Florida has diverse freshwater and saltwater environments with their own unique marine life, like sea turtles, sea lions, and dolphins – just to name a few! Its humidity and heat make this a prime location for both aquatic and land animals, and you might expect there are amazing aquariums around Florida! In this post I’ll share my essential list of Aquariums in Florida you won’t want to miss.
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My Top 10 List of Aquariums in Florida
The aquariums in Florida are some of the finest on earth! As a tourist destination, the state of Florida has so much to offer, and aquariums are no exception to this rule. But which ones should you be sure to visit while you’re there? Don’t worry – I’ve put the top ten best aquariums in Florida into a handy list for you to use in your planning!
There are many ways to experience Florida, no matter where you are in the state. Below is a list of the best aquariums in Florida you can peruse during your next trip or vacation!
1. Sea Life Aquarium
SeaLife Aquarium boasts some of the best aquarium facilities in Florida that both visitors and locals can enjoy! With over 5000 animals at the Sea Life Orlando Aquarium, you can’t miss this attraction! If you are visiting Orlando Aquarium in Florida, you should definitely see Sea Life.
Many of the animals at Sea Life Orlando Aquarium have been rescued or are on the endangered species list, meaning you may get up close and personal with some rare critters!
In the Coastal Rockpool, there is a large touch tank where you can touch sea anemones, sea stars, and other sea creatures! At Sea Life Orlando, you’ll find marine animals like axolotls, turtles, stingrays, sharks, and seahorses.
The Sea Life Orlando Aquarium also has many themed exhibits, such as a wall of jellyfish, an Indian Ocean section, and more! These exhibits are also kid-oriented, making Sea Life a great family friendly place to visit.
The SeaLife Aquarium offers visitors a unique 360° ocean tunnel which is completely surrounded by salt waters containing resident fish, sharks and rays. You may also be able to touch several species on the shoreline of the Rockpool.
2. Clearwater Marine Aquarium
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is located in Central Florida and is well known for its marine rescue missions. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium rescues and cares for several different species of marine animals, such as dolphins, sea turtles, pelicans, sharks, sting rays, otters, and more!
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium seeks to rehabilitate and release animals whenever possible, but some marine animals with medical conditions or those that require special care must remain at the aquarium.
However, visitors can get up close with these animals! Some famous ones include two dolphins: Hope and Winter, who were in the movies Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2!
Apart from the many animals at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, they also have a tank where visitors can watch mermaids swim around with the animals! For another immersive experience, there’s an exhibit where visitors can experience whales in virtual reality.
With so much to offer, it’s no wonder the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is included here in my list of the best aquariums in Florida!
3. Florida Aquarium
The Florida Aquarium in Tampa has many different exhibits showcasing the natural beauty of Florida to its visitors and locals alike! With over 7000 animals such as moon jellies, moray eels, and octopi, this has to be one of the best aquariums in Florida!
With exhibits like the Florida Wetlands and Bays and Beaches, visitors will get an excellent sense of Florida’s native wildlife. In addition to that, this aquarium also has lemurs and chameleons from Madagascar!
If you’re looking for some up close and personal animal encounters, look no further! This is one of the aquariums in Florida that hosts a touch tank for sting rays in their Tampa Bay exhibit. This exhibit also has sea turtles, tiger sharks, and alligators!
Dolphin tours and cruises are also available for an additional fee on top of general admission.
4. Gulf World Marine Park
Gulf World Marine Park is located in Panama City Beach; known most for its beaches and bars, it also hosts one of the best aquariums in Florida! Gulf World Marine Park has been around since 1970, offering educational and interactive exhibits alongside tropical gardens.
There are over 12 different marine mammals at this aquarium park, such as rough-toothed dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. In addition to marine life, the park is also home to a number of tropical birds.
Gulf World Marine Park also provides a variety of educational animal shows featuring sea lions, harbor seals, birds, and reptiles. Trainers also chat and answer questions with guests during feeding times, allowing you to get a better glimpse and learn a bit about some of these fantastic animals.
Guests can also snorkel with sting rays and swim with dolphins! If you upgrade your tickets, you can have even more personal animal encounters! You’ll be able to interact with three different animals and take some souvenir photos with them.
5. Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
Located in the Florida Panhandle in Fort Walton Beach, the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park is one of the best aquariums in Florida!
The Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park has dolphins, otters, crocodiles, sea lions, penguins, and a ton of other fish! The park has a ton of exhibits, such as the Seal Harbor, Turtle Island, and the Fishing Hole.
Educational opportunities also abound at this park, as trainers providing animal shows can teach you all about specific aquatic life!
The Gulfarium continues to amaze the visitor as an important part of its local heritage. Keep watch over Charlie, the yellow-crested cockatoo, during your park visit. He greets guests and visits all over the park!
The dolphin habitat is built in two different sites for the bottlenose dolphin pod, which are native to the island and Fort Walton Beach.
6. Key West Aquarium
A huge number of tourists travel to the Florida Key Islands for swimming in the waters, visiting historic sites like Hemingway House and relaxing at the beautiful beach. But did you know that Key West also has one of the best aquariums in Florida that’s fun for the whole family?
