Tarpon Springs Aquarium

An incredibly fun experience! It is a small business — nothing flashy — and the workers are personable, friendly folk with good senses of humor. The whole place has a casual air to it which is very comfortable. You get a stamp on your arm, so you can come and go as you please throughout the day. You can hand feed stingrays for a very modest price (just a dollar for a cup of food for them), which is super fun. They are soft/​velvety, enthusiastic little puppies of the sea: D You can also feed the baby nurse sharks, which are incredibly adorable — they make this super sucking sound when they take the food ^_​^ The stingrays tend to get more love than the baby sharks, but both are cute :) Not expensive to get in (only about eight bucks a person for your standard adult entry). As some other people have mentioned, there’s a petting tank (horseshoe crab, turtles, and a bunch of other stuff), a huge tank full of sharks and a wide variety of fish, a few huge snakes, a bunch of eels, etc. Oh yes, and the big gator and gator snapping turtle — plus a little gator that you can pet! Feeding shows multiple times throughout the day (sharks, gator, turtle, eels) as well as the aforementioned option to feed the stingrays and baby nurse sharks (the stingray/​baby shark feedings are continuous throughout the day). Overall a very enjoyable (as well as affordable) day of family fun :)

Took our small daughters. They loved it. The facility is small but they are relocating next year. I was impressed with the interaction my daughters got. They were able to pet several animals and feed sharks. The staff is very knowledgable and friendly. The price is ok but I liked supporting a family and local place. Icing on top is the playground next store. I will go back and might get a donation membership to help support their relocation.

It’s small but perfect when not crowded. Intimate– lots of photo ops and animal encounters. Sorry these other stingy people went at peak times– hello, is this not a tourist area? Geniuses. My 4 year old loved it, feeding the sharks and rays, AND the playground next door. What the heck do you all expect? I paid $ 20.50 for three people and we were delighted.

Was expecting more but it was OK to entertain the kids. Very small areas especially when people are crowded in to watch the feeding shows. The feedings were cool but just a bit too much talking going on prior to them. They have a touch tank in the beginning with some turtles and others creatures and also one of sting rays at the end. They do not have any hand cleaning stations to use before or even after touching the animals but there is a restroom to use. There is also an area where you can pay $ 1 to feed the sharks which my nephew and niece loved. The ticket also allows for the children to play in the play area next-​door for free. It killed some time before going to have lunch and walk around some more.

Very nice tiny aquarium with interactive displays. The center tank holds multiple sharks with lots of local fish. This year they separated the adult alligator and the elderly giant snapping turtle. During previous visits, the snapping turtle and alligator appeared to get on each other’s nerves, so there now is a cement slab barrier in the tank they share. They have several varieties of snakes. They also have baby alligator and snake feedings, so I recommend you stay for the entire show the first time. There are multiple sting rays, and turtles that you can pet and they have plenty of hand sanitizer available if you choose to do so. They also have baby sharks in a tank that you can feed. The staff really know their aquarium, which will apparantly be moving to a new location next year. Our favorite asian art shop, Arts by Hand, will also be closing next year as well, which will save us lots of money during our next vacation but will lower the quality of this day trip option in the Tampa Bay area.

Went with the DW and another couple this last Friday. At $ 7.50 per person it is still overpriced. Film on the tank glass is old, discolored and in disrepair. Whole place can be seen in 10 minutes. Don’t see us returning any time soon.

Love that your ticket is for the whole day! It may be small but there is so much to learn when you plan your times around the shows.
Make sure you check out the corral reef exhibit. It is so beautiful and calming. You never know what tiny creature you will find in there.
Also if you have small kids they have a play area next door that’s included with your admission which is awesome.
We will definitely be back on our future trips.

It’s small and not really worth the price. My nephew loved feeding the Sharks so it made it worth it. It’s good for a Rainey day but not somewhere I would go over and over.

It was something to do as we were in Tarpon Springs. Is ii the greatest of places, ummm NO! It is very outdated and needs lots of work in the inside. But it was something to do for the kids. For 2 adults and 2 kids it cost about 40.00 to get in. You can do the place in less then 20 min. The staff is very nice and knowledgeable of the wildlife that is there. You are able to feed the sharks. They sell a cup of food for $ 1.00. Overall is was ok. Kids liked it and that is all that matters. They have a kids fun zone next door with a jumping bounce house which is free with your admission. I was not a fan as it smelled and all I could think about is bacteria. Anyways like I said it is something to do if you are in Tarpon Springs…

Fun, small place but lots to see. My daughter was able to pet an alligator and watch the feeding. There were lots of cool fish, sting ray touch tank, and shark tank.

I used to go here back in the mid 90’s whenever I visited Tarpon Springs… and it was a fun place to go. I went recently and was disappointed. They now have a large number of large snakes (boas, pythons, etc) which is fine… but they now seem to emphasize the reptiles more than the aquarium. It also appears that the aquarium in no longer maintained and stocked as well as it once was. The touch tank was horrible, many of the rays appeared to be sick, and several were injured… I would not recommend touching them (or wash your hand very well afterwards if you do). I won’t go again…

We had a great time in this small aquarium. It is small but the staff makes it a lot of fun and the kids loved Henry the turtle. The demonstrations we very entertaining.

