Gulf World Marine Park, Panama City Beach

it was very fun seeing the dolphin show and sea lions. but the rest of the habitats for the rest of the animals were very small and the animals look miserable. Like the birds look very sad. One had riped all of it feathers out and was rocking around like it was crazy. The habitats are way to small! they had a pengiun habitat and all they had were about 5 feet of rocks for them to walk on and not enough water to swim in. the alligators look dead and died up and have almost no room to move and very little water. Also they lied to us about the price to get in over the phone. they charged us more than they said over the phone. Also the people working at the photo center were very rude. But if you go you should do the sea lion meet n greet! it was very fun! you get to play with an adorable sea lion! although its 45$ more on top of addmistion.

This is the best marine park I have been to. The staff has always went out of their way to make our time there truly wonderful. I highly recommend the "Trainer for a Day" program. This enables you to work behind the scenes with all the animal departments in the park. You experience everything from helping prepare the food for the animals (yum fish) to being on-stage and performing during a dolphin show. Any great attraction is only as good as its staff, and here, the staff makes the experience with the animals memorable. We started with the sea lions, fed them, worked on some training behaviors, and finished with a kiss from Otto (his whiskers tickled)after the sea lion show. Went on to feeding the animals in the coral reef area, shark pool, and the stingray petting area. Gulf World then provided lunch at which time a trainer sat with us and got to know us some. We then went and worked with the reptiles, holding a snake and feeding them, and performing during a show with them. The bird department was next, and for the part of the day I was not looking forward to, the bird trailers made it fun and interesting. Having a cockatoo set on your shoulder or working with a crow(russell the crow) was more fun than I would have ever imagined. Now, the part of the day everyone wants the most, the dolphins. We changed into our bathing suits and joined a trainer in the water. We worked with a lively dolphin named Indie, she was so much fun to be with. We worked on some of her behaviors and got to play with her in a sense. Some of her behaviors consisted of hugs, giving signals for jumps, and getting into a splash fight with her(we lost big time). After the pool time, we changed back into our "trainer for a day" shirts and watched the start of the dolphin show. During the show, we were invited on stage to help the trainers with the dolphins. During that time, we also went out in front of the tank and invited some kids to help us with some behaviors. The kids and us loved telling the dolphins to wave, blow bubbles, and splash us(darn, wet again). I can not think of a better way to spend a day. Now, the memories are great, but they also had a photographer follow us around at times during the day, and he captured some amazing photos of us in action. They offered us the option fo buying the whole disk or just the pictures we wanted. There is nothing like a screensaver of you recieving a kiss from a dolphin. As you can tell, my wife and I loved our time in the park. We have experienced the "Trainer" program on 6 occasions. I said it before and I will say it again, the staff there is the best. If your just a day guest or a special program participant, ask questions, have fun, enjoy the experience. The trainers and staff can make a good day in the park turn into a true special memory and learning experience.

This was my 1st time visiting Gulf World and I was super pleased!!! The staff are wonderful...only prob. was a couple girls in the gift shop were kinda snooty! The trainers were fabulous...esp. the girl that did the sea lion show w/ Auto. I LOVED IT!!! The dolphins were beautiful! And I also thought the tropical bird exhibit was totally lovely!!! I hope this place will be there for very many years to come!!! Thanks for all the wonderful work you all do!

Save your money.. go to SeaWorld.. The park smells and the shows are boring (ZzZz)

gulf world is awesome and i learned alot of cool new stuff about the animals so if you wanna have fun go there asap

People don't understand how much money a seasonal attraction has to make in order to stay in business. They really think places like Gulf World are just trying to steal your money. In reality, all the extra money that Gulf World makes in the summer is what they reserve to feed the animal, pay the trainers, and keep the park running in the slow winter months. And also, dolphin swims can be so short because there are laws about how much a dolphin can work. Yes, there are dolphin labor laws, and they are more strict than child labor. And I hate it when people say "Oh I can go swim the dolphins out in the Gulf", for one that illegal and dangerous, and two, dolphins cruises and boats that let you swim with wild dolphins tie and hide bait under the boat so the dolphins stay close, which makes them food dependant and they STARVE to death when these boats are around. Think about that... Gulf World isn't perfect and is nowhere close to Sea World, but they really are good people (I know staff from all different departments personally) and they do their best to give you a fair and fun experience.

Highly overpriced with minimal attractions for a family. Food was horrible with hair found in two of four sandwiches. We paid the extra money to swim with the dolphins and for $150 we got like 20 minutes max. If you want to see marine animals, then just go swimming in the Gulf, stay away from this place.

I loved swimming with the dolphins! Indy was wonderful! the mermaid show was great And lets not forget the elvis show it was great! It was wonderful to visit such a fabulous place with the best friends ever!

i liked every part of it dolphins -fun thing to watch and play with. reptlales-scary but fun. bird show-sweet or should i say sweak! magic-LAME kidding cool. sea lions-my favoriteif you a girl you might gust have your frist kiss.feeding watch them reastle so gulf worl is AWSOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Feeling lucky to be a Snowbird, I was staying at our condo at Origin, which is a short walk from Gulf World. It was raining on Saturday, so I decided to walk to Gulf World and renew my annual pass. The first event was the Sea Lion Show. There were only two young boys and five adults present, but they put on a great show for us, and even allowed each of us to pet the huge animal as it lay on its back. Next was the Parrot Show, where there was only a little girl, her daddy, and me. Once again, we given a wonderful performance by the birds, and especially the trainers. After the show I was allowed to scratch the head/neck of the Cockatoo - one of the 'stars" of the show. As I was heading for the next show, I noticed people hurrying about with green sea turtles in their arms! I asked what was going on and was informed that due to the unusual extended cold temperatures, turtles were "cold stunned" and washing ashore. There was a rescue effort taking place and Gulf World had volunteered their staff and facilities as rehabilitation area for the turtles until they could be released. Hats off to Gulf World and their employees, "turtle rescue" volunteers, Federal and State Fish and Wildlife personnel, and many others who worked tirelessly to save these turtles. My grandchildren have enjoyed the Trainer for a Day Program last year, and can't wait till they return in April during their annual Spring Break trip with "Grandma". You pay one price and can come and go all day long. The shows are each repeated twice, and you will absolutely get your money's worth. The food and drinks are reasonably priced too. DO NOT MISS THIS ATTRACTION!