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Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Clearwater

3.5
#2 of 11 in Parks in Clearwater
Aquarium · Hidden Gem · Zoo / Aquarium
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More than just a marine animal attraction, Clearwater Marine Aquarium is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured animals. The aquarium opened in 1972 with a mission to educate the public about the importance of animal conservation. The aquarium took over a facility that once housed a local water treatment plant. You can learn about the aquarium's continued efforts to rehabilitate sick and injured animals by visiting its working hospital, which houses river otters, bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, stingrays, and sharks. Get involved and stay in touch with your favorite marine mammal by becoming a friend, protector, or guardian of one of the aquarium's permanent residents. Check online for adoption levels and animals currently in need of financial support. Add Clearwater Marine Aquarium to your Clearwater travel itinerary, and discover new vacation ideas by using our Clearwater trip itinerary maker site.
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Clearwater Marine Aquarium reviews

TripAdvisor traveler rating
TripAdvisor traveler rating 4.0
7,966 reviews
Google
4.2
TripAdvisor
  • The entrance fee seemed a bit pricey, but then you're contributing to a non-profit organization. For 4 of us the cost was over $100. It was interesting to see turtles, dolphins and otters. The... 
    The entrance fee seemed a bit pricey, but then you're contributing to a non-profit organization. For 4 of us the cost was over $100. It was interesting to see turtles, dolphins and otters. The...  more »
  • Nice facility. Great mission to rehab injured marine life. One of the dolphins just passed away so it was very somber. 
    Nice facility. Great mission to rehab injured marine life. One of the dolphins just passed away so it was very somber.  more »
  • We didn't realize that CMA only houses animals that are deemed unreleasable. Wonderful mission! And the staff here were SO friendly! Really enjoyed their back of house tours & hands-on stingray... 
    We didn't realize that CMA only houses animals that are deemed unreleasable. Wonderful mission! And the staff here were SO friendly! Really enjoyed their back of house tours & hands-on stingray...  more »
Google
  • We haven't been since the updating construction. This is such a beautiful space now, and wonderful that the integrated the old facility into the new. Added some outdoor spaces and beverage areas. The animals appear healthy, and happy. Love the new pelican area. Lots of parking, and currently they had a dinosaur 🦖🦕 exhibit that was really cute.
  • Incredible incredible incredible!!! This location is absolutely outstanding, between the history here, the dolphins, otters and my absolute favorite sea turtles!!! This place was outstanding!!! Totally worth bringing the family, an incredible time can be spent here educating your family about all the wildlife. Just a great location here in Clearwater Florida, absolutely beautiful spot. And don’t forget to sign up for the dolphin tours. They took us out and we got to see dolphins out in the wild, this was incredible. When we got back we had some snacks, grab something cold to drink and viewed some more of the dolphin exhibit. The turtles in my opinion were the best thing they had to offer, of course I’m a little biased because I love sea turtles!!! This was also the home of Winter, the dolphin with the prosthetic fin. So the history here is absolutely Rich, the staff is absolutely incredible and just an amazing location to experience Clearwater !!! Bring the family and learn learn learn !!!
  • Beautiful place to visit! Up Close and Personal with all the animals. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable! It is obvious they love it there and work hard to see that everyone who visits also loves it! I took the behind the scenes tour it was 100% worth it! Loved that our guide is a scientist who actually works in the aquatic hospital there. They truly take you BEHIND the scenes and into the ICU area where the severely injured and ill animals are recovering. Seeing the water treatment plants was amazing! Its not something aquarium goers think about much - How much effort it takes to just keep the water clean and balanced! The tour really demonstrated what a positive place this is for the animals (and people) who are there. I loved the small and intimate feel of the aquarium and being able to get up close with the animals. The hourly demonstrations-talks at each station in the aquarium were perfect! I spent over 4 hours there and could have easily spent another 2 hours if my schedule had allowed! Just a delightful place!
  • It is such a great way to spend the afternoon differently when you're on vacation with kids. We got the photo op with the dolphins, which means you can touch and feed the dolphins and take a picture with them. We were able to take ours with dolphin Nicholas. We also did the Dolphin Boat tour, we weren't able to see that many dolphins, but we saw about 4/5. They just hid immediately and we weren't able to take pictures. We also saw sting rays and a pelican during the boat tour. Some other cool animals are in the establishment, like sea turtles and sea otters. The food is also pretty good. I was expecting more fast food type, but it was actually decent. I highly recommend it!
  • It’s a good aquarium. Not really my speed. Saw some cool animals. Floors for the most part are clean. Some visible dirt but not sticky. They charge nickel and time for every small thing. They do have a groovy theme going on, I would recommend florida aquarium before here. Masks are NOT required. Has 4 floors, including some wheelchair accessible areas.

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