Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, Naples FL

Excellent learning center for information on Rookery Bay Preserve, one of Florida's treasures. Has a movie theater with a short film about SWFL wildlife and habitat. Cute gift shop. Gallery of local art. Super friendly staff and volunteers.

Lovely place to spend a couple of hours with our grandchildren.
Staff are amazing explaining what the creatures are and we were lucky enough to be there at feeding time too.
Thank you for an amazing visit

In short:

The touch tank isn’t really a touch tank.

The butterfly exhibit had no butterflies.

The walking path outside is unusable unless you’re willing to be eaten alive by mosquitoes.

In long:

We’re disappointed because the main reason we went here was so our kids could experience the touch tank. But the “touch tank” is actually more of a “no touch tank. ”

The volunteer that guides you is allowed to reach in the water to pick up and touch whatever, but you do not reach into the water. The volunteer will pick up different things and decide what you can and cannot touch.

Our family was able to touch a snail and a sea urchin.

The volunteer was able to pick up a starfish, but we could not touch it.

The touch tank in our home town (in an inland state) is drastically better than this.

The only thing we saw here that we hadn’t already seen at the beach was a horseshoe crab which was pretty cool.

What a great place! We stopped on the way back to the highway from Marco Island. The volunteers, Beth and Orlando, were so great! Our kids are 5 and 7 and they loved learning about the marine animals.

I appreciate the efforts of the rookery people to educate the public, government and first responders.

Excellent place to bring young kids. It’s like a mini aquarium. Despite its small size it has a few touch tanks and a larger fish tank, along with staff who are knowledgeable and can help show you some things. There are also a few nature trails of 0.5 miles through the woods. Bring bug spray! The walking trail is a nice walk - not much wildlife, just the trail and mosquitos.

The people working there are very knowledgeable and friendly. There’s a big tank with a couple fish and a smaller version with shells etc.
It’s very warm outside and the bugs/mosquitoes decimate you as you cross the bridge over the creek to do the trails, so make sure to wear long clothes and or repellent.

It’s a nice space but there should be more activities and interactive areas.

This was a technical class done with ease. Better on zoom because well known and respected Sonny Saunders was right in front of you with small
bits of buttons and knobs we needed to understand. Pleasant, clear and very less versed. He has done this a time or two. I loved it and now excited about dusting off the canon and not relying on the iPhone for many great photos.

I'll verify that Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center is closed at this time, October 22nd 2020.

Even on a with a little rain falling we so enjoyed the trails and the learning center. Very well done and the kids just loved all the things to see.

Fun and educational. I thought the building would have more interactive activities. But my daughter had a blast playing on the boat and with all the fishy creatures. I would recommend going for a visit. It was a cheap entrance fee and the huge fish tank was super cool.

Fascinating place and quite a learning opportunity with regards to the estuary and the ecosystem that supports all of the wildlife in southwest Florida.

A great well organized beautiful facility with friendly, engaging staff and volunteers. Great for kids.

Went to the seminar on pythons. The presentation was great - took time to answer all the participants questions. Afterwards I took a tour of the facility and then enjoyed walking the trails.