Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary
Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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This was our family's third visit to the Tarpon Aquarium. You can expect to be there for about 2 hours. This is a small family run operation by local animal lovers and a rescue facility. They offer a lot of hands-on, close-up experiences with local wildlife. It's a compact place and good for a partial day experience with kids. Here are some logistical tips! Sometimes, they offer coupons or groupons for a small discount on the entry fee. Bring cash for food to purchase for the animal feedings, and there is cute stuff in the gift shop, so you want to be prepared! There was a new snack vendor for the humans on-site now in addition to the basic vending machine type snacks available in the gift shop/check-in building. No outside food stuff allowed. There is a single restroom and an additional sink to wash your hands after the touch tank. The parking lot is full sun and full of dust, bring wipes, and I like to take the kids shoes off cause yeah...it's dusty. To make the most of your time be sure to catch their few shows. Last time it was a reptile show, alligator feeding, and a scuba show. The first 2 are generally hands on as the owners let you touch baby gators, turtles and snakes. They hold the kids attention well. The scuba show is not as captivating for younger kids but is still interesting for the adults. Improvements have been made throughout the Aquarium to add more shade. Please consider to add some more fans too! There are a good amount of animals packed into this facility. There are many reptiles including lizards and monitors, gators and a crocodile, snacks, turtles, and tortoises. There are touch tanks with fish, urchins, turtles, sharks, rays and other critters. Feeding tanks for turtles, rays and sharks. There are 2 larger tanks housing local fish to see up close including a Goliath grouper, Tarpon, and Bonnet head shark. Newer is a petting area with bunnies, pigs, chickens and goats.
Sandra H.
00
Visited here with my son and we had a wonderful time! It's really more like a little zoo/animal sanctuary than a traditional aquarium in that they don't have lots of glass sided aquarium tanks like big aquariums do. However, it is much more "hands on" than traditional aquariums. They have multiple touch tanks with horseshoe crabs, little sharks, anemones, and rays. They allow you to feed the rays. Since the rays are used to being fed they will come up to the side of the tank for you to pet them and feed them. It's adorable. You can also feed turtles/tortoises, crocodiles (safely with a fishing rod like tool thru a teeny tiny slot in the enclosure) and fish and sharks. The fish are really fun to feed as they will zoom across the gigantic pool-like tank to catch the food when you throw it. They have multiple shows daily including reptile encounters (they let you pet a baby crocodile, a lizard, a tortoise and a snake and you can opt to have your picture taken with baby crocodile and/or snake too.), crocodile feedings and others. We watched reptile encounters with Paige and she was soooo great! She was very engaging/animated and so knowledgeable about all the animals! Tori was helping handle the reptiles and she was really great, too! You can really tell that the workers enjoy their work and the animals seem well cared for. In addition to the above mentioned, we also saw more lizards of all kinds, multiple types of snakes (including some gigantic Burmese pythons and albino Burmese pythons), tons of turtles/tortoises, a couple frogs and even some ducks and I think a rooster? It was a really nice afternoon and I would recommend to anyone looking for something a little bit off the beaten path.
Nina Nakhle
00
Decided to check it out due to the awesome reviews and it was definitely worth it! We've been to several bigger Aquariums and this one is a more unique, less crowded and personal experience. A family run operation with lots of volunteers all the animals looked extremely well taken care of. Some of the high points: ⭐ Touch tanks with no wait. We came at 11am and if you bought the feeding tickets the sting rays took it right out of your hand! ⭐ We saw two live shows and got to touch several other animals, even got to hold a baby alligator 🐊 We've been to Alligator Farm in St Augustine and they charge like $40 to hold and have your picture with a baby alligator. ⭐ Got to pet the farm animals and walk among the chickens/rooster/duck/turkeys you can go in and pet even without feeding them for this part. ⭐ A big tortoise chilling and walking around the park also was allowed to be "pet". ⭐ Got to see the reptiles get fed around 11:30am in their shaded corridor. ⭐ It looks like they will let you bring in a lunch box and sit at picnic tables to eat, there's also a snack shack right there. ⭐ Not one rude or unhappy staff person even though it was 95 degrees and there were some screaming little ones. Impressive! We tag teamed it with the free splash pad around the corner and there's several drive thru's on 19 thereafter. A fun day trip and supporting a family run aquarium and animal sanctuary. Buy tickets at the desk for -20% FL residents discount.
ImpulsePoleDance
00
