We stopped in the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum on a whim as we walked by. The line was long and it was pricey ($15 for adults and $8 for kids 5-12) but we decided to visit anyway. The theming was great, even in the entrance and gift shop, and it looked to be really well done. And kudos to them for being covid-safe and requiring masks (and doing it in a clever fashion!).
The museum was laid out like a pirate ship and had several different rooms with artifacts matching that section of the ship. It was really cleverly designed and laid out. The displays were informative and well maintained and provided interesting insight into the day to day life of a pirate.
There were interactive exhibits and a fun scavenger hunt for the kids to participate in (and they even earned some pirate treasure upon completion). My kids are older now (11 and 13) but they still enjoyed the scavenger hunt, even though it is aimed towards younger kids. But it kept them engaged and encouraged them to look at all the displays as they searched for hidden artifcats.
The museum has a few really unique artifacts, like one of only 2 remaining original Jolly Roger flags and an actual pirate’s treasure chest.
There were a few slightly creepy displays with skeletons and shrunken heads so be warned if you have children that are sensitive to that sort of thing.
They had a few other hands-on exhibits that the kids thought were neat, like lighting the cannon and lifting a gold bar. (The cannon was a little fickle though and frustrated some kids when it wouldn’t light if they didn’t wait long enough between turns.) The cannon’s constant booming could be heard throughout the museum.
Overall we were really impressed with the Pirate & Treasure Museum. It was thoughtfully designed, had interesting and well-maintained artifacts and exhibits, and was really informative. We took our time walking through and were done in about 45 minutes so it is definitely an expensive outing, but we were glad that we went.
