marine discovery center

We only had time to make a quick visit. There were some nice exhibits on display with live aquatic animals. Staff was very frendly and helpful. Wish we had time to do the boat tour. Maybe next time!

The weather wasn't great and we were just trying to learn more about what was available at New Smyrna Beach. We turned in here ... and what a pleasant experience. They have lovely, very interesting exhibits, friendly and welcoming personnel, and a "tide pool" exhibit showing some live creatures. They also have some aquariums. We even saw tiny baby sea horses. Totally worth a visit. When we go back in August 2015, we hope to book a trip on one of their sightseeing boats and maybe a kayak tour. They also have a nice selection of books for purchase. WE don't have any (we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary), but it's a great place to take your young children and even teens. Several families with young children visited while we were there and the kids were fascinated. Didn't look for a bathroom. Sorry.

This small museum is small, but very informative & interesting! The staff are knowledgeable and enrich the hands on experiences. We like the fact that if has medical care for our sea friends and reminds us to be good stewards of our land and sea!

The Marine Discovery Center is a good starting point to learn about sea life and the shoreline ecosystems in FL. A kayak tour is a great way to see the shore from a different vantage point and to learn about some neat flora and fauna. The Center itself is a work in progress, but has nice displays of live sea creatures and the staff is quite nice about answering questions.

Very interesting dolphin tour. Plenty of dolphins and birds to see. Knowledgeable and fun staff. plenty of time to stop wjen dolphins wete sighted. Try to get a seat on the right side of boat as most birds were on that side. All in all a great trip.

You can start your visit at the Marine Discovery Center, which is free to enter. It has many exhibits of the marine life from the local area. All of the volunteer workers were very knowledgable about the species and their habitats. There is also a gift shop that helps to fund the Center (so buy a few things for the kids). Here you can make reservations and purchase your tickets for the Dolphin Boat Tours that are berthed down the road. The boats are of the pontoon design and are very stable in the water (easy on the queezy stomachs). The tour takes you out through the river and lagoons in the area and boy is there a lot to see. There were plenty of Dolphins, birds, turtles and oysters ! We were seeing dolphins chasing fish and Osprey looking to help, right from the start. Winding back through the channels, we saw up close the oyster beds in the mangroves and how the volunteers were helping to reestablish them. More Dolphins playing, a nesting pair of Ospreys, and an island that the Pelicans called their own. Throughout the 2 hour tour the volunteer continually told us about the things that we were viewing, did she ever know her stuff ! The tour ended with the boat nosing into a Rookery that was teeming with Pelicans, Egrets and cormorants that were already starting to do their "courtship dances" and building nests. Can't recommend this tour enough. If your in the area, visit the Center and take the tour. . . You won't regret it !

Fun, friendly, informative staff on this trip. Saw a LOT of dolphins. Lots of interesting information on dolphins, pelicans, mangroves, etc. Would not hesitate to recommend this 2 hour boat toura

This makes the trip worth ...a little hands on museum, but the dolphin cruise has\d a fanatastic, informative naturalist.

I enjoyed the tanks of sea life, especially the sea horses, they were happy for me to take photographs. There are boat trips or kayak tours to see the dolphins, walks and bird walks from the venue. A coffeehouse would be great there, but that said it's well worth a visit. Free Entry to the centre, charges for the boat trips

Went to Right Whale Lecture last week. Very interesting and informative! Love that they are so involved in letting the people know about the marine life, that is around us. Will be taking my grandson there, when comes down for their programs.

This is a small center. Don't go expecting SeaWorld or something similar. It gives you a nice look into the local marine life and they do offer boat tours. We did not do the boat tour because of limited time, but really enjoyed the center and gift shop. The ladies at the front desk were fabulous, wish I had their names. They gave us great suggestions for other places to visit and dining in NSB. Looking forward to returning and doing the boat tour soon. Also, there was a group of high school students working on the tanks the day we visited, wonderful to see young people taking an interest in preserving the beauty of their amazing waterways. Great job!

It was a really relaxing boat trip on a pontoon , not crowded and had a good seat . Very educational and lots of dolphins , and other wildlife. Most important was supporting a conservation group to protect the Volusia co estuaries and river! I will go again this time with other family members and kids.

We only went on the Dolphin Boat Tour, did not go inside. The hosts were great, funny, instructive, and took the time to stop & follow, when we spotted dolphins. Which was almost the entire time. Nice tour!

Stumbled upon this venue by accident.From brief encounter I'd say a good outing for kids, docent was intent on engaging children while being very knowledgeable.

Thank you for visiting our small exhibit area. For now it is a free thing you can do before going out on our tours. We hope that what you learned on the boat tour and from the exhibit volunteer will help accomplish our mission "To protect and restore the Florida coastal and Indian River Lagoon ecosystems through education, research and community stewardship".Please bring your friends and visit us again next year when we will have installed new touch tanks, a new kayak launch and added more educational opportunities for the public.