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Marineland

Marineland, Flagler County
ANIMALS
8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
Marineland

WHAT IT IS

The world's first oceanarium, built in 1938 as an underwater film studio, in a town of about a dozen people.

It was built so filmmakers could shoot underwater, because Hollywood needed tanks with portholes, and the founders included a Vanderbilt and a Tolstoy. It became Florida's biggest attraction before Disney, then declined for fifty years. What survives is a research and dolphin facility on a strip of A1A, plus the incorporated town of Marineland, which has a population you could seat at one table.

HOW IT SCORES

Rarity8/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory10/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair6/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment7/10
How far do they take the bit?

NEARBY

Ripley's at Castle Warden17 mi · St. Augustine Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park17 mi · St. Augustine Barberville Yard Art Emporium36 mi · Barberville

BEFORE YOU DRIVE

ENTRY FEE
$18, encounters more
HOURS
Daily 9:30am–4:30pm
BEST TIME
Weekday. It is small and it fills.
HOW LONG
2 hours
PARKING
Free lot
PAYMENT
Cards accepted
ACCESS
Flat, accessible
COORDINATES
29.6683° N, 81.2119° W

9600 Ocean Shore Blvd on A1A, south of St. Augustine.

OPEN IN MAPS →
DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.