Bonneville Seabase
Bonneville Seabase
4
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
About
Snorkel or just look at the fish at this unusually-located nature center.
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Full view
Top ways to experience nearby attractions
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Attractions
4 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
15 reviews
Excellent
8
Very good
3
Average
1
Poor
1
Terrible
2
Mesha W
Clinton, UT17 contributions
May 2020
We stayed in our RV overnight. with the intentions of just camping. Our gracious host Christine was more than accommodating. She was so sweet and knowledgeable that We decided to try snorkeling . Tanner was very accommodation helping us rent our equipment; and teaching us safety. Christine let us feed the fish, and she made me a pair of earrings from seashells as a present since we we stayed for mother's day.
Written 10 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kenn C
1 contribution
Nov 2021 • Friends
Great time. The staff is great, and the building reminds me of the Florida keys. Very folksy.
Water conditions depend on the season. Best in winter
Best visibility in the winter. Good place for new divers, and getting your buoyancy set for salt water dives
Water conditions depend on the season. Best in winter
Best visibility in the winter. Good place for new divers, and getting your buoyancy set for salt water dives
Written 21 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katherine28
Bentonville, AR9 contributions
Sept 2019 • Solo
As a fairly inexperienced diver looking for a unique dive on my travels through Utah, I booked two dives with guide Will Rogers Friday 9/27/19.
First, my guide was outstanding in his hospitality, knowledge & patience. I love diving but I honestly have not had that many positive experiences with instructors/guides & Will far exceeds anyone else I’ve dealt with in a similar capacity. It was also outstanding to be the only client & he spent much more time with me than necessary. I felt it was an excellent value for the dive experience, technical input & generally increasing my knowledge of the diving world.
Second, diving conditions. As I was expecting having read many online reviews, it was pretty murky. Our first dive was to the “Abyss” a 60’ dive down a deep, dark tunnel. It’s pretty much exactly what you would expect & safely overcoming your fears of depth/darkness is part of learning to dive. Visibility was probably about 6-8 feet, not that there was much to see. Bonus, it was a warm 80 degrees.
Our second dive was in the “White Rocks” fish feeding area leading through a short tunnel to “Habitat Bay” with a sunken boat. Most noticeably, the visibility was limited to 4-6 feet & it was much cooler at 72-74 degrees. Here, we spent most of our time around 15-20 feet depth. We fed the (aggressive but not scary) drum pieces of fish from little bags & saw an angel fish before we swam over to check out the boat. You can’t really see the boat due to visibility, but again I feel like learning to dive (& not panic or get lost) in murky conditions is part of learning to be a better diver.
Third, the setting & reservation. It’s kind of located in the middle of nowhere outside of Salt Lake City. The buildings look tired but my rental gear was in condition & ready to go upon my arrival. It was nice to take a warm shower/wash my wetsuit after my dives in their basic showering area. I emailed the shop a few days prior to my arrival & it couldn’t have been easier to set up my dives.
Summary: my guide Will was outstanding & if you understand what diving this site is about then you will have a great time. I’m glad I checked this one off my list 😁
First, my guide was outstanding in his hospitality, knowledge & patience. I love diving but I honestly have not had that many positive experiences with instructors/guides & Will far exceeds anyone else I’ve dealt with in a similar capacity. It was also outstanding to be the only client & he spent much more time with me than necessary. I felt it was an excellent value for the dive experience, technical input & generally increasing my knowledge of the diving world.
Second, diving conditions. As I was expecting having read many online reviews, it was pretty murky. Our first dive was to the “Abyss” a 60’ dive down a deep, dark tunnel. It’s pretty much exactly what you would expect & safely overcoming your fears of depth/darkness is part of learning to dive. Visibility was probably about 6-8 feet, not that there was much to see. Bonus, it was a warm 80 degrees.
Our second dive was in the “White Rocks” fish feeding area leading through a short tunnel to “Habitat Bay” with a sunken boat. Most noticeably, the visibility was limited to 4-6 feet & it was much cooler at 72-74 degrees. Here, we spent most of our time around 15-20 feet depth. We fed the (aggressive but not scary) drum pieces of fish from little bags & saw an angel fish before we swam over to check out the boat. You can’t really see the boat due to visibility, but again I feel like learning to dive (& not panic or get lost) in murky conditions is part of learning to be a better diver.
