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Miami Seaquarium
Rating Details »
Categories: Parks, Party & Event Planning [Edit]
4400 Rickenbacker CswyKey Biscayne, FL 33149
(305) 361-5705
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
17 reviews for Miami Seaquarium
I discovered that Seaquarium is the place where Flipper came from. Seaquarium is historic. The years have not been completely good to Seaquarium.
I discovered that it is hot in Florida in the summertime and there are a lot of sweaty tourists crammed into Seaquarium (self included). I didn't try any of the food; my stomach was already upset. Thankfully, most of the venues are shaded. I found air conditioning in the restrooms near dolphin encounters.
I discovered that killer whales are not whales but actually a large dolphin. Lolita and the dolphin family show was our favorite. The tank is small. It is "air" conditioned to 55F however to the animals are possibly more comfortable than the people in the stands. They don't get to leave at the end of the show though.
I was actually impressed with the animal and human performers. It occurs to me that they do these shows day in and day out but it does appear that in most cases, they genuinely do like to play with each other. Most of the shows feature high energy and loud music. They turn down the music for only a few minutes for an educational interlude.
Admission is $40 and you'll definitely want to leave within two or three hours tops.
Later in the week we went out sailing on Biscayne bay. We had an impromptu dolphin encounter. That was arguably a cooler animal experience than anything we saw at Seaquarium.
This park should be called the Miami fish tank because an aquarium it is not! I went to the Seaquarium on a sunny Saturday hoping to have a fun-filled afternoon looking at sea life. What I got was a hot and sweaty overpriced two hours with a quick dolphin show. The first shock was the fact that I had to pay for parking 8$!! The second shock was the $36 price tag to get into the park. I figured that for $36 they were going to have a lot of different attractions and I was going to see a lot of different animals. This was not the case.
The park is very small and in varying states of disrepair. The shows are staggered so it's difficult to see more than one or two in a single visit. The tanks are so dirty you can barely see the fish and sea life. I am not an animal activist by any means, but even I could tell that some of those tanks the animals are being housed in are too small. One example was the manatees, they had 4 of them in a small tank that was full of old food.
I guess this place had it's hey day but right now it's just a sad excuse to take tourist's money.
For many years I have wanted to visit the Miami Seaquarium - I just have never made it there. At last, my super pal Vanessa and I decided to make it happen and set aside a special Saturday to explore the Seaquarium, fancy cameras in tow. I envisioned colorful fish, leaping dolphins, and wild marine antics from killer whales and sea lions. I was excited! I had assumed that the Miami Seaquarium HAD to be one of the best Aquarium-type attractions in the area.
...well you know what they say happens when you assume....
First, we had to pay EIGHT. DOLLARS. TO. PARK. in THEIR parking lot in order to pay MORE money to get into THEIR attraction! Ridiculous! Then, with tax, it was over $38 dollars admission. But hey, if it's this expensive it has to be good!
PSYCHE!
Some lowlights:
* a few dolphins swimming around in circles, begging for fish (heartbreaking).
* the saltwater reef fishtank that was so dim and murky you couldn't see deeper than four feet.
* the tropical bird and reptile area, with parrots who were tethered to trees in pairs, fornicating turtles, 2 flamingoes, and 2 boa constrictors.
* The crocodile and sea turtle area, and "Deer Island" (two white tailed deer and some rogue iguanas on a small patch of sand).
Perhaps the most interesting experience of the Seaquarium was the Manatee area. Thanks to the glass, I found myself up close and personal to one flatulent manatee's bum and I will never be the same!
After about 1.5 hours, my friend and I decided not to waste one more minute of our lives and we left.
On a scale of Miami Seaquarium to 10, we rated this a Miami Seaquarium.
This place is actually a very nice attraction. I have read many negative reviews about it however, if you really look at some of the pictures, there isn't anything wrong with it! Many of the people who protest it are young and stupid teenagers who think that they are trying to make a statement but they are really just trying to get attention for themselves.
This park is clean and the staff are all very friendly. Don't compare it to SeaWorld since thats a huge corporation (its like comparing apples to oranges). No, the Miami Seaquarium isn't as big but still, it is a very cool place to go. My personal favorite was the Flipper show and the Top Deck Dolphin show.
If you see all of the shows, exhibits and keeper talks, it should last you about 5-6 hours max. Give this place a shot, it is a lot of fun! You might even "fall in love" with some of their animals!