This aquarium is a hidden jewel in the town of Tarpon Springs. Most people visit the sponge docks along the Anclote River, without ever realizing there is another interesting place to visit in Tarpon Springs. We visited the aquarium for the first time the week after Christmas with our daughter and grandkids from St. Louis. What a wonderful visit we had! Our first stop was the touch tank were you can touch all kinds of under sea creatures safely. Then we stopped to purchase tickets that would allow us to feed the animals. We hand fed the stingrays, we tossed little fish pieces to the Tarpons, and we used a stick to feed fish pieces to the baby nurse sharks. All very fun! To cap off our visit, we attended the alligator and crocodile presentation. The trained staff person fed an alligator snapping turtle (big scary creature, I might add), an alligator, and a crocodile. At the end of the presentation, he brought out a baby alligator, and allowed anyone to pet the alligator and even hold it. The aquarium offers presentations about every hour throughout the day. Because we arrived at mid afternoon, the last presentation of the day was the only one we got to see. If you are planning a vacation trip to Tarpon Springs, go ahead and visit the sponge docks, which you’ll always find interesting. And then swing up Highway Alt 19 for about 1 mile and be sure to visit the aquarium. You will not be disappointed.
Dale Howard
00
Had such an absolutely amazing time here. We are from Orlando and were in the area for just the day and wanted something fun to do and me and my family love animals more than anything in the whole world. This facility is way smaller than we thought it was going to be. But it was full of charm and love for the animals which made it all worthwhile. This is more of a rescue and rehabilitation center for the animals who then become residents. Alligators and a crocodile. Plenty of different tortoise and turtles and snakes and lizards alike. We super loved petting the bamboo sharks and feeding the cow nose rays. We fed the cow nose rays several times. Feeding the nurse sharks was fun too. Wish I could of pet them but it's understandable not being able to. The aquarium portion was very big and beautiful. One side was mostly predatory fish like big tarpon, snook, trevally. And the other side being some other salt water fish and some bonnet sharks I'm pretty sure. The girl who runs the facility with her dad Paige was so kind and friendly and educated and you can tell there is so much passion in her heart for all of this. Wish we didn't live super far from here I'd love to go back more often.
Brandi M.
00
We celebrated my granddaughters 1st birthday here and had a blast. The staff is so friendly and hard working. At first, we thought it would be like a Ripleys aquarium, but not at all. It's completely outdoors. Lots of sand, and you will be hot! There is no air conditioning anywhere, not even in the bathrooms. So be prepared for this. Luckily, we went on a cooler day, but even still, we were sweaty. As for the show itself, lots of turtles, snakes, sharks, sting rays, gators, lizards, ducks, rabbits, and a donkey and some goats and chickens. The kids had a blast! They can feed and touch some of the gators and snakes. Both of my grandchildren were worn out and asleep 3 seconds after getting in the car. I assume all the other kids did, too. Lol! They were able to just run everywhere. I loved there weren't a lot of rules on where you could go and when. Now, if the place were packed with people, that might get difficult because it's rather small. We, however, didn't have any issues with it being packed. There is a small gift shop as well with a parrot watching you shop. He was cool.
Tammy Ellaree
00
Nearby Attractions Of Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary
North Anclote River Nature Park
The Funk
ComputronicsPlus
Sigma Marine Supplies
Elite Marine Specialists

North Anclote River Nature Park
4.5
(204)
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The Funk
5.0
(135)
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ComputronicsPlus
4.5
(97)
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Sigma Marine Supplies
4.5
(21)
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Nearby Restaurants Of Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary
Daybreak Cafe
Eagles's Nest Lounge
China Wok
Pizza Hut
Subway

Daybreak Cafe
4.4
(716)
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Eagles's Nest Lounge
4.3
(200)
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China Wok
4.1
(159)
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Pizza Hut
3.3
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Basic Info
Address
1722 N Pinellas Ave, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689
Map
Phone
(727) 938-5378
Call
Website
tarponspringsaquarium.com
Visit
Reviews
Overview
4.5
(1.1K reviews)
Ratings & Description
entertainment
family friendly
Description
The Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary is privately-owned aquarium located in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The Konger family opened this business on the sponge docks in 1990. It has since passed hands through the family and is now owned and operated by Grant Konger and Paige Konger-Henry.
attractions: North Anclote River Nature Park, The Funk, ComputronicsPlus, Sigma Marine Supplies, Elite Marine Specialists, restaurants: Daybreak Cafe, Eagles's Nest Lounge, China Wok, Pizza Hut, Subway

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