The National Aquarium of Cuba is a scientific center that has the main objective to raise the culture and the education about the care, conservation and rational use of the sea, coasts and the marine resources.

The National Aquarium of Cuba is etablished by a group of biologists in 1960. During those days, they were working in a house in Miramar. The visitors could see the fishes and the invertebrate animals preserved in 13 simple tanks, being  informed about the live marine life around the island. The institution, called Sibarimar at that date, used the place as an experimentel center of marine biology. In the course of time, the center became the center of attraction, so that the idea of increasing the place arised that led to the founding of the new institution that we call the National Aquarium of Cuba today.

The National Aquarium of Cuba grew by the addition of the sea lion called Silvia in 1973, and two dolphins, called Diana and Ciclón in 1985. Silvia, as the first marine mammal of the aquarium, contributed to the institution in setting the standard in the management of the future marine mammals. Diana and Ciclón became the most popular and attractive animals of the institution, as their water ballet was widely admired and gained international fame. Day by day, the institution increased the assortment of thespecies of the tropical marine flora and the number of its fish tanks with greater capacity. In 2000, a project to enlarge the aquarium was accepted, and two years later in 2002, the institution took the first step to construct the Delphin Plaza and the Tropical Island.

The animal population of the National Aquarium of Cuba exceeds 3.000 today, including 8 dolphins, 15 sea lions and 23 mammals. The facility is visited by about 2.000 visitors daily. Initially, the aquarium  was designed primarily for Cubans, but currently it is visited also by about 15.000 tourists per year.

The National Aquarium of Cuba consisits of several areas of interest like the Tropical Island, the Dolphinarium and the Mangrove Trail.

The Tropical island is a large pool with a capacity of about 185.000 liters. The pool has a decor, succesfully representing the Cuban archipelago with sea caves and the natural vegetation that is typical of these marine ecosystems. About 30 specimen of sea turtles, such as Caguama, Carey and the Green turtles, are freely touring in the pool.

The Dolphinarium has a capacity of about 1.200 spectators. The show, performed by eight well trained dolphines , is rather spectacular. Each trainer is certified by World Association of Sea Mammals. The facility is used also for the show of the sea lions. It is better to time your visit to coincide with one of the dolphin or sea lion shows that takes about 20 minutes. 

If you would prefer to take the lunch in the El Gran Azul Restaurant of the aquarium, you can watch the underwater dolphin show through a huge window set below the surface of the water. The acrylic window is 7 meters long, 14 meters wide and 22 cm thick. The show, performed by three dolphins with their trainers (usually one boy and two girls), starts around 13:30.

The Mangrove Trail covers an area of about 380 m2. It is a reproduction of a mangrove forest, including the white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) and black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) species. You can follow the ecological path that goes through the mangroves of 4 meters high.

In the rest of the aquarium, the main typical marine elements of the Cuban archipelago like the fishes, corals and marine intervertebrates are exhibited in six tanks. However, the low-key tanks are distant from arousing any excitement and curiosity in the visitor. In this section, you can watch all the marine life from different species of coral to turtle grass, as well as from stoplight parrotfish to coney.

In the following section, fish and marine invertebrates of small sizes are exhibited in their natural environment in 24 fish tanks, such as bluehead wrasse, gold head sleeper, saddled blenny, red blenny, sharpnose puffer, lantern bass, among others.