National Marine Aquarium Reviews

My nephew loved the aquarium. Such a great place for kids, young adults and adults..

Unbelievable array of marine life. Check out the under water tunnel room. Look out for the turtle and the big sharks.

Fantastic place. Will certainly be back. Staff were knowledgeable and friendly.

The national marine aquarium is beautiful place to go especially if you want to take your children oh it's amazing you have to see it for yourself I've put some photos on so you should be able to sit highly highly recommend it it's so fun.

A great aquarium with really helpful staff and a huge selection of fish :) great day out and you get a free year pass, what's not to love!

Very expensive but a nice place to take the kids. The big aquarium is amazing . Parking is not on site but is only a short walk away. It is not an all day trip.... We were done in 2.5 hours Inc lunch. We got a free annual return pass for adding gift aid. Nice and reasonably priced food in the food hall.

Very interesting. Well worth a visit for all ages. Would go again.

Beautiful in every way. Also very cheap as you get a year pass and the shop is high quality, but cheap. Lovely motive as well. Talks about how were already making a difference to our sealife etc... Just amazing!

Nice day trip here. The price is high for the hour or so we spent there. However the tickets came with a free year pass to return. This is a huge positive and makes the price much more appealing.

There is loads to look at and a great day out for the family.

The interactive stuff is really cool and the little one loves it.

Really enjoyed it here as did the kids I took with me. Being so close to the sharks and turtle was particularly interesting.

Been to the aquarium a few times now, always a good day out for the whole family, reasonably priced especially considering that you get free return entry within 12 months. Loads to see for the kids, cafe is nice food and not too expensive, queues during the holidays can be quite long, but once you get in there is enough space to see everything.

Great place, worth checking out at least once for the main tank alone.

Great day out! Nice sized aquarium with a vast variety of things to look at. Also a great cafe with a variety of hot and cold food available. We managed to catch the dive show where the presenter was great and very enthusiastic. I would like to see a bit more marine fish as this is my personal passion but they still had a good selection of clowns, puffers, lionfish and more to look at! Oh and the best bit, you pay once and can come back for a whole year!!

Went here for the first time in years and it was defiantly worth it and will be back the staff are very friendly

A fantastic visit shame about the closed bridge so makes it a long walk to get there.

Great place, my 2 years old daughter had a lot of fun. In the middle of oue visit we went to caffee ship and they have soft play - great bonus and lovely entertainment took as few hours but we have really good morning/afternoon. Thanks :-)

Great time of the nephews lots of interaction and very keen friendly staff only too willing to help explain things to the boys

Seemed really interesting but far too busy to enjoy. Will look to go back during a quieter time.

Very enjoyable day at the aquarium. Informative talks.
A coffee in the cafe over looking the harbour/marina was amazing.

Great for a 3 month old. Check to see if there are school visits on as it got uncomfortably loud for the little one.

Loved this place lots to see. Live talk whilst divers go into large tank. Nice cafe. Great to take the kids

Fantastic place to go, great value for money to spend a couple of hours.

Love this aquarium, and my daughter loves it too! We have visited lots over the last year and even chose to go for her second birthday! Well worth a visit.

Size of aquarium was nice and good collection of fish, could have been more going on. Volunteer staff were great though.

I was at the Aquarium was great! I'm sorry but I have no photos of it was on my old phone. I highly recommend to go there! Though it is far from the Polish worth really worth it to swim or fly to England to see it a wonderful place to live! Next door is also a port from where drifting away to France. At the harbor are great restaurants and souvenir stands. A and Aquarium is also a souvenir shop.
Pozdrawiam

Nice big aquarium. Very interesting. My inky complaint was the time it took to enter the ticket area. Only 2 people serving and everyone upgrading to an annual pass. As a result of this everyone had to give their details and it took absolutely ages while it was freezing outside. Might be advisable to do the ticket upgrade at the end! I also don't think it's worth the full ticket price but at the same time I do understand its supporting them in the current situation. I was only holiday for the week so was happy to support local attractions.

Shark tanks are easily the main attraction, and they are amazing. And once you pay to go once you can go all year without paying. But I've been to other aquariums such as bristols, London, Weymouth, and they took much longer to get around. So depends what you want to see. Quality or quantity.

Big fish tanks, also can see divers in the tank. Only take 2 hours maximum time. Not worth you paying but you are supporting marine life preserver projects. Near by car park is very expensive.

Fantastic place for an animal themed date. It's a bit pricey but if you're a local you can simply attach a photo to your entry ticket and go again for free for another 12 months! Great aquarium.

This is one of the biggest and best aquariums we have been too. Fantastic opportunity to get really close to rays and sharks.

A really lovely place. I could spend hours looking at the fish it's so relaxing. They even did a scuba diving demonstration which I've never seen before. The tanks are huge!!!! Absolutely fascinating!!!!!!

It's fairly difficult to find the way in as you have to keep going round the outside which isn't sign posted well. A really nice place to go especially with children. Plenty of a variety to look at in the aquarium. They do have talks going on about some of the fish which is very informative for both adults and older children. There is a seating area to have a break. The biggest downside is that it is very expensive but when you pay the entry fee once then you get free entry for a year. They do have an expensive gift shop on site too.

