there. They have a cute giftshop and you can also get ice cream and other treats next door! Very nice staff.

Positive experience: Always a great time at Alabama Aquarium. This place is educational, interesting, clean, and friendly. Not just for kids, grown-up's like it too.

Positive experience: It was a smaller aquarium but had a decent selection of things to look at my favorite was the seahorses, jellyfish, and the hammerhead shark in the stingray tank. They also had hands on sectio and which was fun for the kids and you was no extra cost. It was nice they also had a snack bar to eat at that had good food for decent prices. We also enjoyed the board walk area outside and got to see a bunch of crabs out there. Fun overall family experience

Fantastic experience: Very nice place. Small but definitely worth the trip. This was our second time going over there. First time was me and my husband. The second time was me, my husband and grandchildren. I highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: This aquarium is very small but very well maintained and clean. There were plenty of hands on activities for patrons to experience and the kids loved it! The staff at each area were super friendly and knowledgeable about the sea life on display. The ONLY thing I had an issue with was the girl working at the snack/ice cream store oustide. A customer asked what was cool around to do as this was their first day here and the girl said "to be honest, the island is pretty boring and there's not a lot to do unless you want to get eat up by mosquitos". She was pretty nonchalant and uninterested in even anything positive about her home place.

Fantastic experience: Went for the sea life experience it was great fun .and informative. Sting rays zoomed at feeding. I admit-We kept coming back for the ice cream....it was close to our campground, and let me tell you...these are some fun, loving and kind hearted folks in here at the snack shack. We got waffle cones each time our son loved the A & W flavor. I tried vanilla, next time vanilla and chocolate on bottom, and moo crunch lastly all yum! They load a good solid circle scoop. We got turtle poop for our eldest lol. The snack shack is refreshing and comfortable. The folks here make a person feel like they are home. Thank you A gentleman walked in got no intention to buy needing a cool down and they chit chatted him told him to cool on off. Welcoming him. Again the nicest folks I've ever witnessed. Go on and give em a try its very much worth it even for the food or smile....it's worth your while.

Fantastic experience: My personal favorite part was the sting ray pool. There were fish I’ve never seen or heard of. The price to get in wasn’t bad for a smaller aquarium, but the gift shop was a little pricey. There’s a large interactive screen. I didn’t touch it, but seemed to have historical facts.

Fantastic experience: Perfect aquarium for all ages. It’s no Monterey Bay Aquarium but there are so many neat exhibits and displays that everyone will find something interesting to see or touch. There’s a cute gift shop also and the living marsh outside which was my favorite part. Love living on the Gulf coast!

Fantastic experience: Very nice educational aquarium, good place if you want to ride out a sunburn & not be in heat if day. We really liked the Ray tank they are very calm, will come up to you to be touched, they were feeding on side of tank so good views. The aquarium did great job laying out relationships between waterways leading to the Gulf. Had great ice cream cone at shop attached to end, gift shop was nice but not too many larger sized (adult ) tees in style we liked. But,nuts very small so stocking is likely a problem. Staff were super polite too.

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium, still enjoyed it! Got to pet some manta rays and they have an ice cream shop nearby and some places to walk outside.

Fantastic experience: While on vacation in Dauphin Island, the wife and I needed to get our twin boys out of the sun for the day and decided to go to the Aquarium on the island. We were so glad we did. What an awesome place to check out! For the foreseeable future of us it 40 dollars to get in and see all the awesome tanks and enclosures they have. We always check out the local aquariums when we can, and this one did not disappoint. Though it is pretty small, the aquariums and enclosures were very cool and well done. We check out everything but the sting ray touch pond and were there for about 45 minutes to an hour. The aquarium was pretty busy being one of the few inside attractions on the island, but we got to see everything without much jostling for position. The place was very clean and it seemed like they really cared for the animals they keep there. They also had a few exhibits with workers explaining various things found locally around the island and in the gulf like shells, fossils and such. They were all very nice and seemed very patient with the kids. Also, outside of the aquarium is a beautiful pathway and pier showing some of the best views on the island imo, as well as more info about the local animal life and ecosystem! Overall, I would definitely recommend taking the time to check it out and support the work this place does!

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium, but the quality makes up for it! Very personable staff and the sting rays and skates were a highlight! The snack shack staff were awesome, too!

Fantastic experience: Loved this place! My daughter has never been to the beach before, so I brought her down to orange beach and dauphin island. She loves aquariums and absolutely had a blast at this place! She could not believe she was getting to pet real stingrays and sharks! I can't wait to come back!

Positive experience: Great little aquarium to visit while on Dophin Island. They have a variety of marine wildlife, and they have a small pool with rays, fish, and a small shark you can touch and watch them feed them. It's right next to the fort. It was free to park at the aquarium.

Fantastic experience: We went for Discovery Day. Make sure to get there early, as it tends to get just busier and busier. There was a ton to do and talk about. It kept us busy most of the day. We didn't even make into the aquarium. Everyone was so knowledgeable!

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium but very nice!! We spent about 2 hours there. They have stingrays that you can touch and very informative. They have a small gift shop and a snack bar area.