Third, the setting & reservation. It’s kind of located in the middle of nowhere outside of Salt Lake City. The buildings look tired but my rental gear was in condition & ready to go upon my arrival. It was nice to take a warm shower/wash my wetsuit after my dives in their basic showering area. I emailed the shop a few days prior to my arrival & it couldn’t have been easier to set up my dives.
Summary: my guide Will was outstanding & if you understand what diving this site is about then you will have a great time. I’m glad I checked this one off my list 😁
Written 27 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
greymomBoston
Boston, MA369 contributions
Jun 2014 • Couples
We had a great time here. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful, and there are lots of fish to see. We never did see the sharks, but the angel fish and the other saltwater fish are beautiful. We got there kind of late in the day, we're not really morning people, but to our benefit, we had the whole place to ourselves! Now, just to put this in perspective, we usually only dive in the Caribbean, so the visibility was not what we are used to, but it was a lot of fun and a very unusual day trip from Salt Lake City. Oh, and don't forget the lettuce! It's a lot of fun to hand feed the fish
Written 7 July 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carol Anne C
Norwich, United Kingdom44 contributions
Sept 2013 • Couples
I have been lucky enough to scuba dive in many tropical areas and experienced marine life at its best but nothing prepared me for the totally amazing experience of diving with large jacks, groupers and numerous angel fish (amongst others) which live in the Seabase pools. Ok so you won't have clear, pristine waters with amazing viz but being so close to the fish more than makes up for it. The $20 diving fee is totally worth it and pay the extra $5 to feed the fish and you won't be disappointed! If you can, get there early to watch the staff hand feed the sharks and stingray.
The facilities are very good and a real treat for hardy divers who usually only get to use cold water showers...Seabase has hot showers and they provide shampoo and conditioner and a special diving coat to warm you up if you are chilly. Linda and George who run Seabase are very customer orientated and will go out of their way to make sure you have a great day. Instructor Lynn is passionate about his work and can tell you everything about the aquatic life and knows all there is to know about the dive sites. The staff are really friendly and just put the icing on the cake for my visit.
One of the dive sites has a sunken boat (the stingray usually hides here) and a number of other interesting features for divers including a man made swim through (watch for the thermocline here). You can also drop down into the abyss for an 18m dive (very similar to diving a SET tank) where the water is definitely warmer and is a great place to practice skills or test kit.
All in all, I had an amazing time at Seabase and can't wait to visit Utah again. This will definitely be on my bucket list for my next visit!
The facilities are very good and a real treat for hardy divers who usually only get to use cold water showers...Seabase has hot showers and they provide shampoo and conditioner and a special diving coat to warm you up if you are chilly. Linda and George who run Seabase are very customer orientated and will go out of their way to make sure you have a great day. Instructor Lynn is passionate about his work and can tell you everything about the aquatic life and knows all there is to know about the dive sites. The staff are really friendly and just put the icing on the cake for my visit.
One of the dive sites has a sunken boat (the stingray usually hides here) and a number of other interesting features for divers including a man made swim through (watch for the thermocline here). You can also drop down into the abyss for an 18m dive (very similar to diving a SET tank) where the water is definitely warmer and is a great place to practice skills or test kit.
All in all, I had an amazing time at Seabase and can't wait to visit Utah again. This will definitely be on my bucket list for my next visit!
Written 3 September 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BouvOnTheMove
Salt Lake City, UT923 contributions
Jul 2012 • Friends
Wow, what a fun place to go. We have snorkeled here several times and love it!
First off, if you're used to diving/snorkeling somewhere exotic, try to remember that you're visiting a mini ocean in the middle of a land-locked state. For those expecting the Great Barrier Reef, you won't find it.
For those that can appreciate a geographical anomaly teeming with marine life & a great time, you've come to the right place.
Definitely be there by opening time, you don't want to miss feeding the fish. This is the best time to see the Nurse Sharks (they have two, over 9' in length.) Also, you'll see a variety of tropical fishes that will be more difficult to find later in the water. Hopefully, you'll get to see 'Steve Ray' their resident Stingray. He's a ham that appears to love the attention as much as his breakfast.
