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    Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters

    4.5 (216 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

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    Reef tank school
    Dave T.

    Great place for learning about and interacting with marine life. Cost $30 per adult. Large aquarium tanks in the middle one showing reef type fish and the other tank with predator and more aggressive fish. They have a pool with 3 to 4 foot gators that you can feed. Bring change for the machines. Large lobster tank. You can feed the tarpon, jacks, and parrot fish. You can also feed the lobsters, stingrays in the big pool, and the turtles. We bought the 6 feeding punch card which costs $15 you get one for free. Definitely worth the trip.

    Starfish
    Kub V.

    Amazing time with the family with variety of fish to feed and stations of fish to touch, stingray, starfish, turtles. Loved the environment and great experience overall. Went in winter, no crowds or humidity.

    Jimi J.

    Spectacular, awesome, entertaining, educational...and so on. We love to visit when we are near and no trip to the keys is complete with out stopping by!

    This is an ideal site for kids- plenty of touch pools and lots of information regarding habitat. As an adult, not so much. We could have probably viewed the whole thing in an hour but spent time feeding stingrays. It is clean and well managed. Cost wise, it is expensive: $30 per adult and if you wanted extras like swimming with the fish, the cost was way too high to justify. The restrooms were clean. We did not eat there. I would not go back for a second look unless I had children under the age of 8 with me.

    Carolina A.

    This place is great for families! Supper educational and quaint. You will be able to feed lobsters, fish, stingrays, turtles and more! Our 6 & 7 year old loved it! Besides feeding they have live feeding by the staff which they provide you lots of information. All of the employees were so welcoming and kind. They also have a cafe on premise. Great stop if you are in the area with kids.

    Judy S.

    The aquarium is a must do. This is one cool place. It is different from other aquariums. First the staff is incredible. They are happy to work here and they are knowledgeable. They welcome questions and are approachable. I like that you can feel, touch and feed some of the aquarium residents lol. FYI bring cash if you want to feed anything. The feedinds are cash only. The place also has shows going on all day. It is not a big place. I would plan on spending a few hours here. There is do much to do. Check out the webpage before coming. I suggest getting here early. This place has a lot of things to offer. The aquarium is easy to find. It has a big wooden fish hanging in front. It has a good size parking area. It is next to beach. It is a family oriented place. I had a great time. I am glad I came.

    Michael A.

    Visited this place yesterday and it was great for families and kids especially. Highly recommend it if your looking to take the young ones on an adventure for the day, get some activity filled in for the day. Bunch of interactions with sting rays , crocs , sharks and much for to keep the kids busy.

    This guy was big!
    Crystal H.

    I've been to many aquariums that are much larger but I happened to love how much this place had to offer. We easily spent two hours here, and could have spent more. They have many interactive opportunities and it appears clean and the animals are well taken care of. It was really beautiful, my daughter especially liked the many touch tank options. The rays were very friendly and seemed to like to be touched. We fed the tortoise, it was fun to get up close and personal. Would definitely go back! Check out their website as I know they have more to offer.

    Charts
    Maria G.

    Very clean aquarium. So many pretty fish to see. Many activities for families. Feeding sting rays. Swimming with in the tanks with fish. Beautiful views of the sharks. Friendly staff and nice size gift shop. Had a nice time with my family

    Tairyn A.

    I came to Florida Kets Aquarium with a friend, who is a member. I loved it, but it is quite small. They have various types of sharks, and other local fish, as well as turtles and stingrays. You can literally do the entire place in less than an hour. I found it to be a bit pricey as well, $25 per person plus tax for such a small place is a lot. I get it though, these places rely on tourists to feed and rehabilitate these wonderful animals. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the size.

    Spiny lobster
    Dennis C.

    This is such a wonderful little place to learn of Florida keys ocean life , you can purchase food to feed several different types of their ocean life or just watch the. Be fed .. very clean place , there are a variety of encounters you can do as well . Restrooms / showers clean & well maintained & cool if you just need to cool off from the heat

    SHARKS
    Gene H.

    Very cool setup that's a fairly new addition to the Keys...one can get up close and personal with all kinds of aquatic life...we stuck with just feeding a few of them. This would be great if you have kids along as the staff worked great with the ones that were there that day.

    Menu
    Emily T.

    This place is awesome! Lots of things to pet for free- only food costs. Cash only so remember that before you come! There were so many fun tactile tanks and lots to read and learn! Kept our family entertained for 3 hours! We did the shark petting and feeding for 24.99.

    Gators

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    11 months ago

    Thank you Zack for the best experience ever. You helped us with the stingrays and shark feeding. My family will never forget this!

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    We love this place. So Keysie! So relaxed, and inviting - their team really are kind.

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    Page 1 of 6

    Ask the Community - Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters

    Review Highlights - Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters

    Great place to visit to see SHARKS, Stingrays, permit, bonefish, barracuda, Goliath grouper, turtles and lots more!

