Really enjoy visiting here, it's somewhere that is always welcoming and good in any weather. Exhibits change frequently and there's often something new to see but the old favourites are always still there.
Not overly expensive and money is used to care for our future enjoyment, sustainable education and awareness of the marine environment we all share.
If you are in the area, the aquarium is worth a visit. The vast array of events put on give a unique flavour to the usual aquarium experience e.g. we booked tickets to see the annual fireworks competition from the inside of the aquarium, which was very cosy!). Only downside is price - to take a whole family through can start to get expensive.
Great place to take the grandchildren. Lots to see and explore and the restaurant offered both a fair choice and a fantastic portion size and value for money. Plenty of choice for a vegetarian amongst our group as well.
With getting half price entry after visiting Dartmoor Zoo we thought we would pay a visit, enjoyed our afternoon out and enjoyed seeing the diving show and different species of fish on show, great layout and you can learn new stuff the whole way round! The glass viewing for the tanks is a great addition and can find yourself dazed for ages, shame there isn't another turtle! Glad we got half price as thought entry prices with not being able to visit again within a year for free where a little steap and I wouldn't recommended the hot chocolate as didn't taste great (even second time round) and the noise of the staff bringing up the trolleys is enough to give you a headache whilst trying to relax with a hot drink!
Decent enough little acquarium (and the colouring-in tables went down well with our toddler) but we thought the staff were a bit officious.
Very beautiful aquarium, but it doesn t take long to walk around. Perfect if you re local or already visiting Plymouth.
Brilliant place to take the kids ! Very accessible for are disabled daughter. We enjoyed this day trip very much.
Wonderful place for all ages educational and great fun.
OK but as name suggests only marine fish no freshwater fish.
I've been to aquariums all around England and the claim to be the biggest of this is just due to the litres it holds not the amount of species it has went round twice in the span of 1.5 hours even with loads of people there it's not the best place. The glass on the tanks aren't clean and you can barely see into them and some of the fish have obvious health problems when u look at them. It's not worth the money to go in and some of the members of staff seem to not care at all or not know what they're talking about (this is not true for most members of staff but is for the ones I talked to).
Fantastic birthday treat for my 9 year old daughter and her friend. Staff very helpful and knowledgeable. Will definitely be going again.
Not cheap, but a good day out on a rainy day in Devon. Plus your ticket is valid for a year of revisits. My toddler loved it. Cafe is a bit disorganised and not brilliantly located (chairs almost block access to the lifts). Great talks and the main tanks are spectacular
Loved it
Such a great place to sea life at its best.
Lots of fish and interesting facts. The 2 year old loved it.
Lovely aquarium with lots to see and the cafe is top quality. They also have a great function room/bar area
I thought I saw penguins and seals and even a dolphin train but it wasn't like that I hope to see something like that in the future
Great colourful and informative displays, walk through shark and stingray tunnel was great. Good value.for money, good one way system, clean tanks and friendly staff.
Just a shame some some people barge past others who have the politeness and patience to keep a distance and let their children run riot.
Good place to visit for a few hours. You couldn't really spend a while day here but it's enough to while away an afternoon. The view from the cafe is very nice, stretching out to the Plymouth Sound.
Good and interesting. 2 year old grand daughter loved it
Our favourite place to go ever. We also went to a wedding here last weekend which was beautiful
Lovely aquarium, great fun for little ones. Lovely small displays and great big tanks with lots of variety. You can even take a peak at research facilities
I got there for free on a student night, so it was very busy! They had a large variety of fish and other interesting creatures. However, it was a very small aquarium, so my friends and I completed our journey in less than an hour. I would definitely recommend this place for a family trip. My favourite thing about it was an upside down jelly fish, very unusual in my opinion!
Yes the range of fish was great, the attraction was good, however they are only interested in Making as much money from you as possible as it was far too over priced. Also they do not care how many people are walking round. We went at 14.30 ish a d it was packed to overflowing children absolutely everywhere no adequate ventilation absolutely boiling. Could barley get close to any of the tanks. I am very disappointed. They need to sort out time slots and people limits.
Amazing. All the staff know their stuff and is a great day out. Also you can return as much as you like over the year.
It's all about the Atlantic Ocean Tank. The deepest tank in Britain, holding 2.5 million litres of water, it's a very impressive sight and a lot of time will be lost at this point of the visit.
The facilities are all good and well maintained, there's a lot to see and many hours can be spent without seeing it all. Going at the weekend makes for a much busier experience as always, but the building is huge and you can happily just sit and watched the fishy world go by.
One of the best aquaria in England.
For the price it was disappointing. There's a few large tanks which are really good but the rest wasn't great.
When booking you're given a 3 hour time slot, either am or pm I believe. It's slow going getting in due to restrictions but that's fine. Even with two 3yr olds, were done inside of 90 minutes.
The majority of the tanks are very small for specific species but small kids simply can't see them as they're too high up which was a shame for us. The walk through ray/shark section was good but you need to move on quickly as you're required to queue.
Similarly, the large tanks with seating was good and the staff on hand were keen to talk about the fish on display which was really nice.
Due to the size of the building we were expecting a little more variety especially along the lines of octopuses, squid and sharks which were lacking but maybe this is the wrong sort of space for them.
Although the entrance system clearly helps stagger people and the place isn't packed, it quickly becomes difficult to avoid bunching and groups of people all trying to look at small attractions, obviously the majority of these things weren't build with distancing in mind and you're left to your own devices during the attraction.