The aquarium is small but packed with so much to see and do! You immediately walk into a room with a a tank that you can touch everything in it. There’s a huge tank next that has the sharks and other big fish in it. We caught the tail-​end of the shark feeding. We also saw the eel show. The lady was very informative and watching the eels eat was fun to watch. There’s several other exhibits to see. It’s not huge or anything fancy but still fun to see and read the facts along the way. At the end you can feed stingray and small sharks. We came later in the day so we were gave free cups of food per person. It was a lot of fun feeding the sharks and the stingrays. Something to do if you’re in the area and have an hour or so. Really good for small children!

The Tarpon Springs Aquarium packs a lot in a small area. It takes up the corner of a little strip mall. For a decent price of $ 7.50 you can wander through and see all sorts of aquatic species and even interact with some.
The first thing you can do when you walk in is touch sea anemones and things like that. They have a huge tank with grouper and nurse sharks, among other things. There are lots of giant snakes (unfortunately, as I hate snakes) but I bet little boys think they’re awesome.
At the end you can feed sharks and they also have feeding shows at different times throughout the day where they feed their different animals.
It’s a little dark, a little old, and looks a little dirty but it was still worth the money.

Small place but worth the price of admission. They have alot of cool stuff and its free to pet the gators and stingrays. Definitely recommend the feeding shows

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This small aquarium is an absolute gem. Opportunity to feed both nurse sharks and sting rays near aquarium exit kept everyone’s attention. Plus, they have a FREE bouncehouse right next door that kids can play in that has both drinks and snacks available. Between the aquarium and the bounce house, we spent about an hour and twenty minutes and kids could play and get the wiggles out. Highly recommend the aquarium for anyone with small children and even big kids.

The Tarpon Springs Aquarium is not exactly a bargain, but it IS a great place to take the little ones for the day and give them something to do, especially on a rainy Florida weekend.
It’s kind of in need of a renovation, as it’s a little run down after being open for so many years. The main tank when you first come in is kind of dingy and not as pretty as it used to be a couple of decades ago. But, it never fails to make the kids squeal with delight as the huge sharks go by. They love to be here for the alligator feedings too. They really love the «touch tank» when you first come in and the one in the back, where you can feed the sting rays.
The best part about this particular aquarium is that your admission lasts all day. Being able to re-​enter the aquarium is a nice touch because it does allow you to go do other things and then come back to it when the kids start getting a bit grumpy. If you leave to go out to dinner and do some shopping at Sponge Docks, you can bribe the kids to sit still and eat there dinner with a good «DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO THE AQUARIUM OR NOT??? YES??? THEN SIT DOWN AND EAT YOUR DELICIOUS GREEK FOOD RIGHT NOW!!!»
Anyone else? No? Just me? Ah… okay then.
The place is usually never too crowded and there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the dive show while the sharks are being fed. The reason I am giving it three stars is because they really should put a little money into the place and renovate it a bit. I think just a great paint job and a bit of prettier and brighter sea animals would be fantastic. Maybe a bit more on the walls.
However, the kids really don’t seem to care a dorsal fin as to what the place looks like and that is really the most important thing. It’s a nice way to save yourself from going crazy on a rainy Florida day when $ 100 on the movies for a family of four is absolutely out of the question.

This place is great! Been coming here for years, every time we make our annual pilgramage to vaca land! Yes, it’s small– but it’s not pricey when you consider most mainstream aquariums charge 25 bucks + per person, vs. 7.50 here. And there are no crowds, and for such a small place, it is packed with exhibits. Exhibits that you can spend time without jostling crowds and hundreds of screaming kiddies. Take your time, watch the little turtles and fishies swim, explore, eat each other…
And take time for the demonstrations– they RULE! Staff– even the teeny-​boppers– are extremely knowledagable.
The big attraction is a gigantic 100,000 gallon tank in the middle of the aquarium. They fill it with seawater daily, and it’s open to the air on top. Hundreds of fish and shark swim happily through– the goal is to re-​create a dive into the Gulf, and they succeed! Side displays of eels, giant snapping turtles, snakes, alligators, pettable turtles and sting rays, and cool articles and artifacts make it complete.
If you really enjoy marine and reptile life, you can spend 2hours + in deep fascination here, at your own pace, without being rushed by huge crowds. (you won’t be creepily alone, either– crowd size tends to be small but very manageable.)

This place is small, and I would say overpriced for the amount of things you can see. However, it’s still an aquarium, and thus fun to see if you’re into that. To get the most bang for your buck I recommend going in early and getting the feeding and presentation schedule, checking out the rest of the town and coming back for your desired events, since admission lasts all day.

I know this place means well. It’s just small aquarium, it doesn’t take much time at all to get through it. The tanks are pretty dirty and there’s not a lot to see. I do think small kids would enjoy it for the feedings and touch pool.