Institute For Marine Mammal Studies — Attraction in Gulfport

We visited the park on Monday, July 28, 2025.

PROS:

· Reggie was driving the train (after the “manager” told us and several other visitors that it wasn’t running that day. Reggie was very professional, and had the patience of a saint!

· Entry cost to the institute was reasonable, and included all shows, including the dolphins!

Best of all, this institute is handicap accessible! (Although the educator in the stingray area didn't know that there was a viewing area on one end of the pool where someone in a wheelchair could get a better view).

CONS:

· The café was closed, and all of the vending machines were out of order. You can buy water and Gatorade in the gift shop for $4.50 a bottle.

· We were told we could leave to eat and come back in. The logistics of that for us is next to impossible due to physical limitations, and the energy it takes to get one from the car to the wheelchair. We ordered a pizza and had it delivered to the park. We were reprimanded like children for doing so. (“You can bring food in, but you can’t have it delivered.”)

· The train wasn’t running? Turns out, it was.

· The dolphin show was great, but the speakers were not functioning correctly, and whoever was talking to the audience had a voice that was grating on the nerves, with feigned excitement.

OVERVIEW:

· This is a great place for children, but I recommend bringing something to drink with you.

· Personally, I am always on the lookout for a non-profit organization to donate to, and I prefer those that care for the preservation of wildlife and/or our natural environment. The way that the “manager” spoke to us assured that this organization will never be the recipient of any funding from my...

While looking for a memorable birthday experience for my young cousin, a friend recommended we take her to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. I cannot express enough how much of an amazing experience we had. A day later, I am still blown away by the personal interactions we had with the dolphins and the learning experience with multiple marine species.

Dr. Moby Solangi and his team at IMMS have truly built something amazing. Their emphasis on marine research, conservation, and education is second to none here on the entire Gulf Coast. Their professionalism and capabilities for rescuing and rehabilitating marine life is extremely impressive. From Singapore to the Bahamas, IMMS is at the top of my list of conservation/educational facilities I have ever visited.

A tip I would recommend would be to go online and purchase the tickets for the types of programs you would like. The prices are very reasonable to what I have seen at other institutions, and the fact that IMMS is a non-profit, you know your money is going to a good cause like saving a stranded dolphin. Grab a map from the gift shop and don’t forget the shows. Also, don’t forget to feed the parakeets, pet the stingrays, check out the tide pools, and say hello to the sea lion.

TLDR; IMMS is the best marine life experience on the gulf coast, and better than...

We had an amazing first trip here with the whole family today. It was a beautiful, cool, and sunny fall day. It wasn't very crowded the day we went so we had free reign to visit all of the attractions multiple times.

The first show we saw was the dolphins, which was fantastic! Hands down the best thing at the park. The three dolphins (and trainers) did an amazing job. They performed tricks like jumping 15ft out of the water, flips, and other things. This was one of the big highlights of the day.

The sea lion show was fun as was the ray and snake show. We spent quite a bit of time in the parakeet enclosure, all the kids and adults enjoyed feeding them (you can buy sticks with seeds on the end for $1.50). The discovery center was nice too where you can touch rays, crabs, starfish, etc. They also had fish, turtles, geckos, seahorses, shrimp, snakes, and spiders to see.

We brought a picnic lunch and ate under the covered tables in the kids park area. It was a very nice park, small but looked brand new. The entire facility was clean and the landscaping was well manicured. We also rode a train around the institute and spent some time in the museum area. I thought it was a little pricey going in, but we spent around 5 hours there and was well worth it. I would...