Visiting Marineland with Kids

This week, Smiley and I added another great outdoor venue to our list: Marineland. We have been having so much fun exploring our home state of Florida during this quarantine. We’ve been exploring some of the incredible parks in our area! Some of our favorites have been Jacksonville’s Arboretum and Gardens, Castaway Island Preserve, Fort Clinch State Park, and Blue Springs State Park.

We were bored one morning so we hopped in the car and headed down to Marineland to check out the dolphins.

Table of Contents

What is Marineland?

Marineland opened in 1938 as the world’s first oceanarium. It was originally designed for Hollywood filmmakers to be able to shoot underwater footage of ocean animals. While the park still honors its glitzy past, it has evolved into a center that focuses on protecting and preserving marine life.

What are the highlights?

Dolphin Show
Playing/swimming with Dolphins

Where is Marineland located?

The physical address is: 9600 Oceanshore Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080

Our Thoughts on Marineland

I’ve visited Marineland a few times in the past, but this was our first trip with one of the kids.

Smiley and I arrived at the park just before 10 AM. We were immediately greeted by one of the employees that kind of took to us and taught us quite a few tidbits about the dolphins. We stayed at the park for about an hour and a half- which is more than enough time to see the park. If you aren’t planning on doing one of the dolphin encounters, the park can easily be seen in its entirety in less than an hour. In fact, if you aren’t doing a dolphin encounter; there really isn’t much to do.

Smiley really enjoyed her time at Marineland. She loved being able to watch the dolphins swim and play in their habitats. She was a little bummed, however, that she didn’t get to swim with the dolphins. We made a deal that when she learns how to swim, she’ll be able to come back and swim with the dolphins.

Honestly, I think the animal encounters are the best part about visiting Marineland. If you simply book a general admission ticket, the park isn’t nearly as entertaining. The park itself is tired. You can really tell that it’s over 80 years old. I’m hopeful that now that it is owned by the Georgia Aquarium, it will be rejuvenated back to its original glory.

We’re both looking forward to go backing, once Smiley learns how to swim, so that we can book one of the dolphin encounters.