I'm kind of upset I can't give this place negative stars. A friend and I went here thinking it would be fun to go since she's never been, and it's been about 20 years since I was last here. Boy, were we wrong, this place plummets into the deep end of the fun scale.
I could go on about how much of a rip off this place is ($8 for parking...really?!) and then another $38 dollars for a ticket to get in. We weren't even here 2 hours before we decided to waste anymore of our time here.
In a nutshell, this place lacks severely in the marine/sea life. They should reconsider naming it to Alligator Island, since that's the majority of what they seemed to have here.
I would definitely advise any tourist that is considering of visiting the Miami Seaquarium on not coming at all. Save your money and time on visiting another more noteworthy Miami attraction, because this is certainly not one of them.
P.S. I should note that I didn't look up this place on Yelp before visiting, which was my fault. I will forever remember to keep my faith in the Yelp community.
Like most people say money wise its a rip off.
I would expect that Miami - being famous being on the Atlantic Ocean and the sea would have the best Seaquarium in the US.
But no - if you have ever been to Baltimore's Seaquarium then o not waste your time at this run down place - really beside the dolphin show there is nothing here to see that you can not see in the Everglades or along i-95 in Naples.
I can sum it up in three words: expensive, disgusting and cruel.
Why? What a dump! There was garbage floating in the endangered sea turtle pen, as well as the shark tank! There was rust on the dolphin tanks and killer whale tank! One of the deer has a large, big-bitten scab on her side and one of the dolphins, named Hollywood, had a wound on her tail that was so badly infected that plants were sprouting from it! None of those animals had shade from the blistering hot Miami sun and their tanks were so barren/boring - no rocks, kelp, or anything natural. The shows were dull and we ended up leaving half-way through most of them. It was more like a sick circus than an "educational experience" as the website claims.
Not to mention, Lolita the killer whale is in a tank so small, it is illegal to USDA/APHIS laws! The tank is the size of a hotel pool - shallow and small. I wish the Miami Seaquarium would just close and put all their animals in more suitable homes!
I have heard a lot of bad things about the Miami Seaquarium. I have looked at photos, read reviews, studied the Seaquarium's animals, looked at aerial views of the park, etc. over the years, and this year, August 12, 2009, I finally visited the park. And it was amazing. In just about every show, you are just feet away from the animals, in presentations, you learn a little about how the Seaquarium does its stuff, and the best part is the size of the park. Don't get me wrong, I love SeaWorld, there's just so much fun you can have, but, walking can get annoying and tiring, but it was awesome to be able to walk across the Seaquarium without walking a million miles...
Also, yes it was hot, and a lot of people complain about the heat, and the heat is no reason to lower your score for the Seaquarium because guess what people...YOUR IN MIAMI, FL..its going to be hot. At least the Seaquarium tended to that well with misters around the park. I however don't handle heat well, but I was so excited to finally be at the park, and see the animals, the heat didn't bother me one bit until I had to wait 20 minutes for the employees to open the 2 gates to the whale stadium. *sigh* Everyone gives the Seaquarium a bad rep only because of their killer whale who in fact has lived in their care for 39 years. (http://freewebs.com/th...)
The Seaquarium was far from a dump, and was the total opposite of what animal rights activists say it is. Trainers and employees were very friendly and answered my already known questions correctly, they did not deny Hugo's existence, and the shows were short, fun, and educational to a point-and perfect for young children. The park is very interesting and quite clean even though its 54 years old, but the animals are very well cared for, and in particular, the Flipper Lagoon, crocodile exhibit, sea turtle/deer exhibit, tropical fish tank, and Dolphin Harbor exhibits were very nice and large! The Seaquarium was amazing, and totally worth the money, and I spent a total of 7 hours at the park, and it was great.
Not once did I get hungry, but did get thirsty, and the food and drink prices were reasonable for a park. The park also wasn't that crowded, but was still a joy to visit. And no, the park is not overpriced. SeaWorld is overpriced.
The park was a 5 star park for the family, and is worth coming back. For those who give this park 1-2 stars, then you don't know how to enjoy yourself, so don't even bother reviewing.
To start off, I felt sorry for the animal that were housed there. The tanks seemed way too small for the animals. Imagined living in a space the size of a New York studio apartment without being able to venture outside and you might have a good analogy for what those animal must feel like.
At 40+ dollars per ticket and 8 dollars for parking I think more needs to go to rehabbing the park.
