Miami Seaquarium

Upon arriving to Dolphin Harbor in Miami Seaquarium I was filled with both nerves and excitement, as I had never done anything before quite like what I was about to do. As soon as I entered the attraction, I was immediately made comfortable by the very friendly staff and all of my nerves went away! We were given wet suits and towels, then sat for an orientation. We were shown a video about dolphins and their life in their natural habitat, after the video, one of the dolphin trainers came in and educated us more on dolphins and her personal experience with them. What I loved is that I could tell that she genuinely loves and cares about dolphins and wanted us to have a great time with them, as she does. She explained the rules of dolphin swimming to us and proceeded to take us out to the pool. There, we were greeted by another couple of trainers. They had us do a series of tricks with the dolphins as well as feed them. Then, in groups of two, we got deeper into the pool with the dolphins and actually performed tricks WITH them. It was amazing to touch them and be literally face-to-face with them as they performed with us by their side. After everyone had their turn, we were shown how to ride them (hold onto the top fin with one hand and keep your body straight in the water behind). I have to say that the ride was my favorite part! One by one we rode all the way across the large pool with one of the two dolphins that we were in the pool with. By the end of the experience, I not only felt like a qualified trainer myself, but I truly did not want to leave! I definitely recommend this experience to everyone. I have always liked dolphins, but after touching their wet, rubbery skin and giggling at their funny, playful, and sensitive personalities, I am now just as in love as the trainer was! Also, dont worry if you have no one there to take photos of you because there are two members of staff on hand that are professional photographers and they take photos of you the entire way through that you can look at and buy at the end of the experience.

I give it three stars because like most seaquarium's its ridiculously overpriced. Enough to drop two stars. Also my fondest memory of this place is.. me being really hot. That is until you go see the killer whale and sit close enough to get splashed by gallons of salt water (always fun). You can take pictures with sea lions and watch cute shows with seals so its not totally a waste of money but its no different than most seaquariums. If you've been to sea world.. no need to come here :) (in my humble opinion)

This is the place for you if you like the sea wild life. Here you would find dolphins, killer whales, manatees, sea lions, seals, sharks, tropical birds, etc. All those creature - better little friends - look so cute, friendly and fun!

Children would love this place, but they are not the only ones who'd enjoy it. You pay a flat fee for the whole day, as long as you don't leave the park. The admission includes a full day of shows and exhibits.

You'll get a map when you arrive. Study it first and decide where you want to go first. There are shows performing at different places at different hours, so organize your day and you'd be able to enjoy all of them :)

Be sure to be wearing comfy shoes, since there would be a lot of walking and expect a really hot weather. So if a dolphin splashes some water, you'd be more than thankful, hehe