Fryedaze Cruising Adventures: Marineland

We had heard so many great things about Marineland and their Dockmaster Eric that we were excited for our three day stop. I had visited here when I was a teenager and had such great memories. The marina is also very close to the beach- right across the street and you can hear the waves crashing from your boat. When we pulled in it wasn't quite what I was expecting but the new floating docks were great and Eric certainly lived up to his great reputation. Very competent and efficient in helping us dock.

After getting settled I couldn't wait to walk over and see the beach- which had always been my happy place before we got a boat! The beach itself did not disappoint although the walk was a little greater than we anticipated. Because Marineland is directly in front of marina we needed to either walk north or south on the road to get beach access. When we walked to the right (south) we quickly realized that access would be down through the rocks but I couldn't wait so we very carefully picked our way down. The beach was full of big rocks off of three big jetty's. The remnants of what used to be a hotel are still there but not much else. The area had been hit very hard in the 90's by two hurricanes and the hotel and businesses had not been rebuilt. We walked north on the beach to some of the few beach houses that are still there. We definitely knew that the north end of the beach would be where we would come the next day to swim and relax on the beach. We were surprised that when we came up the dune break line the old A1A road was still there but now appeared to be only one lane and in rough shape- another casualty of the hurricanes.

The next morning we got up and walked through a beautiful nature trail that is called from the Sea to the River Nature Trails. It goes through what used to be campgrounds which I believe we stayed when we came to Marineland in the 70's with my parents and Aunt Millie and Uncle John. Unfortunately, the campsites electric and other facilities were also lost in the hurricanes. You can now come in to camp but it is primitive camping only. No facilities or electric. We enjoyed our walk through very much. After our walk and a quick lunch we packed up our cooler, grabbed our chairs and books and headed to the beach. We found a small path that was right beside Marineland that we missed the day before. It required going down on steep, flat stones but it was way closer than walking to where we came back to the road the day before. It was so wonderful finally being on a beach with no seagrass or rocks. I was in heaven with my book and the waves crashing in front of us! We even went in and got wet but did not stay in to swim. The water temp was only 72 and we were there at relatively low tide so you needed to go way out. I was a little intimidated to go out too far as there had been a shark attack at New Smyrna Beach the day we left there. We were told there are more shark bites/attacks in that area than anywhere else in the U.S. I wasn't taking any chances that one decided to swim north to see what was available in those waters! When we got back to the boat JamminJane had arrived and we were happy to go to their boat for pre-dinner Happy Hour. I had put some Mississippi chicken in the crockpot earlier in the day so we decided to go to our respective boats for dinner and then meet up again for cocktails after! I just love their dog Crockett and it was so nice to be with them and of course their wonderful dog!

Jane and Ben took off the next day heading for St. Augustine but Dave and I stayed as this was the day we were going to go through Marineland (free with three night stay at the marina). I was so excited to see the place and have pictures taken in front as I had with my parents and aunt and uncle so many years ago. But the pictures weren't to be. Because the original A1A disappeared and the new highway was moved over we weren't able to pose in front of the Marineland sign. That was just the first of many things that didn't jive with my memories so long ago! When I was there in the late 60s or early 70s- Marineland was the biggest attraction in America. It's demise and appeal came after the building of Disney World and Sea World. Marineland was originally built to film underwater shots of dolphins and other sea life. It then became an attraction that you could watch the dolphins perform their many tricks. I remember sitting in the bleachers and getting splashed by the dolphins. Now it is a research facility that allows individuals to get into the water with the dolphins to feed them, pet them and interact with them in other ways. It is very expensive to have the immersion adventure with the dolphins with the packages starting at $230 per person. There were cheaper options like feeding the dolphins and just touching them. The guides explained that these funds support the animal research. I thought the holding pens were kind of small- especially for the sharks but they explained that they were "contained environments" and did not cause stress to the sharks. I still disagreed but I am not a aquarist expert! We were glad that we had gone over but I just couldn't help being let down because the joy that I felt as a kid just wasn't there! It is an old and kind of tired facility.

The best we could do to get even part of the front facade

One of the many photo spots throughout the facility

One of the families interacting with the dolphins. Many photo opportunities and believe me they had two photographers taking shots constantly!

This holding area was right in front of our boat. It was like a giant aquarium. Ocean water flows into it constantly and there were many different species in the "pond." These fish were put here after Marineland closed the fish exhibits down. They are obviously fed daily as we drew quite the crowd just standing outside the fence watching them. You can see FRYEDAZE in the front left slip!