    Mentioned in 11 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Tilden's Scuba Center - The lighthouse we snorkeled near on our first stop!

    Tilden's Scuba Center

    4.4(92 reviews)
    3.5 mi

    Great little dive shop in Marathon. Wendy was super helpful with local diving and snorkeling…read more Picked up some fins and snorkels. Great prices. Did not have time to go diving, but will surely go through them next time I am in the Keyes!

    I booked with Tilden's in September after seeing all the great reviews. What I didn't realize until…read morewe were already on the water is that this is essentially DIY diving. The boat is beautiful and the equipment is solid, but once you hit the water you're on your own. My situation turned dangerous fast. My rental mask (I'd left mine at home) wasn't sealing. I stayed on the surface too long trying to fix it and finally decided to swim back to the boat. It was over 400 yards away, the tide was pushing hard against me, and there was a moment where I genuinely didn't know if I could make it back. I could see both guides on the boat watching, but neither moved to help. When I finally reached the boat, I was yelled at to remove my fins while waves were crashing against the ladder. I had to climb back up, fully fatigued, in full scuba gear after fighting the current. Once I got on board, exhausted and barely able to move, one of the guides geared up and immediately jumped back in to continue the dive with the other client who had been assigned as my buddy. I was flabbergasted. Why would they help him and not me? After the trip I called the manager to try to understand why no one assisted me in the water. My call was never returned. I've been on many dive charters and have never experienced such a lack of in-water supervision or concern for diver safety. If you are expecting guided diving or any kind of help after you leave the boat, be aware that this is not that.

    Photos
    Tilden's Scuba Center
    Tilden's Scuba Center
    Tilden's Scuba Center - Tilden's Scuba Center has 2 dive boats, 2 trips daily, and 2 different places to see on a reef trip.

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    Tilden's Scuba Center has 2 dive boats, 2 trips daily, and 2 different places to see on a reef trip.

    Islamorada Dive Center

    Islamorada Dive Center

    4.6(108 reviews)
    30.3 mi

    Took open water dive cert here and had a blast. Every staff member I interacted with was kind,…read morehelpful, passionate, and safety-conscious. I do wish they were better about inspecting their rental equipment. My OWD class saw a few non-safety-critical equipment issues like a mildly leaky BCD and torn wetsuits.

    I have been going to the Florida Keys to go diving for over 10 years now and I have to say I have…read moreconverted from Rainbow reef to Islamorada Dive Center because the service is much friendlier, more accommodating, and the communication is so easy and straightforward. Keira is a pleasure to book with and work with to plan dive trips and she goes out of her way to make sure everyone has a pleasurable dive experience. Captain Jason is very safety forward and makes sure everyone gets on and off the boat securely. He is also so fun and always a pleasure to be on his boat. The instructors we dove with, KA, Tomos and Sonia were super patient and understanding of our different levels of experience. When we wanted to branch out and try new things like lobstering, they were very accommodating, and everyone was willing to work with us to be successful. I love that unlike at places in Key Largo such as Rainbow reef you can actually lobster and Spearfish with Islamorada, but they actually make sure you do it in a safe and responsible way which I really appreciate. I will definitely look forward to diving with this team again!

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    Islamorada Dive Center
    Islamorada Dive Center
    Islamorada Dive Center

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    Rainbow Reef Dive Center - Headed to dive

    Rainbow Reef Dive Center

    4.2(351 reviews)
    45.0 mi

    The Rainbow Reef Dive Center was such a great experience! My fiance and I are Open Water Divers and…read morewe wanted to dive the Florida Keys on May 2024. We booked the morning and afternoon dive (total of 4 dives/sites) and we enjoyed the experience. The boat and dive guides were very friendly. We checked in then we got our rental gears. Before we left the dock, the dive guides were able to help us set up our gear (we are beginner divers and, sometimes, you just need to double check if your gear is correctly set up). We went to the Eagle Raw Alley, JJ's Cave, Minnow's Cave, and Christ of the Abyss. We saw a lot of creatures like lobster, hammer head shark, nurse shark, different fishes, stingray, crab, Christ of the Abyss, parrot fish, and tube sponge. Highly recommend this location for your next dive!

    Horrible customer service!…read more My husband and I walked I into the shop 3 times and ended up walking out 3 times disappointed with the customer service. The staff, behind the counter, was extermely unhelpful and we both got the feeling they just wanted us to leave the shop so they don't have to deal with another tourist. We are both experienced divers, just asking to book a dive, but ultimately we decided we would rather give our money to another dive shop in the area that made us feel welcome. I strongly suggest looking for a different dive shop.

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    Rainbow Reef Dive Center - Scorpion fish

    Scorpion fish

    Rainbow Reef Dive Center - French angelfish

    French angelfish

    Rainbow Reef Dive Center - Female roughhead blenny

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    Female roughhead blenny

    Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters - aquariums - Updated May 2026

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