Close Encounters with Ben Daughtry

The Journey to create Aquarium Encounters

As a local Marathon business, we are proud of our homegrown roots. Aquarium Encounters began as a dream in our founder, Ben Daughtry’s mind, almost 20 years ago.

After an exciting trip to an interactive aquarium in Curaçao in 1996, Ben imagined how great it would be to have a hands-on aquarium experience centrally located in the heart of the Florida Keys for both locals and tourists to learn and live the magic of the ocean.

After almost 20 years in and around the ocean in a variety of capacities, the dream of an interactive Florida Keys Aquarium experience became a reality with the opening of Aquarium Encounters.

Recently, the Florida Keys & Key West highlighted the journey of our founder in their article Close Encounters with Ben Daughtry.

This inside look at our passionate founder gives a behind the scenes perspective of the twists and turns in life that inspired and steered circumstances in Ben’s life to eventually create one of the most unique aquarium experiences anywhere in the world.

From the article:

Daughtry’s passion about the ocean, educational experiences and lessons in marine conservation led him to open the unique marine life attraction that offers immersive experiences with reef fish, invertebrates, stingrays and even sharks.

We are proud and excited to share the story of how our wonderful adventure park became a reality and we invite you to read the entire article today to learn more about our exciting journey.

Most of all, we invite you to come help add to our story, by joining us at our interactive aquarium in Marathon to explore, first-hand, the exciting, educational Encounters and Attractions waiting for our esteemed guests at Aquarium Encounters.

Stop by and have a look at Ben’s vision for marine immersion and let us know why you love Aquarium Encounters!