Probably wouldn't visit again unless our little boy develops a keen interest in sea life.
Full of completely out of control children - in there no more than 20 minutes - felt completely ripped off!
A medium-sized aquarium, halfway between the Catholic aquarium and that of Genoa. Certainly not the height of a country like Great Britain. To visit only if you pass by Plymouth, otherwise it is not advisable to make a stage.
One of the best aquariums we ve visited the grandchildren loved it.
Expensive and a long wait to get in but it was great.. Kids loved it.
Great for a day out with the family, some tanks had damaged glass making it hard to fully see the fish, however did not disappoint.
Brilliant day, informative staff!! Everyone loved it!!
It is a very interesting and education location for people to visit.
Great day out, lots of cool things to look at. Always a member of staff on hand to answer questions
First time iv been since I was younger and it really wasn t great, they have kept the touch pools but no longer let you touch them. Must be torture for children. They were saying about saving our seas from plastic and yet 1/2 the tanks are filled with plastic! Practice what you preach! Wish I could have a refund.
Good for kids. The staff were giving talks on the way round. Monday is good to go in the morning when they are feeding. Thought the tanks for the octopus and squid were a little small.
If you can get a ticket while numbers are restricted the visit is much better
Well maintained and looked after, loads to do and see, great aquarium. Also a GREAT cause!
It might be the largest aquarium in the UK (or so they claim), but I can't recommend it. It's way to expensive for what it offers. There are a few large tanks with sharks and so on and a couple smaller ones in between. None of them are particularly nice to look at. They contain animals and the bare essentials, nothing more.
Their website states that it takes you 3 hours to go through; we didn't even need half the time. Okay, there is a lot of information to be read next to all the exhibits, but let's be honest: I'll read some, but not all of them.
Very interesting, informative and interactive. Perfect for those who are obsessed with fish. All the staff are very helpful and were very knowledgeable about the fish
Probably my favourite Aquarium visited in the UK (up there with the Deep in Hull). With children could easily spend a few hours here.
- Car parking is not free. There is a multi story car park in the next building.
- Short walk across the harbor service bridge to Plymouth Harbour.
It was laid out perfectly for a wander around on a wet and windy afternoon. Bonus, we get to go back again for a whole year with the cost of our ticket.
The staff were lovely and informative too
Not as many exhibits as we thought, as this aquarium is the biggest in the UK (and Europe apparently). Also, there were quite a few aquariums that were empty. The exhibits that were open for viewing were very beautiful and some amazingly huge. One thing is is that this aquarium promotes protection of the sea, and this is one of the main themes throughout the exhibits. It also promotes two portions of white fish a week, which is weird, as this is not at all sustainable. The info signs sometimes contradict itself, so to say.
Should go great day for the family or just you no matter the weather
It was a great day out for all the family. The sea creatures were all looked after exceptionally well and the team working there were incredibly polite and knowledgeable. Great value for a local like myself as we can return free for the rest of the year. Well worth a visit
Wonderful place. Passionate staff who are so knowledgeable and helpful.
Awesome for fish lovers .also its a great family visit
Absolutely brilliant. Great exhibits and really helpful, knowledgeable staff and volunteers.
Fabulous, lots to see all staff very knowledgeable and helpful great day out. I go about 4 times a year as only 40 minute drive away.
Nice visit but spoiled with screaming toddles and bored mums, the next year we thought we would go later, school pick up time to avoid mums with brats . Its open until 5pm last entry 4pm but at 4.10 pm the staff were closing up large sections of the aquarium and were hassling me and my family to head towards the exits we missed at least half of the attraction thinking this may be a one off we visited the next week to see what we had missed and the same thing happened ,we complained but they said they start closing the building down at 4pm as its so big ,seems like rubbish to me but the staff were acting like we were intruding and should not be there it was only just after 4pm .
Staff also had no knowledge of marine fish or what they eat on all visits .
Even though a bit of a queue its all in aid of keeping safe, they do track and trace and have plenty of hand gel and people around to make sure everyone is OK and felt reassured but still making sure we had a good time:)
Excellent aquarium with some of the biggest tanks! Loved the Atlantic Ocean exhibit Visited 1 time in July 2020 with good social distancing measures which were being kept! Well done NMA
Great way to spend a few hours with the kids, or your parents/grandparents. Take as long as you like to go round and learn a lot!
Always a good day out. No matter how many times you go
Amazing aquarium with a fantastic range of underwater creatures. The large tank is incredible and I loved how you get different views of it. From a COVID perspective it was well thought out and the one way system worked well. Staff greeted us upon arrival and clearly explained the changes. We spent just short of 3 hours there and felt like we'd done it all thoroughly so be sure to combine it with something else if you want to make a day of it.
Fantastic aquarium which allows you to return for the year without additional cost to enjoy the tanks and changing exhibitions. The size of the tanks needs to be seen to be believed, a real gem in Plymouth and not one to miss if your visiting the city.
Enjoyable day out for family. Price is a tad expensive but it is for a yearly ticket.
Small aquarium, expensive parking and entry. Not really worth the money
Love it. One of the biggest tanks in the country. Regular talks through the day every hour. Personally I like 5he shark feeding and octopus talks.
The ticket seems a little pricey until you realise it's a one year pass instead of just a day ticket.
Theres a cafe, picnic area and separate mini cafe by the soft play. Soft play area for little uns as well as a separate one for older kids. Baby soft play is free.
Whole facility is push chair/wheel chair friendly.
Believe you can do kids parties and sleep overs there too.
national-aquarium.co.uk