Marineland Dolphin Adventure St. Augustine, FL

We booked the royal swim here. This facility is mainly known for its swim the dolphins programs and other interactions with the dolphins. There is a dirt lot to park in, right off A1A. When you arrive through the main gate, you arrive to the shop, where you check in for your program. This is also the gift shop and there is a restroom. You get checked in, they give you a wristband, and you can take a picture of the map of the facility and the schedule of events. When you exit the shop there is an opportunity to see tortoises, a sea turtle, rays, and sharks. There are some feedings and talks on the schedule for these. Afterwards, you take a path along the rock wall above the ocean to get to the other side where the dolphins are. There are great views of the ocean, and also informational signs about the history of the facilities, as it was originally built to film underwater scenes for old Hollywood movies, and then where they found out dolphins could be trained. There are also dolphin shows on the schedule as well. You may even be lucky and see the trainers doing training sessions with the dolphins! There is a small bleachers area that you can sit in to watch the dolphins in the large pools and the shows. There is also a walking path above that is a great viewing point of all of the pools, which is where many people stand to watch their family members participate in their program. If you take the path down (instead of up), this is where the aquarium tour meets, as they escort you beyond the gate and down a set of stairs to see the aquarium exhibit. Here there is a turtle, different fish, a spiny lobster, and other small sea creatures. A great part is the underwater viewing window of one of the dolphin pools, and many dolphins swim up to the window which is awesome to see! There is also a small exhibit/part dedicated to the oldest dolphin that was in human care. You get a great opportunity to ask questions, shout out to the tour guide because she was so friendly and wanted to answer all of our questions. You can show up early to your appointment time so that you can experience these extra things, or you can do them afterward depending on what time your appointment is. Also if you do not have a program booked (you are a watching family member or don’t want to pay to participate in a program), you just pay the daily admission fee ($25 I think), and you can just get general admission to see these things and the grounds, without interacting with the dolphins in a special program. 15 minutes before your program, they ask that you line up by the gate (at the end of the upper pathway). They check your time on your wristbands and then escort you to the locker room. They have a men’s and women’s, and there are bathroom stalls, sinks, and a bench. This is where you will change into your swimsuit, or take your cover up off, and place all of your things into the locker. Most people in our group just closed the locker door, but there is a key if you feel you would like it locked. The instructions are on the side of the locker. I wore a long sleeve swim shirt and swim shorts. But everyone wore what was most comfortable to them. There were men and women of all ages and all family members participating in the program. Then you meet outside the locker rooms and get a life jacket. Please read carefully the terms and conditions that are emailed to you, as you must have NO jewelry of any kind, even if it is permanent, so leave your rings at home if you don’t want them in the locker. Everyone must wear a life jacket no matter your swimming ability. Then you get a quick briefing about what’s about to happen and then you wade into the pool. You stand about knee-waist deep. The pool is cool, I wouldn’t say its too cold, but it is on the cool side, so just be prepared for a refreshing walk into the pool. Once you are in though, you get used to it. If you are here during the winter or a cold day, they do have wetsuits for you. Your group may be large (ours was about 10 people), but different people have different levels of programs, so it is kind of tiered what you get to experience based on the program that you chose. We chose the royal swim, purely because we wanted the dolphin foot push that was advertised in the description. We had Katie and Logan as our trainers, and Casique and Toccoy as our dolphins. The trainers were great, friendly, helpful, funny, and experienced with both the people and the dolphins. They gave great clear instructions. The dolphins were great at interacting with the people and following the trainers. We got to know a little about the dolphins and they swam by in front of us while we were standing on the ledge. We got to reach our hands out to feel them as they swam by. For the royal swim, they ask you to swim out about ¾ they way to the end of the pool, then you float straight up and down with your arms out to your side, and pedal your feet like a bike underwater to stay straight up, two dolphins will then come up on either side of you and their dorsal fin will meet your hand and grab on and hold on tight because they swim you back to the ledge. It was cool and fast! Then you swim out again ¾ the way and lay flat with you arms out front like superman and your feet flexed. Then two dolphins will again come up to you and push your feet with their nose (rostrum) and you lock your knees and legs and you will be pushed out of the water and feel like you are flying! This was the highlight and the best part and so fun! The other next level down program gets a belly ride where you swim out with one hand out and then one dolphin comes upside down and you grab both dorsal fins and ride on their belly while they tow you (which is also awesome). You also get to do some interactions with the dolphins like stepping of the ledge and floating with them while you give them hand signals or body movements and they will spin in the water with you, wave, make noises, and you can pose for cute pictures with them like you holding their chin or them giving you a dolphin “kiss” on your cheek. Read the description of each of the programs to see what they do or don’t include. All in all I believe you are in the water for about 30 minutes or so, so it goes by quick, its just how long it takes to get through everyone and what their program entails and doing the little interactions as a large group or a small group. There are other dolphin programs where you do not get wet or in the water at all, but rather are kneeling by the edge of the pool. There are programs where you can reach out and feel the dolphin and see them do small behaviors in front of you, and there is a paint with the dolphin experience where you kneel outside and hold the canvas up for the dolphin and they hold the paintbrush and move around. There is even trainer for a day in which you get to do a sampling of the programs and help be involved in a few other things and learn more about the operations like feeding and the show. There is a photographer that takes pictures of you while you are doing the interaction. Of course, your family members can watch from the bleachers or from the upper pathway and take pictures there too. Afterward, you return your life jacket, go back into the locker room to get changed, (bring a towel!), and then you can come back out to see the photos, which is another room right next door over there. There was an employee who was asking if any of the family members who were viewing wanted to be escorted to the photo room to see the family members photos, so you can see the photos as well if you are not participating. Of course these are an extra charge, but they are cool, so leave room in the budget if that is something you are interested in. Overall the program was well organized, and super cool to see all of the behaviors the dolphins are trained to do and see it all up close! We had a great time. There is also a food truck on property that you can access coming back from the main dolphin pool area, and its also at the far end of the parking lot. It is a very basic food truck but it is very tasty, and the owner is super friendly. There is also a shaded area with picnic tables too, so you can eat there, or take a break. Overall here they try to stress a mission of conservation of wild animals and wild places. Yes, it is cool to see the dolphins do tricks, but its more than just a zoo/aquarium, it’s a place where people can fall in love with marine animals and feel a passion to help conserve them. Overall we felt that the price of the experience is in line with other similar swim with the dolphins experiences, and we really enjoyed our time here.

