We took our kids (6 & 7) to learn how to snorkel. My daughter (6 yo) was terrified at first but then got the hang of it and now she's hooked! The staff is so incredibly friendly and patient - whether snorkeling, feeding the nurse sharks or watching the guitar rays - they answered every. single. question. that came out of my 7 yo's mouth. :) The animals are very well cared for and we'll be back next time we're looking for an activity - supporting a family owned business that was fun AND educational. read more

I wish I would of read the reviews before coming here. The biggest tank looked like a pool with windows in it. The other one had like 4 small sharks and like five fish. And the last one was a small fish tank with tiny seahorseses . This is not an aquarium like people would expect. After 10 minutes me and my family were bored out of our mind. We drove from jax for this. Should not be open if there is not aquarium. By the way, it's all outside. With 10 people there it seems to be at maximum capacity. I spent almost $50 there and I'm pissed. Could see more fish at a fish store. I will return when they actually have an aquarium. At least the staff was real nice. read more

DO NOT waste your time or money! We drove from Jacksonville with the assumption that we would be visiting an actual aquarium. This place looks like something you would see at the zoo. It should be called "Outdoor Sea Animal Experience". They had 5 sea horses, and outdoor fish tank, and one tiger shark. It is all outdoors. And it's shorter than a grain of rice. 10 minutes into it and you are no longer interested. The website is a bit misleading because there is a giant shark at the top of the page. There is no giant shark. Plenty of dust and rocks though. Save your money and take the kids to the zoo...they will see more sea animals than they would at this so-called "aquarium". read more

I spent the afternoon at the aquarium with my 7 year old son. It was very interactive and hands on, we had a great day. All of the staff were amazing. They take the time to talk to the kids and are so passionate about what they do. Courtney, specifically, was great. She took time to answer all of my son's questions with energy and insight. My son fed the sharks and sting rays. He learned so much while having fun. I would recommend spending the day with your children there. They also offer snorkeling in the main tank. We will definitely return over spring break for that experience. read more

We thought it would be a much fun experience, however, we saw everything in 8 minutes and my 3 year old son was disappointed. Oh well, they had a good intention in building it, but it is actually very sad to see. Maybe the zip lining was fun, but we didn't try it. I don't think we'll ever be back. read more

I took my family to this aquarium today. I'm honestly appalled by the bad reviews. Yes, it is small. However, I have followed this project for the past several years and they are only in their beginning phases. When we went, the employees were very knowledgeable and the animals seemed very well taken care of. My kids had a blast and everyone was very nice and welcoming to us. I'm excited to go back and support this local business. It was very educational for my kids and we even learned a thing or two. We will be back! read more

The website says they are opening in June 2016... We took an Uber there and they haven't even started building! Phone number doesn't work... They should have stated something on the website. Do not waste your time here... read more

Being from Atlanta I know aquariums, believe me. This little gem was a breath of fresh air. The moment the family and I pulled into parking lot I knew I picked a winner. I was greeted by a young man who I might say was a gentleman's gentleman. He opened the door to the facility and greeted us with a huge smile full of excitement and wonder! May I let you in on a little secret, my grandson who is 1 was free and my mother in-law got the old person discount and she only had to pay $9!! The rest of the family was $10 a pop what a bargain for this incredible place. Beyond the AC filled front office awaited the wondrous world of fish we craved. The moment we stepped out into outdoor theater my daughter could no longer contain her emotions and tears of joy flowed freely down her beautiful cheeks. My knees trembled nearly buckling under the emotional weight that rested on these old shoulders. For starters the aesthetics blew me away! Each exhibit was symmetrically placed and made viewing each exhibit on the eyes pleasing. The seahorses, hands on exhibit, and the beautifully placed large exhibit was full of amazing tropically fish exhibits leaving the senses parched and thirsting for more. Take my advice and pay the little extra to feed the sharks and stingray. It's just a tiny morsel extra but you'll never forget these succulent events! I know great places, really great places and this place makes America great! read more

Save yourself some money and go look at fish at PetSmart. Just a few aquariums outside in a little sandy field. We were planning on spending half a day and were done in 15 minutes. read more

Came here for a vacation, left impressed with the St. Augustine aquarium, an unexpected gift. We did the snorkeling portion and it was well worth it! Alex our marine biologist was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, we have 2 boys a 11 and 10 year old, the latter a budding marine biologist so this was a dream experience for him. Close encounters with cow nose rays and over 20 other species of fish that came up to him. Very safe and comfortable experience. The snorkeling includes the admission to the conversation based aquarium which have marine biologist at every exhibit and they are eager to educate you or simply let you experience all they have to offer. You get to touch and experience almost every Marie animal and not for extra costs. You can purchase feeding for only $5 that is $20 most other aquariums. Courtney was at the horseshoe crab experience and let us pet them and filled us in about the 9 eyes! Great people, inexpensive and worth the trip!!!! read more

Although very cheap, I would never go back if it remains the way it is. It felt like I was in someone's back yard looking at makeshift displays. The sea horses were in a small tank that wasn't very clean. They scuba experience didn't have much to offer. It was an above ground pool with fish and coral that I could see at a pet store. Also, dirty. Finally there was the shark feeding. Maybe a fun experience for kids, but still fairly unimpressive. I hope this is just the beginning of something better because it would be delightful to have an aquarium in St Augustine but for now, definitely not worth the time. read more

