Sandoway House Nature Center

This place is small, but has it all. Just as the pictures depict, a small swimming pool with 3 nurse sharks, 3 rays, and some other animals (birds, baby alligator, snakes, turtles). The biologists/​educators are fabulous (Jody and Evan), really enthusiastic educators (who can teach at both the adult and preschool level), and extremely knowledgeable (both have advanced biology degrees and specialties of study). For people who are less interested in marine biology, there are some great old historic pictures of Delray Beach from the past 100+ years. $ 5 per person, check the website or call for times that staff feed the rays and sharks.

Great place for kids to interact with nature and learn about the animals and their nature habitats. Although this is a «hands on» experience and you can feed the Maggie the gopher tortoise, hold Gigi the resident box turtle, hold a corn snake, create your own shark tooth necklace, get up close and personal with the sea urchins and sea stars, touch (if you dare) Chomp the live alligator there are a few things not allowed so «l’esprit de votre entreprise» — No running — No yelling or disruptive behavior — No food, drink or gum — No climbing or standing on the exhibits or railings — No tapping on the animal enclosures or tanks and please keep your shirt and shoes on for the sake of all.
I must have missed the free parking, there are parking lots close by with pay to park meters that takes credit cards, don’t for get to put the ticket on your dash or the $ 4.00 entrance fee will pale in comparison to the ticket waiting for you when you return.

I take kids to a lot of nature places in South Florida. A lot of good places. This place, by far, is the best we ever go to. Incredibly knowledgeable staff. Jody, one of the tours, is as good as it gets! She is a marine biologist.
Sierra Club — ICO

When we first moved here we visited here and toured the house/​museum and shark tank. Great place to visit.

Lame. I’ll probably go to hell for writing a bad review for a non-​profit but aside from having to pay the $ 4 donation for a self guided tour of shells and animals that you can see at a pet store, this was a huge waste of time. We missed the shark feeding, which only happens once a day. We did get to see the two little sharks, which were sitting motionless on the bottom of the tank. I didn’t think sharks could do that – sit motionless. Anyway, there was no one around to explain anything – the guy that took our money just sat reading his book near the entrance.
On the plus side it has air conditioning and free parking.

Only 4 bucks to get in and the shark feeding is pretty cool. The guy teaches you a lot while feeding. It’s a small place though, if there is a school group there, it’s really congested and don’t even think about bringing a stroller. The part that really brought this place down though, was the staff. There are 2 older ladies that work there that are so RUDE. Not even remotely friendly. One kept yelling at the kids to shut the door to the gift shop and I happened to be right in front of the door one time when she slammed it right in my face.

I was reluctant to visit a nature center on a 90-​degree day across the street from the beach… not really «my thing». But, if I“m writing this review, it really did happen.
This place was actually quite interesting. When you first walk in to the patio area, there is this beautiful blue and yellow parrot. But don’t let the looks fool you… this guy flexes, I mean this guy FLEXES on you! So I walk in and I’m with a girl and there’s another girl standing at the tree branch staring at this parrot. He looks right at the girls and literally postures at them. Like, picture an 8^th grade jock messing with a kid in a band… you know how they kind of step back and lunge their chests forward and throw their arms to the side? Yeah, this parrot stays on his little paws (?) and chest bumps forward and spreads his wings like an eagle at women! It was scary as heck at first but then it became funny! The lady working at the center told us all that the parrot doesn’t like females for some reason. He didn’t flex on my though… he saw my USMC tattoo I think ;)
Inside there are big sea turtles and a little shop right when you walk in the door where you can buy souvenirs and dig for fossils. In the adjacent room there’s a big fish aquarium with big fish (I don’t know jack about animals if you can’t tell). Then you walk towards the back of the house and there’s a reptile room. I’m one of those guys, and yes I’m a former Marine, but when I’m in a room surrounded by reptiles I start itching and thinking snakes are all over me. On top of the snakes in there, there’s also these furby-​looking tarantulas with hair as long as a Ch-​Ch-​Chia pet! I got out of there as fast as these feet would shuffle.
Out back there’s what used to be a pool when this was a house but now it’s filled with water and there are sharks in there. Some sort of shark that sticks to you by suctioning to things. The lady said that if you are in the ocean and one of these comes by you, it will suction itself to you and the only way to get it off is to go to the ER, WITH THE SHARK STUCK ON YOU!!! Can you imagine walking down A1A to your car with a sucking shark stuck to your leg gnawing at you!!!
Upstairs there is a shell collection which is very neat and also a room where you can grab binoculars and go on the patio and stare at the ocean.
The people working here are very friendly and helpful and very, very informative on the animals they have and Florida culture. It was neat talking to them.
It’s only $ 4 so there’s no reason not to check it out if you’re in that area. Seriously, you will love the parrot!