Jessy

My friend and I went to Discovery Cove in Orlando, FL while on vacation in Tampa last week. I was really excited to snorkel in the reef there and see what they had going on. It costs a lot to get into the park $200-$300 per guest depending on whether you swim with the dolphins for 30 minutes or not.



The "pool" and the beginning to the lazy river

I had a lot of fun that day, but I'm not sure I was blown away by the park. For the expense I guess I just expected something a little better. The "coral reef" is where I'll focus my review on because that's what you guys will probably care about most. I never expected them to have real coral for us to swim around, but the fake stuff that was there was covered in layers of algae. It was kinda gross to swim in and made me want to avoid touching any part of it with my body. The fish were, for the most part, healthy and fat which was nice to see. There is a very nice school of Atlantic blue tangs and a handful of really nice powder blues. What impressed me most were the rays. They really swim around you and allow you to get close enough to touch on most occasions. They are huge!

The lazy river is nice and warm, also some very good scenery while swimming or wading through it. There is a great aviary that the river passes through giving some nice eye candy as you swim in the >80ºF water. I guess one of the big highlights is the free food and beer. They offer breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks with all the free beer you can drink. I don't drink beer too much so I didn't really get the value offered there. All-in-all, I liked the place and think it was a lot of fun. But I don't know if I would do it again just for the reef experience (which was the biggest selling point for me). Enjoy some of the underwater pics I took below(before my camera battery died and I had to bear the rest of the day without any camera).