Fun at Gulf World

Panama City Beach is known for being a family-friendly destination, but there may not be a family-friendly attraction anywhere on the beach more exciting than Gulf World Marine Park. Located a block east of Pier Park, Gulf World Marine Park is a full-on marine experience complete with dolphin shows, sea lions, all sorts of tropical birds and fascinating exhibits. More than just a show, Gulf Work is fully interactive allowing you to enjoy hands-on interaction with the animals like petting sting rays and even swimming with the dolphins. I spent an afternoon on the grounds going to the shows and had loads of splash-tastic fun.

As soon as you walk through the doors you see glowing blue portals, windows to an underwater world, that extend out to a 100,000 gallon tank filled with happy dolphins. The main lobby doubles as a gift shop filled with souvenirs and artwork you can’t get anywhere else. A second door leads you out to a courtyard garden rich with gardenia fragrances. The courtyard is lush, covered with wild plants and flowers. Peeking between the leaves are exotic birds anxious to greet you. Poppy, a brilliant Moluccan Cockatoo is the first to greet you as he bounces up and down his branch saying “hello!” Not to be outdone, Rudy, a Green Wing Macaw, spreads his wings and says “hi!”

As you move further into the park, you stand into the near the Coral Reef Theatre from which you can see the penguin, alligator, stingray, shark and sea turtle exhibits. The marine life is plentiful, so much so that I couldn’t possible cover it all in one post, which is why we’ll get right to the amazing dolphin show, the single most excitingly interactive marine experience you’ll get on Panama City Beach.

At the back of the complex you reach Dolphin Stadium, a huge watery-stage strictly for entertainment. On the day I visited the park there were 400 school kids who’d been bused in from Alabama. The bus ride, for them, was totally worth it.

Dolphin Stadium is a 15 ft deep nearly 1 million gallon tank, halved to make for a stage and a backstage. When the stadium seating is filled, the talented dolphins come out and really put on a show blending amazing tricks with marine life education. Onstage during my stay were four gorgeous bottlenosed dolphins, each with their own special talents. The show started with them showcasing their size and speed. The show host, trainer Dru Jojola, told us all about their natural habitat, feeding and other interesting facts. The first of the tricks was the speed. You can see the speed for yourself as the dolphins zoom through the water. Dolphins can swim an astonishing 20-25 miles per hour normal or upside down. From there the tricks got complicated.

Dolphins are obviously intelligent creatures, but these guys were just brilliant. First they showcased their sonar abilities, able to echolocate rings tossed to the bottom of the water based on sonar alone. Dru told us dolphins use sound to detect the size, shape, and speed of objects hundreds of yards away. This ability is so precise they can sense the density difference between a golf ball and ping-pong ball dropped in the water from over a hundred feet away. That’s just crazy. They also use this sonar (cool clicking sound) to speak, sort of, using sounds like whistles, squeaks, and trills which they did during the show.

The dolphins then showed how they can dance, skirting across the top of the water and flapping their fins to hits from the oldies. The kids in the audience thought that was just a riot. After that, things got interactive as one kid was brought onto stage to meet the dolphins. She was able to pet, kiss and even feed the dolphins who were happy to have her and she, smiling from ear to ear, loved every second of it. Other kids were brought to the front of the tank for a mimicking trick where the dolphins mimicked their movements. the trick turned out to be on the kids, who, to their surprise, got splashed by the dolphins flapping heaps of water all over their heads. It was hilarious.

Dru then gave the stage to the dolphins who were able to showcase their athletic ability as they leaped out of the water 10 feet into the air, spinning, twirling and splashing to huge oohhs and ahhs from the crowds. The trainers got in on the fun and rode dorsal fins across the tank only to be thrown into the air by the beautiful mammals. The kids loved it. The show ended with a spectacular display of synchronized jumps and leaps that drew big applause for a great show.

After the show, kids were allowed into the backstage area to meet and greet the stars. Kids got to shake hands to fins, receive wet dolphin kisses and take pictures with their favorite dolphin. They also got to meet the other 11 dolphins in the park, 4 of which were also bottlenose and the other 7 were rough-tooth dolphins. Many of the dolphins, stranded or severely injured, had been saved from their original habitat and thrive at Gulf World. Five of the dolphins were actually born within the Gulf World habitat. Gulf World works diligently to keep its habitat safe and natural for the dolphins as their tank is 100% filtered sea water piped in from the gulf.

Gulf World has other cool features in their Dolphin Encounter Program where kids are allowed to swim with the dolphins or spend an entire day at dolphin day camp learning how to train the dolphins and enjoying private sessions with the dolphins and sea lions.

Gulf World Marine Park really is an awesome getaway from the beach. In fact, I’ll be returning soon to give you an update on the other shows like the Sea Lion Show, The Magic Show with Noah Wells and “Showtime” with Todd Henderson. If you go to Gulf World all these shows are included in the price of admission. It’s definitely worth it. You’ll have a blast, learn and lot and truly feel like you’ve had a vacation within a vacation.

General admission at Gulf World is $24.75 kids ages 5-11 admission is $15.07. No outside food and beverages are allowed within the park but they do have a tasty Gulf World Grille serving pizza, grilled chicken, burgers, dogs and other items. The snack bar offers popcorn, ice cream, drinks, candy and all sorts of other stuff. In the evening they have a nice Tiki Bar open during shows. They also have a designated smoking area. Go to Gulf World and have a blast

Gulf World Marine Park is located at 15412 Front Beach Rd Panama City, FL 32413.

[mappress]

You can but tickets online at www.gulfworldmarinepark.com or call 850-234-5271