Ocean Adventures Marine Park — Attraction in Gulfport

My daughter and I went with a Girl Scout group for a "Dozing with Dolphins" event. The young girl who led the event repeated herself 3-4 times after she said something to the point the whole group, including adults, felt like we were being reprimanded with every instruction given. In the morning while we packed up and loaded the cars, the event leader prepared breakfast by pouring cups of orange juice and milk. We were told everything needed to be cleared out of the room before we would be allowed to eat breakfast. All air mattresses, pillows are bags were packed in cars but we were not allowed to eat because a hair brush was sitting on a picnic table (outside) along with 2 swimsuits. The young girl pointed them out, saying they had to be put away before anyone could eat. The mother explained she instructed her daughters to leave their swimsuits out because they were going to the water park, but the girl refused to pass out breakfast until they were in the car along with the hairbrush. Meanwhile, the plastic cups with milk were sitting in the sun and had been since we were loading the cars. When someone mentioned the milk sitting in the sun, we were ignored. Breakfast was pre ordered when we registered. Many people got the wrong thing and they weren't able to correct it because it was bought it from Mc Donald's and they had ordered the wrong amount. By the time we finally got the food, it was cold. One girl's parent ordered orange juice by mistake, which the child doesn't drink. We asked to switch it for milk and was told no because "that's what was ordered", despite there being half of a gallon of milk left after everyone received their drink. Once we finished breakfast we walked to the dolphin exhibit, where we sat in the sun for half an hour waiting for the show to start. Still wondering why we weren't allowed to stay in the shade where we ate breakfast until they were ready. Needless to say, this was an experience we won't be...

Horrible idea. Save your money and do the Mississippi Aquarium instead. Saw Ocean Adventures (what a joke of a name) online, thought I’d give it a shot. Bought tickets for me, my wife, 16-yr old son and 11-yr old daughter. They advertise it as fun for the WHOLE family.

My kids and wife were ready to go in 15 minutes.

I made them hang out for an hour. I looked around for every possible way to feel like I could salvage a little value from my investment. I paid $69 to touch a horseshoe crab and a couple of baby rays. My money was basically a donation to their very real efforts to rescue and help restore marine mammals to health, which I respect. But attend this nightmare of an attraction with extremely strong forewarning!!

The first thing I noticed upon arrival to the park was a sign at the door that said all ticket sales are final. This is normally the case in places like this, but the fact that they felt like they need to post a sign tells me that a lot of people ask for their money back. The park is tiny, and not recommended for the enjoyment of any guests over eight years old. They make a lot of money off of day camps, several of which were there when we went. The workers are largely teenage or college age, and every single one of them graduated from the same school of rudeness. The girl who admitted us came out of an office where she had been playing on her phone, threw four wristbands at me, and went back to her Candy Crush. One employee told us to cut through the auditorium to get to the discovery room, not informing us that a show was in-progress. When we opened the back door, one of the teenage helpers involved with the snake talk acted like we had just invaded with malicious intent, and angrily told us we had interrupted a private demonstration, then in a huff, escorted us to the front exit.

Don’t waste...

I have not been to this place since the 90s at the old Pre-Katrina location,and the new place is really nice. Parking is ample,but this location seems more tucked away and secluded that the original location which if I remember correctly was closer to the beach. Buying the tickets seem to be a painless process and the admission is for the Ocean Adventure Park and the Mammal Institute. The Dolphin show was entertaining,but I remember the old shows had more dolphins doing more tricks,but again it was still a great show. The Sea Lion was the best part. There is a look in area on a lower level where you can view both sets of animals in there separate tanks. There is a wheelchair lift,but the day we were there it was broken. There is a sting ray area that does shows as well,but we just opted to pet them along the sharks and move on. The Parakeet area was being cleaned when we walked in,but it was still a cool experience. The Gift shop wasn't too expensive as there actually some items that were below a couple of bucks. The only refreshments I saw were vending machines,but they are cash only. There's a play area for kids as well. My only issue is the same one I had as a kid with this place. The schedule of shows is very sporadic. If you miss a show you might be screwed for the day because the next show may be 2-3 hours later. Id call ahead or check the website so you can plan ahead. Its still a great place and all of the animals seem happy and well cared for. Its...