You can bring romaine lettuce to feed the fish. If you leave your vest on and just quietly float on the water, soon you'll have Porkfish, Monos, beautiful Angelfish & more eating right out of your hands!
When you're ready for a break, you can sun yourself while getting a Japanese pedicure. Just dip your feet in the water and literally hundreds of mollies will clean the excess skin from your feet. It tickles! If this is not your cup of tea, just wiggle your toes and they will disappear.
The rates here are very reasonable. We only pay $31 to snorkel all day, including gear. Also, for an extra $5 they let us get in the water while they fed the Jacks. They are huge and it's a lot of fun. Caution, you may laugh so hard that you suck in some saltwater :) If you don't want to snorkel or dive you can participate in the fish feeding for only $5.
The visibility can vary with season & temperature, but we always have a good time.
Ron, Lynn, and the rest of the staff are great. What a laid-back, fun-lovin' bunch.
This place is less than 1-1/2 hours away from Wendover. We like to spend the morning at the Seabase and enjoy the casinos later in the evening.
Check out their site before visiting:
http://seabase.net/index.html
First off, if you're used to diving/snorkeling somewhere exotic, try to remember that you're visiting a mini ocean in the middle of a land-locked state. For those expecting the Great Barrier Reef, you won't find it.
For those that can appreciate a geographical anomaly teeming with marine life & a great time, you've come to the right place.
Definitely be there by opening time, you don't want to miss feeding the fish. This is the best time to see the Nurse Sharks (they have two, over 9' in length.) Also, you'll see a variety of tropical fishes that will be more difficult to find later in the water. Hopefully, you'll get to see 'Steve Ray' their resident Stingray. He's a ham that appears to love the attention as much as his breakfast.
You can bring romaine lettuce to feed the fish. If you leave your vest on and just quietly float on the water, soon you'll have Porkfish, Monos, beautiful Angelfish & more eating right out of your hands!
When you're ready for a break, you can sun yourself while getting a Japanese pedicure. Just dip your feet in the water and literally hundreds of mollies will clean the excess skin from your feet. It tickles! If this is not your cup of tea, just wiggle your toes and they will disappear.
The rates here are very reasonable. We only pay $31 to snorkel all day, including gear. Also, for an extra $5 they let us get in the water while they fed the Jacks. They are huge and it's a lot of fun. Caution, you may laugh so hard that you suck in some saltwater :) If you don't want to snorkel or dive you can participate in the fish feeding for only $5.
The visibility can vary with season & temperature, but we always have a good time.
Ron, Lynn, and the rest of the staff are great. What a laid-back, fun-lovin' bunch.
This place is less than 1-1/2 hours away from Wendover. We like to spend the morning at the Seabase and enjoy the casinos later in the evening.
Check out their site before visiting:
http://seabase.net/index.html
Written 20 April 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Timothy Y
Moorefield, NE171 contributions
Nov 2012 • Business
Not a number one destination choice, but a good experience anyway. The staff is very friendly and helpful. There are a lot of fish to see is the water clarity is good. You can buy a head of lettuce to feed the fish and they will eat right out of your hand. Get there at 8am and you can watch them feed the nurse sharks, rays and big Jacks. If you are a diver plan a few hours to be able to explore and see everything.
Written 22 November 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Olga Ambrose
Salt Lake City, UT21 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
We came to do a snorkeling , but the water in all 3 pools was murky . We couldn’t see anything. It’s definitely not for a snorkeling. Disappointed.
Written 23 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jennifer
3 contributions
Sept 2019 • Couples
I am so overly happy with finding this little gem of a place. We were looking for good camping places near Bonneville salt lake and this came up on hipcamp. We booked late and when we arrived it was getting Dark. Chris took us in with open arms and made us feel super welcome. We originally planned to camp but it was stormy weather so we took one of the scamp caravanettes which was perfect for an overnight stay. In the morning Chris showed us round, a great place for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving. As it was a Tuesday we had the whole place to ourselves, we went snorkelling with the fish and got to feed them and enjoyed the warmth of swimming in the abyss. It was the perfect ending to our holiday before flying back to the UK. Highly recommended.
Written 17 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amanda W
3 contributions
Dec 2017 • Friends
Don’t bother. Nurse sharks are long gone. Visibility is terrible, totally stinky. They do have hot showers which is why they get a 2.
Written 17 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing