Dauphin Island Sea Lab — Local services in Dauphin Island

Really enjoyed learning more about the local marine life. Walked away with new understanding of some areas of interest (e.g. oyster ecology and habitat). We brought our 5 year old daughter and it was not really geared for her age as much as I hoped so we were not able to stay as long as I would have liked. Many areas relied on being able to read long explanations (not in the wheelhouse of a Kindergartener with tons of energy to burn). The area she was most excited about (touching the rays and small sharks) was a bust because the wall to the tank was too tall for her to reach down over even with me holding her up. So maybe wait until kids are a little older, maybe 7 or 8, before spending $40+ on family admission unless they have an unusually high attention span. Good effort for a small aquarium that is likely underfunded like many education institutions in our country that rely on public support. I wish I could have taken my time to go through everything but the only things that held my child's attention for more than 4 seconds were the selfie camera that had virtual costumes to put in your pic and the very large touchscreen map of the earth (as seen from space) with info on certain places of interest...akin to Google Earth but with a screen about 15' x 15'. This was admittedly very very cool even for me and we both spend at least 15-20...

Our daughter is 15 years old and absolutely loved the Sealab.There is a lot of info on the Gulf,the Bays and watershed.There are a wide variety of sea creatures and sealife to interact with. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable with information about how pollution, oil and humans can impact the ecosystem. You can pet stingrays and observe marine life while visiting. A gift shop with a variety of items is inside to finish off your trip. Prices...

My family and I try to hit every Aquarium in every city we visit. I searched for an Aquarium and found this place. It's a very small place and took us about an hour and half to tour the place. There is a small gift shop. The staff was all nice, friendly and informative. The kids learnt a lot and was able to touch the star fish and corals. The was also a stingray area. You could feed the animals.

The admission is very reasonable, $11 for adults,...