The admission cost is high considering the sparse amenities. Any encounters are extra costs and while you can take your own photos, only their photographer is allowed close up . Family viewing area is far enough away that you are pretty much locked into buying their pics unless you brought a telephoto lens with you! It's a good cause though!

We booked a stay in key largo with the sole purpose of coming to the dolphin research center - it was a special birthday treat for my mum to be an ultimate trainer for the day & my partner & I joined in with dolphin encounter at the end. So spending 7+ hours with the dolphins we got to know the place pretty well!
I'd spent months researching ethical dolphin encounters and I'm really glad I found this place! Obviously it would be better for the animals to be wild but the dolphins here were either born here or cannot survive in the wild, it is not one of these places that takes dolphins from the wild & coops them up. The lagoons they live in try to emulate the natural world as much as possible, sort of like a safari park for marine animals.
As part of the trainer day, mum had 3 training sessions with the dolphins, 1 session where two young male dolphins painted on a t-shirt (that she got to keep) & one of which didn't want to stop even when the trainer was blowing her whistle to tell him good job, you can stop now! She also had a session with the sea lions & we finished the day all together in the big lagoon, shaking hands with the dolphin, kissing the dolphin, doing an imitation, then swim, the as a group asking them to do 2 tricks (as mentioned previously this was the dolphin encounter, included in the trainer package & my partner & I booked it as extra). All the dolphins seemed really happy & eager to play, the trainers really cared for them & there were a couple of times when the dolphins didn't want to do a certain activity or trick so they were simply asked to move away so another dolphin could come over who did want to do it.
There was a little snack bar with outside tables & I was surprised by the range of food she had on offer, pleasing everyone in our group & there is a splash park area which a group of school children seemed to enjoy!
They also have a group of students who get an associates degree in marine mammal care & training with them - so their class is literally spending hours playing with the dolphins!
I also noticed signs by the front door saying you could take your dog in, don't leave them in the car but you walk right alongside the lagoons & I think my dog would have barked at the dolphins so it's not really a recommended day out with your pet but if you were driving down to key largo you could stop in!
Our visit here was a once in a lifetime event for us & the best way to tick dolphins off the bucket list in the most ethical way, short of being lucky enough to have them come up to you in the wild.
Special thanks to Jennifer, Morgan & Jamie for spending time with us, one of the best days of our lives!!!