Interesting facts, Flipper the 70's TV show was filmed here. the dolphin from Ace Ventura's Pet Detective is one of the ones in the show, you can feed the sea lions.
The only true positive was that dolphin show was fun to watch and the weather was beautiful.
One liner: Save your money or make them revamp the park for the animal before you patron the site.
Swimming with Dolphins! Yeahhhh such a great time for those who haven't -this is a must.
I went here on Christmas day and loved it. You get into a wetsuit and learn from the trainers about Dolphin behavior. They have you do some typical poses for the camera too for souvenirs. Sooo much fun.
The rest of the place is really not in that great of shape- However there are some other shows to watch and feedings. Of course over priced park food and drink.; so make reservations for dinner somewhere else.
I love marine life so I give this place a star than its actual worth. It's a dipilated facility with a tiny tank for the shamu whale (also a big point of controversy -- it was supposed to be expanded, rebuilt, or whatever to at least meet the minimum standard for a habitable tank for the whale, but that never happened). However, in Miami, there's no better place to see marine life all in one setting. Just ignore the poor state this old complex is in.
An interesting thing: They serve arepas from one of the kiosks in the Seaquarium.
Side note: I've never waded with the dolphins, but that probably would make me think extremely highly of this seaquarium. But this being Miami, near the Caribbean and all, they should have a world class facility anyways. For the best of the best, a drive to Orlando would have to be made to SeaWorld.
PROS: Lots of great animals. Lots of shows. We really enjoyed the two dolphin shows, the whale show, the shark feeding, and the sea lion show. Not a very large place, easy to get around.
CONS: Somewhat dated. Not enough seating, not enough air conditioned areas, awful cheeseburger in the cafe. Expensive drinks ($3 for Gatorade). Not a lot of shade.
I would NEVER EVER give this place a dime of my money! Marine parks are NO FUN for the animals that they catch from the wild, while tearing them away from their families and exploiting them for entertainment. Lolita, the orca that they have here, was captured in 1970 with ten others from her family. She is the only one who is still alive. Miami Seaquarium refuses to release her back into the wild, WHERE SHE BELONGS, because they are GREEDY and MONEY-HUNGRY, as she is the star attraction. These places don't "educate" people about marine life..they EXPLOIT them. Making a wild animal do tricks is NOT teaching people about them. How would people like it if animals went and hunted them and then sat them in a tiny cage on display?? Also, Miami Seaquarium is in violation of many laws regarding their animals, but get away with it, probably with a pay-off to the city! "The whale tank at Seaquarium is in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, APHIS - section 3.128, states space requirement minimum 48ft across but Lolita's tank is only 35ft across and 22ft long. Seaquarium is not a member of AZA - Association of Zoos and Aquariums - because the tank is illegal, furthermore orcas should NOT be held solo." PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...do NOT patronize this abusive place!
It has been close to 20 years since I had been to the Seaquarium. It was nice to be there today...the weather was perfect and it brought back great memories! The Dolphin Encounter was amazing....Lolita is exactly how I last saw her....a great place for families to take their kids.
Miami Seaquarium is a decent sized aquarium with a nice selection of creatures, and some good shows to boot. Although pricey, the W.A.D.E. (Whale and dolphin exploration, you get to swim with dolphins) program is totally worth the experience.
We went to the Miami Seaquarium this summer... now if you've ever been to South Florida in the summer, well, it's hot... no, it's REALLY HOT and Humid. When you have kids tagging along, the heat seems hotter (if that's possible). Our first tip is to go in the late fall, winter or early spring. OK, now that we're past the heat thing, I have nothing but praise for the Miami Seaquarium. It's fun for the whole family (is that a cliche?) and not huge. I don't like big parks so this was right up my alley. I would give yourself 3 hours to see the park, maybe a little longer if you have lunch (which wasn't really great but satisfied my kids hunger pains). If you go buy your tickets online and save a few bucks... we used http://www.trustedtour... . You can also buy your tickets on their site but I don't think they have a discount. Have fun!
As much as loved the water growing up, the Seaquarium was an anomaly to me. Located in what I perceived as the middle of nowhere, I always looked forward to lots of neat animals with plenty to keep me busy. But, I'd always get bored...there's lots to do, yes, but everything seemed so old, as if people were waiting for the place to fall apart so they could shut it down. A nice variety of animals, though, and a great way to see some sea friends that would otherwise be impossible to find in the wild (on a side note, I did have the opportunity once to see a wild manatee surfacing near a pier on Fisher Island).
