National Marine Aquarium Reviews

The place gets better every time with do much to keep the kids interested and teach them at the same time.

Came on a Saturday during halfterm and it was hectic. Heaps of information and very knowledgable staff though. Complimentary annual passes as well when you purchase tickets.

The only disappointing thing was that I saw quite a few visitors here littering and leaving their rubbish on the ground and around information displays. Really upsetting behaviour especially when its coming from full grown adults.

Loads of variety of fish, awesome destination and friendly staff

So many fish and great staff who know all about the animals

Great place to take the kids on a rainy day, the tanks are always beautifully clean

Wasn't too impressed for the price.
Only go if you have money to throw away. We walked round slowly and still was done in 30 mins
Very small compared to others
55 quid wasted
2 adults and 2 4 years olds

It was a good experience i think a good idea would be show videos over monitors and subtitled for elderly people who have hearing difficulties

Excellent for a day out, but the Sleeping with Sharks is just amazing!

Not very good value for money. This is the biggest aquarium in the UK, yet the whole place can be experienced in an hour. Spend your time and money elsewhere!

Very expensive and not much fun. Really not that much there. Just one tank

It's ok for a rainy day. Less horribly corporate than sealife centre but just as expensive. We spent about an hour and a half there.

Friendly staff, lots to see and good food. A great family day out.

Aquarium it's ok not to big and not to small but if you are going half of the country to see it you will probably expected something more.

Great exhibition for adults and children alike. Food could be better, take a packed lunch instead. Parking a little expensive

Due to my love of nature I thought I would head down and check out the National Aquarium whilst I was in Plymouth. I thought the entry was a bit pricey (Approx 16 pounds). However, this included free entry if you went back within a year and More

Absolutely amaaaazing for little kids!! And adults...could just sit all day watching the aquariums. Staff knew EVERYTHING and more so learnt

I used to come here when I was at uni to sit and chill. It is quite pricey but currently they have an offer where your day ticket can become a yearly one for free! Well worth it.

This is a great aquarium and fantastic value for money, especially if you are local as you can go back as many times as you like in one year. Perfect for rainy days in Devon.

A relaxing day out unless its a school or bank holiday when it can be very busy and noisy. Lots of good opportunities for photos but make sure your flash is off. There is a cafe for a pit stop which also has a play area for younger children and if the weather is nice you could have a picnic outside with views of the harbour.
Be careful if parking in the nearby multi story car park as people have been fined even though they've paid for parking. Either take a photo of your parking ticket, keep it or pay by card so you have proof of payment.

Quite simply the best Aquarium we have ever visited. Highly recommended.

Great place to take children! My 2 year old son was thrilled and amazed to see all the fish, sharks and especially the turtle. A great educational value and the staff were really good with the talks and shows. We were a little shocked to come across a soft play down a corridor and past the toilets which charged for kids to go in after paying for entrance, that's like going to the zoo and having to pay to use the playground.

Took my grandsons there had a great day . Love the soft play area

Brilliant family experience. The annual pass represents great value. Staff are helpful, knowledgable and keen to engage with visitors - especially the kids. NMA comes in for a bit of criticism from people who think its too overcrowded but not sure what they expect on a rainy day in Devon in August! Best advice is to get there early, or later on, and avoid some of the talks and demos when its packed. As great as they are, they do tend to draw a crowd - so it's nice to go and have time in the other exhibits which will be quieter. The car park is due to be expanded which is another issue that NMA seems to get flak for. My only criticism would be that the ID guides for the exhibits aren't great and aren't that numerous.

An amazing place. A place to spark your enthusiasm.

Great place for all the family to enjoy. Many different species and lots of information to learn about. Loved the walk through with the stingrays overhead and underfoot, as well as the sharks too. Kids loved it :)

Great to kill 2-3 hours with the kids.. food not bad and value for money.

Really good to visit, especially the big tanks. Lots of interesting information on all the exhibits, frequent talks and plenty of helpful staff to answer any questions. Food reasonably priced, but when we visited it took quite a long time and could have been hotter (although they were quite busy). Overall, recommend if you like fish!

