Gulf World Marine Park

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!

I'm consistently puzzled by writers who go to resort areas such as PCBeach, then complain about what everything costs! In the case of Gulf World, guests would never believe the expense involved in maintaining strict Federal standards required to house the animals, especially the dolphins and a couple of species of sea turtles. Many of the staff are licensed professionals with advanced degrees and their education didn't come cheap and neither should their pay! Gulf World is a great mid-sized facility that's well-suited to it's setting. I highly recommend it!

My wife was trainer for a day the last day of 2009. The staff was great and she had a great time. She wanted to be with the dolphins most of all, yet she had fun with the birds too. She thought the experience was well worth it. Gulf World also does a lot of good in the marine world and that made me part with my money that much easier.

Alot stuffed into a small place. Loved the turtles and penguins. The bird show and reptile show was fun. Would have been nice to have a show in between the last couple shows, we left before the dolphin show. Was worth the money for the conservation lesson

My wife and I went back in Feb. 2002 and liked it then. We just got back from Panama and took the kids with us this time, Enjoyed it again and the kids liked it too. I would go back again, I thought the staff does a great job, The dive team, Dolphins. Sea Lions and all others were great Keep up the good work Gulf World!

We were told 25 min in class then 25 minutes to swim with the dolphin completely around the million gallon tank for 150.00 plus tax per child. What they got were 6 people sharing this time. So they got 4 minutes with the dolphin that includes the extremely short ride across the tip end of the tank half way around it!!! They will lie to you to get your money. The kids were dissappointed because they didn't get the ride we pay for and only a few minutes total interacting with the dolphin Mia... Save your money. Not worth the price. When all of the group complained the manager said he would talk to the people handling the phones. Then after he left the trainer said they have these same complaints daily by everyone!!! In other words they ignore you and keep the money!!! The park is nice and small but worth $25.00 to look at the animals and see all the shows.

For the price they should offer a lot more. I couldn't believe just how little there was to do or see for the price. It smelled really bad around the birds. No one in our family enjoyed it and felt that it was money wasted.

enjoyed the sea lions, birds, but mostly swimming with dolphins. It was a rare experience.

The park was very expensive for the small amount of things to see. It cost $77 for our party of three adults and our 2 yr old twins were free. The website said it would take about 4 to 5 hours to go through the park. If you saw all the shows it might take 3 hours. You could walk through and see all the exhibits in 30 minutes. The exhibits were dingy and don't look like they have been updated for 20 years, with the exception of the indoor area. We saw the sea lion show and it was pretty good. The park had more parrots than any kind of aquatic animals. If you have kids in strollers you should avoid the park. The pathways were very narrow and always had people right behind us so we couldn't really stop and look at anything. If we did it just caused a huge traffic jam in all directions. We thought our two year olds would love to see the dolphins. Once we got to the dolphin area we found that they only open that area 15 minutes before the dolphin show. Since that was another 3 hours from the next show we didn't even get to see them. We spent about an hour at the park and even saw the sea lion show. I almost asked for a refund, but figured it would have been totally pointless. This was by far the worst zoo/aquarium I have ever been to. They do offer swims with the dolphins (pretty sure that costs extra). So if you have kids that are big enough to do that it may be much more enjoyable. Also may be better for older kids without strollers. All in all, the park was cramped and not very many exhibits worth seeing. I wouldn't go back even if my kids were older and able to swim with the dophins.

I absolutely love it there! I have gone twice both times to swim with the cute dolphins! There aquarium is ok and there shows are ok but swimming with their dolphins are surreal and the other activities should be just to pass the time until you swim with these amazing animals! however it was a little on the pricey side so they could add a little more to what you do with the dolphins but it was alltogether a good day spent there!