The Key West Aquarium is a family friendly place to visit which offers educational information about marine life, rehabilitation and conservation with a focus on native Florida wildlife.
Some of this conservation work is around native Florida sea turtles, working with the world class Turtle Hospital to keep and nurse turtles back to health. If you’re a visitor to this aquarium, you can take a special tour to learn more about this conservation work with sea turtles.
But Key West Aquarium offers more than just sea turtles! Key West Aquarium has other exhibits you can visit including the Atlantic Shores exhibit. This exhibit houses a variety of local marine life, including groupers, moray eels, parrotfish, barracuda, and other tropical fish.
Key West Aquarium also has a coral reef tank! They also have touch tanks including local marine creatures such as conchs, sea urchins, sea stars, horseshoe crabs, sea cucumbers, and giant hermit crabs. You can also touch sharks at the shark exhibits and check out the alligator and jellyfish exhibits!
7. Marine Science Center
This aquatic center south of Daytona Beach is another aquarium in Florida that should be visited. Volusia County is surrounded by several diverse ecosystems that are worth studying, so it’s no wonder one of the best aquariums in Florida is also located there!
The Marine Science Center is particularly devoted to the restoration of wildlife. Visitors to the museum can find out about the process in which a species of wildlife is restored to its natural habitat. For your viewing, there is an on-site medical centre available for sea turtles and seabirds.
Besides this focus on rehabilitation and conservation, the Marine Science Center also has a large visitor center that seeks to educate the public through aquarium displays showcasing Florida’s natural biodiversity. This includes an artificial coral reef to demonstrate how habitats can be rebuilt, and how important these reefs are for the survival of the ocean.
The Marine Science Center also offers an interactive touch pool with stingrays so you can get up close to some natural wildlife!
8. Miami Seaquarium
Like other international commerce paths, South Florida offers an art-food-music mix with an artistic heritage. It is also an excellent place to view Florida’s best aquariums, including the Miami Seaquarium!
The Miami Seaquarium has a unique tropical landscape complete with a flock of Caribbean flamingos! These tropical birds roam freely at the entrance to the park, greeting visitors as they enter.
The Miami Seaquarium also has various touch tanks to allow visitors to interact with marine life! You’ll find bamboo sharks and tropical fish in each touch pool. Tropical birds and stingrays can also be found in other exhibits throughout this Florida aquarium.
The Discovery Keys area of the Miami Seaquarium showcases local ocean life with an exhibit containing local birds, mangrove trees, and sea creatures in shallow pools. This Florida aquarium also has a Conservation Outpost exhibit with an emphasis on the conservation of marine ecosystems and species like sea turtles and manatees.
This is a place for dolphin-like critters. The park also houses Pacific white-sided dolphins and orcas so you may see each of these animals at once. You can also see the African penguins swimming with the harbor seals and other birds.
9. Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
The Florida Keys Aquarium Experience is a South Florida aquarium famous for its fun activities for kids and family friendly atmosphere.
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters provides a variety of fun activities, both for the simple observer and for anyone who wants to get up close and personal with marine life at a Florida aquarium.
At this excellent Florida aquarium, you can experience animal care and animal encounters yourself! For the price of general admission, guests are able to feed sea turtles, stingrays, tarpon turtles, parrotfish, lobsters, bonnethead sharks, and other cool ocean creatures!
The Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters most famous encounter is at Big Shark Bay. You can see the training process and even touch some beautiful creatures at the facility! You’ll be able to feed nurse sharks and stingrays while snorkelling through a coral reef.
The use of a wetsuit and snorkel gear is provided at a very convenient cost, as is the expert help to guide you on these amazing animal encounters!
Aside from the personal animal experiences visitors can expect at this fantastic Florida aquarium, guests can also take guided or audio tours for all exhibits they visit! Biologists also host animal shows throughout the day at this aquarium where you can learn about the marine life living at this Florida aquarium.
10. Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium
The Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium is also located in Central Florida, in Sarasota. This aquarium is a research facility focused on healing the ocean and maintaining sustainable marine habitats.
Many of the exhibits at the Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium offer excellent educational experiences to visitors, showcasing their 20 research programs and bringing critical information about our oceans to the public.
Some of these exhibits include information about the acidification of oceans and global warming, conservation of marine species like dolphins, sharks, rays, manatees, sea turtles, whales, and more, and sustaining and rebuilding coral reefs.
The various aquariums at the Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium help spread this message of conservation and education! Some explore crocodiles and alligators in Florida, while another focuses on sharks, which was one of their first research projects.
What aquarium is better: Tampa or Clearwater?
Both have high ratings from experts. The Aquarium of Florida is ranked highly above Clearwater Marine. Florida Aquarium ranks #2 in the Tampa Bay Area and was recognized as an excellent source of praise in six publications.
No matter which aquarium you choose, you can rest easy knowing these are both considered to be one of the best aquariums in Florida. These destinations have a wide variety of exhibits, animals, and entertainment – if time allows, why not check out both?
How many aquariums are in Florida?
Currently, there are 26 zoos and aquariums in Florida to explore!
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