Fantastic experience: I came on a whim wanting to get out of town and into a relaxing atmosphere, and this was a great choice! If you are in the area, I highly recommend this place. Reasonable admission price, on the small side, but a great spot highlighting the environments about the Alabama coast. The boardwalk highlighting the plants and animals is nice.

Fantastic experience: What a treat! Located on Dauphin Island in Alabama. We Took the Fort Morgan ferry over to Dauphin Island which you can drive, bike, or walk on, to visit the newly renovated aquarium, which is attached to the research center. Very easy to get to with ample parking, including handicap parking and access to the facility. A terrific adventure for adults and children, picnic areas, outdoor play areas, and beautiful views of the Gulf coast Where you can see a multitude of Avery and porpoise. Very inexpensive and affordable. We paid about $12 for adult entry. Many varieties of saltwater and freshwater creatures that live along the Gulf coast. Including an exhibit where you can pet the manta rays and sea rays! The research center is open on Saturdays however the aquarium is open during the week. They do have a gift shop on premises with affordable toys and trinkets to remember your experience. There is also an ice cream shop on the premises and the ferry dock on the island also has ice cream, coffee, beer, soft drinks , and snacks available . A wonderful, educational, and fun day for anyone at any age. I highly recommend visiting the aquarium if you’re from out of town or if you live here.

Fantastic experience: Very neat place, make sure to pet the rays…this was a highlight for sure. Gift shop was reasonably priced and the snack bar was really good, really good Cajun boiled peanuts

Fantastic experience: Smaller aquarium but still worth the visit. They have some great displays that show off the local environment and so many hands on displays for kids (and adults). Great customer service and we appreciated the student discount for my wife and I who are both in school. It was a great visit!

Fantastic experience: Cool place to visit with the family. The staff there was friendly and well educated about the marine life there.

Fantastic experience: Great experience. Showcases our Gulf Coast marine habitat. Just a short distance to the ferry and Fort Gaines. We will visit again!

Positive experience: Small aquarium but learned a lot. Lots of reading about the different ecosystems. We loved the ray pool and touching the rays. I paid more than the admission price to do this at Brookfield Zoo years ago.

Fantastic experience: Price was very reasonable..We touched stingrays and were taught about a few aquatic sea creatures..finished up by enjoying a delicious Ice-cream cone and buying a few souvenirs at the shops..The kids really enjoyed their day.

Fantastic experience: Great place! Lots of interesting animals to see and outside they have an area where you can touch some, like stingrays, horseshoe crab, small hammerhead sharks, etc. Awesome place to visit and very reasonable prices.

Fantastic experience: My associate and I elected to visit this aquarium, as we are interested in stingrays. A student discount was provided to us, though other discounts may apply. Unfortunately, we were unable to pet any of the rays, though maybe it was just our nerves that got in the way. The facilities were quite impressive and well-maintained, though they were not quite at the scope of other aquariums. This is not to the Sea Lab's detriment, however, as the exhibits they had were enjoyable. We especially enjoyed the chronicles of "Mr. Sand and his friends" on the boardwalk outside of the Sea Lab. In the gift shop, my associate and I found ourselves a new companion, an orange octopus by the name of "Daphne". Her presence on our trip was a welcome one. In addition, the concessions building was enjoyable. Customer service was exemplary.

Fantastic experience: Loved seeing all the different fish. Not a huge aquarium only takes an hour or so to enjoy everything. The tank of rays that you can touch is the highlight of the place.

Positive experience: The kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed all of the exhibits, especially the touch tank! Petting the sting rays and seeing a hammerhead shark up close was extraordinary.

Fantastic experience: A small aquarium that offers a great experience. All tanks were clean & water was clear, fish seemed to love being engaged/interacted with. Estuariam is nice as well, beautiful butterflies! Great way to spend a little time.

Fantastic experience: Second year visiting on a field trip. Definitely worth checking out. The staff are really great with children and do a great job explaining things. The dinning hall was very good! Overall great experience. Love the beach access as well as the docks over looking the bay. There is also an old fort and a bird sanctuary nearby.

Positive experience: It is a nice aquarium that would be a must see space for families with young children up to 10 years of age. The highlight was the touch pool. Rays swim up to your hand and make contact. This is a good place to learn about local species and to have an aquarium experience.

Fantastic experience: Very nice aquarium! Staff is friendly and the facility is very clean. We had a great time!

Fantastic experience: I love this place. So informative and a nice place the children can explore and learn about their city/state. I also love the gift shop.

Fantastic experience: This place is great to visit. You get to touch a horseshoe crab and a sting ray. I really liked the sea horses and turtles. It wasn't really that expensive for the adventure. I would recommend going here to anyone. Very educational for children.

Fantastic experience: So much information and such a amazing learning experience!! Plus you can touch sting rays and hermot crabs :) and staff are willing to talk to you about the animals as well! Don't be afraid to ask questions!!!

Fantastic experience: We really enjoyed the touch tank filled with horseshoe crabs, skates, stingrays, a shark, and several fish. Also, we attended the Science Friday educational classes. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. This was an enjoyable family outing.

Fantastic experience: Small aquarium but worth the price. The kids really enjoyed it. Several hands-on activities.