I cannot express how disappointed we were with our recent visit. Your website clearly states that your facility makes accommodations for guests with special needs. This was one of the primary reasons we chose to book with you. Every photo on your website shows guests in knee-deep water, and at no time was it indicated that we would be required to participate in chest-deep water. I called two weeks before our visit to discuss my adult granddaughter’s special needs, and I was reassured that accommodations would be made. When we arrived, I shared this information again at check-in. The receptionist was helpful and stated that she radioed all trainers to ensure everyone was aware. However, when the group entered the water, the trainer led our group of four directly into the deep area. I immediately informed him that my granddaughter is afraid of deep water and needed to remain in the shallow area. Instead of assisting or offering an accommodation, he simply laughed and said, “She can join us anytime she’d like.” As a result, she was unable to participate at all. I paid $145 for my granddaughter to sit on the side and watch. Not only was this extremely disappointing, it was hurtful for her. The situation could have easily been avoided if the staff had followed the accommodations communication that I made both before and during check-in. At no time was there the slightest effort to help her participate or offer any accommodation. This was hurtful and unacceptable.

I enjoyed the educational focus and well as how close up we were able to see the dolphins. It was well worth our time! We didn't actually swim with the dolphins, but were able to watch others and it looked like fun!

I went to Marineland summer camp 2023 or 2024 I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE IT WAS AMAZING by RONAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went with 8 year old grandson. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the dolphins, turtles etc. Paid $20 for admission, swimming with the dolphins is $170. Faith was a wonderful tour guide. So educational, with aquariums with wonderful sea creatures in their lower level.