Super fun with very friendly staff. Try to time it with the feedings to learn the most

Great Aquarium that offers a variety of fish impossible to see elsewhere. Affordable prices, and nice place

Excellent place to visit staff are very knowledgeable and it's a nicely spacious aquarium
It has the largest tank in the UK and it's super to sit down and watch the various fish glide around

Used to be 1000 times better now I was majorly disappointed.

Great staff and loverly rooms for a wedding. If you are after something different then you found it.

Fantastic aquarium for the price, great for a day out but also learning what you can do to help the environment and the oceans. This place really makes you appreciate the oceans and the magnificent creatures that call it home. Also they offer student discount, and when we visited, when you purchased a ticket you can go again for no extra cost however many times you want for a whole year.

I've been back here 3 times this year..absolutely love it..wonderful education and profits go towards marine conservation

Great place with a lot of great things to see at a great price

Make sure to get the ticket that allows you to go back as often as you want in the next 12 months, great for taking the kids and grand kids on a miserable day. Nice home made cakes in the cafe

Great for kids the pass is for a whole year so worth the price. Best to bring your own snacks as food is quite expensive.

Love the aquarium loved it more when there was a soft play area though

Children always live it here, and then ice cream after

It's a lovely day out for all the family. We'll worth the money. Only thing I would say was too pricey was the gift shop but that's normal

A great day out especially if its raining. Can get busy in holiday periods. The entrance fee lasts a whole year.

A really great aquarium with friendly and knowledgeable staff and volunteers

. Magnificent displays. Great variety and explanations. Well worth a visit.

It's expensive for the size it is but good for the kids

Overrated attraction of South Devon. Very expensive. Average value for money. I would not come back definitely. Ok they have massive water tank, probably biggest in UK but really this is only one advantage of this place. Spacious and clean More

Easy access for disabled and prams,staff very helpful and knowledgeable about the fish,etc.well worth a visit .

Well worth a visit. The tanks are filled with amazing fish

Fantastic afternoon for the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. Viewing windows are amazing especially the overhead ones. Kids were amazed by seeing the sharks swim so close.

aquarium beautiful even if a little Po and with a few tanks ... Anyway I recommend to visit it is very nice!

A few big tanks that can be seen from a couple of different angles but not much else. We also found that the information signs were very lacking and a lot of the time we were left wondering what all of the fish were. The recommended visit time is 3 hours, but we were in and out within half of that time.

The aquarium had 1 great tank, it had a couple sharks and a big turtle, some smaller fish swimming around with them. However, the other tanks were quite average with nothing special in them.
Not a bad hour out, but overall nowhere near worth the money.

It's ok, usual sort of thing. However it seems that the claimed biggest aquarium in uk is a bit overrated as Bristol's aquarium seems to be bigger and better and it's closer for most of people too.

A good day out..cool sharks..rays..and jellyfish.. Nice cafe and friendly staff. One bloke was talking to us about sharks for ages,he was really passionate,it was great..a must visit if your in Plymouth..and we met Harry the starfish!!

Apparently the largest aquarium in the UK. It didn't really feel like it, but the tanks were well maintained with information and volunteers everywhere to help with questions and provide more information. The biggest tank can be seen from several angles, which was nice. The cafe is a bit overpriced, but the food is ok and they offer children's lunch bags as well as children's portions of hot food.

Well worth a visit lots to see and learn about from very informative and friendly staff good for both adults and children

The staff there are very knowledgeable and happy to talk to you if you approach them. They have lots of interesting anecdotes about the fish and marine life there

Brilliant place could spend all day just watching the jelly fish. Stickleback was protecting nest eggs from mullet so interesting to see its behaviour right in front of us.

Love this place,my daughter is 7 months and absolutely loves this place. You can get a year's entry as well just need to fill out a form and add photos of yourself. Excellent value for money

Lovely place to go with kids! Specially in a rainy day and there is not much to do :)

Very family friendly with lots of interesting facts

Thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the aquarium. I found myself entranced by the almost hypnotic motions of the fish in the floor to ceiling tanks. Must have stood there for hours.