Good variety of sea life, shame some of them aren't labelled particularly well. The sharks and the giant turtle were popular with the child.

they recommend 2 hours and a half but can be easily done within an hour

Wow, can't believe we hadn't been here before... This place was out of this world, the variety, the inclusivity, the diversity and the displays were all excellent. We arrived with a wheelchair and made it round the whole place with no problem, were able to view every exhibit and every tank with no problem. The shark tank was awesome, with a huge curved glass wall it's like you're in the tank, with creatures passing with in in he's of you on the other side of the glass... We made it to most of the talks which are informative and help you to understand the fish better and why they do what they do.. Understanding more about the environment, coral reefs especially seems hugely important at the moment. Had a great time, loads of excellent photos and videos, with the 1 year return pass, we'll definitely be back!

Fun fascinating and educational all rolled into one. We had a lovely family day out. Love the picnic area and the craft table that was there for the little ones .

Very small less than 1 hour to look rpund nothink there compared to Brighton and London very expensive to get in not good value for money at all

Great day out with the kids. Informative talks and beautiful animals.

Brilliant experience really enjoyed it, fantastic talk about different species at largest aquarium in UK

Great attraction. Perhaps not a whole day out, but certainly an afternoon. There are often workshops running, so worth checking before visiting.
The whole place is buggy and wheelchair friendly and there are stepping stools to give smaller children a boost so they can get a closer look at the exhibit. A wide variety of sea life to spot.
Your ticket entitles you to repeat entry too, so if you live locally it's well worth the admission price (not sure if you have to specifically ask for the annual return ticket, or if it's just automatic?)

Great entertainment, lovely place for kids, knowledge able staff and great distancing and cleaning procedures.

A fantastic outing for all ages. The NMA staples the status of the ocean city of Plymouth and sits comfortably in the coastal environment.



The entry fee is somewhat steep, given the actual time span of the visit, with a year pass included upon paying for a single entry seeming to 'justify' the cost.

What makes this place starts with the marine life portrayed wonderfully by the staff and volunteers, all friendly, happy to help and very informative.

I shall be returning, given I now have an annual pass!

Great for a day out, whether or not you have children. Loads of exhibits and three large (huge - the Atlantic Ocean tank has a full size aeroplane in it!) tanks displaying 3 areas ,- Plymouth Sound, Great Barrier reef and Atlantic Ocean. Lots of species - sharks, rays, a turtle, and many others appropriate to the settings. Lots of programmed activities which are really interesting, some for children, some for all. Not the cheapest but good value for what you pay. Parking is about a 5 minute walk away near the Vue cinema (but don't use that car park, you can only use if using the facilities there and CCTV records you leaving on foot. The car park is around 150 yards further in through the traffic lights).

Visited on a weekday in September 2020, really good safety measures in places regarding COVID-19. Not too busy, felt at ease.

Great aquarium, lots of species and quite interesting to see...

Me and my little family go once a year usually, its a quick walk around and not much changes but still the best Aquarium within a short drive, would love to get more for the high entry fee though one day

Great for kids. Lots on. Very informative and environmentally aware

Tranquil and peaceful place to just sit and watch the fish in the big tank we spent about 2hrs in the aquarium.

Great few hours here. Not big enough for a whole day but is good for those few hours. Good amount of different species and loads of information available.

Fantastic family day out, great local displays, great integration of current research and charity projects

Amazing stuff. Love the British tank especially. Sharks were in great nick as were the rays.

Too expensive! More focussed on little children rather than adults ! It was too loud and noisy. I didn t feel it was a value for money. Able to go through the whole place less than an hour - think it was in 45 mins which 10 minutes

Top notch family entertainment and they do occasional student nights with booze an all

Great visit for all ages. We have bought an annual pass and visit at least once a month.

Could do with a cloak room or lockers to keep personal belongings in during visit

... the place is amazing , you have place to park and is not expensive .
I lovet very much.

Takes about 2.5 hours to go around but be warned there is no imposing of social distancing by their staff. Kids and parents are allowed to ignore the courdons that the aquarium has set up.

Brilliant place to go and visit, so many talks and shows and helpful staff around to find out more. Car park placed behind which is great and a good price too. Its set in a beautiful quay side with so much to do around. Highly recommend.

Great family day out, would recommend booking tickets in advance

Big aquarium, decent priced but can literally walk through it within the hour . Needs some activities for the children or something to slow the process of walking through down

Great for all ages. Plenty to see & do, with many new touches. The staff are always so well informed & happy to help. Cafe also good & reasonably priced .

Really good day out for all the family with a wide range of different aquatic species on display. There is also a cafe and shop to compliment your day.

One slight down side which won't be noticed by new visitors is the withdrawal of the play area, which was a welcome addition and has not been replaced since being removed. 5* once play is re- installed.

Free year return passes were available when we last visited and is well worth enquiring about.

Very small for the amount you pay. Only takes an hour to go round if you go slow