After reading some good reviews on the Florida Aquarium on Trip Adviser, I decided to head there today. I know aquariums are not for everyone, but I am into fish and marine life and love to visit aquariums and have been to quite a few around the world, the best ones being Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California and Sydney Aquarium in Australia. Florida Aquarium does not compare to these aquariums at all. Their exhibits were reasonably good, and I especially liked how they incorporated marine life from the Florida area, eg their Wetlands area. I knew from reading some of the average reviews that they did not have any aquatic mammals such as dolphins or seals, which didn't bother me, but I found the whole aquarium to be quite small and unimpressive overall. It only took me about an hour and a half to get through it, and that includes having lunch (which I might add was quite expensive at $10 for a sandwich and a small soda).
They had a "Penguin Promenade" animal show 3 times during the day, and I went to one of these. It was basically two 3 month old penguins and a biologist talking about them. It was very interactive, in that they let them run around a small area in front of everyone and they went up to the children sitting at the front. However, it was held in a very small lobby area and even though I got there 10 minutes early I could not see anything and left after a few minutes. Would be great for children though if you get there early and they sit down right at the front of the roped off area and it's the only chance you get to see the penguins.
The other animal shows they had today were "otter encounter", stingray feeding, interactive dive presentations and a diver presentation with sharks. I didn't see any of these as they were not on while I was there. There is also a small outdoor water park which children would love, especially in this weather!
Overall, if you have been to aquariums before, I would not bother going to this one, it is not worth the $19. If you haven't been to an aquarium before, you would probably enjoy it. However, if you have young children (say under 10) they would love the animal shows and the water park. Hint if you do go - a lot of the tourist brochures have a $3 off voucher for the Aquarium which is good for up to 6 people.