As other people have pointed out, the aquarium was very small and all outdoors. They are planning on expanding. I did the snorkeling adventure and would highly recommend you doing it if you plan to visit. I paid an extra $10 to feed the fish and the sting rays while I was snorkeling. That was definitely worth it! The staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable! Snorkeling definitely made the visit worthwhile read more

This is probably one of the worse aquariums I have ever been to. The website makes it look amazing but in all honesty I spent 20 minutes there and it was a waste of $30 and the hour drive it took over here. When you go to the "hands on tank" there was only a horseshoe crab and a starfish but she couldn't even find the starfish. Lastly, we were going to feed the sharks we we bought 2 shark feeding tickets, came out to be 10.65 and we got 4 half pieces of fish. Sorry to say this but waste of time, money and gas. Wouldn't suggest to visit read more

I'm party was there on time at my schedule time. By the time we sign the waiver and got to the check in it was already pass 2, our guide was not done with a tour and had to wait for him, which we did not mind. Then was told we were waiting for 2 more people to show up. Which we were not informed that there would be other party's there we just thought it would just be us because you know Covid. We said whatever 2 more people would not be in issue. 2:15 comes around and they have shown up and then we asked again when can we go in. Then he proceed to tell us now we are waiting for 6 more people to show up. These said people were 30 minutes late. We have been waiting patiently in our wet suit which I should point out that they were ripped and had holes in the butt and crouch area. When we ask to get new one we did but then he gave those ones we already had on to those other people with out sanitizing them. When the last party finally showed up it was about 2:40 and still not yet been in the water. For us being on time we wanted the amount of time we were promised and not a reduced time of like 15 minutes in a very crowded pool just because this family decided to show up very late. The guide which I wish I got his name was not to be seen anywhere by our group, very short with us, dismissive every time we ask him a question about what is going on and lastly when we decide it was not worth the money in this trailer park backyard of an aquarium and with how dirty the water was, just wasn't worth it. We told him that we were just going to do it another day and he mumbled under his breath that we would have had enough time and it would have been big enough for all 11 of us. Which it was not and it was not safe specially durning Covid because we never met these people before and it's in a small area. So overall a very bad experience and I was really looking forward for this because I have never done anything like this so it would have been my first time. Very very disappointed ruin my whole trip. read more

This place isn't an "aquarium". It's a few tanks and zip lines next to some trailers that calls itself an aquarium. We showed up for a minute then left. Thanks to the reviews we didn't spend money here, their website is misleading! This place would be good for a kids field trip but not a family. read more

Very small as they are still getting the place built and opened up but very neat and staff was very passionate about their job

Meh. It was basically two above ground swimming pool like structures with a couple fish. I could put my arms around the petting tank. The petting tank is so deep, that you can't actually reach in to touch anything. Save your money until the next section opens. It's all outdoor and covered by tents. read more

This was a very bad experience. They only have a few things to look at. I was extremely unimpressed. I will not bring the family back. We spent all this money to walk through and see everything in 10 mins. Should not be called an aquarium. They said they are expanding. This should be free asking for donations until its worth paying for. I had a 110 gallon salt water tank with more to look at. read more

I wish there was a place like this where I lived so I could experience snorkeling before going on a cruise. The aquarium is a great place to learn because you are in shallow water and one of their crew members are always right there to help you if you need it. Their life-vests are great and I wish I could find one to buy! Sean was very helpful and would be a great teach for a first time snorkeler. After snorkeling we got to watch him feed the fish in the aquarium which include stingrays, jack, angel fish and many more species of colorful saltwater fish. They have tanks with sharks that are very educational, but my favorite thing was the tankful of seahorses! SO CUTE! They are expanding but I hope they get it done quickly before people lose interest. We found a coupon on line at either Groupon or Livin' Social and it was definitely worth the trip. read more

Great place! The staff is very friendly and our 3 children enjoyed the shark and stingray feeding. Small business but small prices too

This place is fantastic!!! Just so there's no confusion, this is a small aquarium (unlike the Atlanta Aquarium or the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga), but the price very fairly reflects that. For $8 adults and $5 for the kids, this is a fabulous way to see some aquatic life. I met the owners, and I can tell you they really care about the animals. They also are continuing to expand, so our family will be coming back again and again. (Incidentally, our young children found this to be a much more little kid friendly place compared to the big aquariums.) As for our family, we'd totally recommend stopping in! Plan to spend an hour to an hour and a half looking at the exhibits and more time if you want to zip line or snorkel. read more

I would like SAA to be successful but right now you can see everything in 15 minutes. They have 5 aquariums, you would see more fish at a pet store. If you have kids over the age of 5, wait until more is completed read more

What a great experience this was! The weather was beautiful and it was really nice to visit an outdoor aquarium. The tanks are shaded with attractive canvas sails so we were very comfortable throughout our visit. Everything was immaculate; the water in the tanks was perfectly clear and the glass on the tanks was spotless. We fed the nurse sharks, which was an amazing, fun, and unique experience. The large reef/snorkeling tank is just beautiful--the rays were swimming in formation the whole time and it was mesmerizing. We had our older mother with us and she had a great time watching the beautiful fish. She even reached into the touch tank with us to feel the horseshoe crabs and starfish. The staff of marine biologists was very professional, engaging, and informative. It is clear that this is both an entertaining and an educational facility and we were very impressed. They explained that the current facility is phase one; it has been very well done and we can only imagine how nice future phases will be. We look forward to visiting again soon to try out the snorkeling and the zip lines! read more