Marineland Dolphin Adventure in St. Augustine, FL

The staff was great and really no other customers were there. We went in the afternoon. The dolphins were active and trying to interact with us. Great family fun day.

Our 12 yo grandson had a great time in the water fro 45 minutes, in a group, taking turns swimming and feeding the dolphins. Time is evenly shared with other members of the group. Each person gets to swim out and have the dolphin swim around you and then you grab it’s dorsal fin for a ride back in. Adults and kids have a blast with this activity. You feed the dolphin, spin with the dolphin, and pet. There are several activities you do personally with the dolphin. Marine land has it well organized.

I am not sure how this doesn't have 5 stars. Their descriptions of the experiences are perfect except one thing... they go above and beyond. We did the swim experience which was nothing short of amazing... seriously. We have 4 kids from 15 to 8 and they were all grinning ear to ear the rest of the day. It was a fraction of the cost of discovery cove and longer. I will say... because we had 6 people we were charged separately for the pics... which ended up being expensive but they did give us a healthy discount. I also considered their cost to run the operation. I highly recommend the swim experience... you will not be disappointed.

Our teen seedlings had an excellent time @ Marineland Dolphin Adventure! We've scaled back out travels this year but wanted to do something special for them during their summer vacation before school begins again. My wife already experienced swimming with dolphins on a cruise to Acapulco way back in 2012 and wanted to give the gift of being in the water with these highly intelligent creatures to our children. ... HISTORY The cool part about choosing this Marineland is they have been around for 81 years... long before others like Seaworld. They are known as the World's First Oceanarium, which by definition means a large seawater aquarium in which marine animals are kept for study and public exhibit. It opened in 1938 and became one of the state's leading tourist attractions. Marineland will also be featured in the upcoming family film Bernie the Dolphin. Some of the history here includes: * 1947: Spray, the first dolphin successfully born in human care. * 1954: "Creature from the Black Lagoon" filmed ... THE EXPERIENCE After paying for your adventure, signing waivers and getting into your swim gear, you will take a rather long walk to the dolphin pool area. It's a pleasant walk along the ocean with a raised boardwalk and historic signs & pictures. The "participants" are taken to the stage area while non-participants settle in around the viewing area. * KNOW BEFORE YOU GO - It is a full sun arena, so wear plenty of sunscreen or bring an umbrella for shade. We were very lucky it was an overcast day. We did however, get delayed because of lightening precautions. We chose the DOLPHIN SWIM ADVENTURE ($129) so the boys could get the maximum experience. After all, chances are we won't ever do this again. The Swim Adventure allowed them to interact with the dolphins by being able to touch, kiss and play with them as well as a belly ride by holding on to their pectoral flippers as they swim backwards on their backs! It wasn't a long ride, maybe 20 feet or so, but fun to watch the joy on their faces. Opportunities to touch included a drive-by swim, a nose touch, a kiss, a one-on-one hand to fin holding moment and of course the belly ride. The dolphins also did a second drive by swim where they splashed the participants. Once complete, non-participants exit the viewing area past the holding & main tanks into the photo viewing room. You can buy individual pics if you wish or a bundle of all of your photo's for about $45pp. You will be given a code to go online and unlock your pics for download. We had two participants so our cost for pics was $90. * HELPFUL TIP - The website says no cameras, but I believe this rule is only for participants. We were actually allowed to have electronic devices in the viewing area, something I wish I had known because I could have taken better pictures had I brought my DSLR and saved a little cash! The distance to zoom in for the activities made my iPhone pics a little choppy. There are also a few tanks near the entrance with turtles and tiger sharks along with a tortoise enclosure and Megalodon Jaws. Cute, but of course the real attraction is the chance to interact with the dolphins. ... FINAL THOUGHTS Our experience was great, primarily because of the overcast sky shading us from the brutal Florida summer sun! It was a 60% rain chance during our visit and it did indeed downpour. While we did have a slight lightening delay, it wasn't very long and the kids got more time in the water with the dolphins than I initially expected. Admittedly our Acapulco dolphin experience was far better and included more interaction PLUS photos & videos. But this was still an adventure our family won't forget... and isn't that the point?

Had to cancel my reservation for medical reasons. NO REFUND! I will not deal with them again. I attempted to get, even a partial refund ten days prior to the event. No luck.