National Marine Aquarium Reviews

Was an amazing trip just prepare yourself for screaming kids

Educational
Clean
Informative and friendly staff

Set over a number of levels, there are some fantastic tanks and displays in this aquarium. Though not as big as some other UK aquariums, and with a very different walk-through tunnel design, the aquarium is unique in it's placement as well as it's displays and interactivity centres. Underwater robots, displays on ship wrecks in the Plymouth Sound and the surrounding areas, three shark tanks, and hosts and guides full of information and knowledge.

Great day out, interesting tanks that you can watch for hours!

Nice for an hour or so to pass a rainy day. Good that you can get a year round pass for the same price as the day. Cafe is nice and the food is good.

Decent price for an annual pass, amazing animals to see

A really good aquarium and great value if you can make use of their annual ticket.

Loads of Children running up n down and with husband on crutches health n safety was and is an Issue

We had a great time could of spent all day there. Very interesting and the guide was very informative

The shark's tank is amazing. The octopus was my favourite. Our kids loved all of it.

Great underwater education. Felt a bit hyped for its actual selection of aquatic species.

Nice, clean little one but very organized in all respects the acceptable price

Great and very informative , and a great young lady who was by the large tank who quite obviously loved her job and and told us everything about all the fish in there

Too expensive for the time it takes to go around it

Price is steep for the experience, I would say for adult it should be 10 to 15 pounds. There was too many people taking their mask off which was mandatory to wear and was not enforced.

Good place to spend a couple of hours. Paid full price and can come back free for the next year!

Perhaps we picked the wrong time to visit with it being half term, but personally I thought it was overpriced and overall not a great experience. We went as a family and it literally took just an hour from start to finish. It was far too crowded with kids laying all over the floor, making it difficult to get close up to the tanks. I expected more interaction but there was very little. Overall very disappointed and won't be returning.

Great informative displays and interesting talks by staff. Access limited as footbridge closed and no free parking on site.

Great time seeing turtles and sharks in the main tank

Great day out my kids love the fish also soft play witch is cheap as chips

So nice to visit the aquarium again now it has been able to re open. Clear yellow and black tape in front of the glass and a one way system but you can go round as many times as you'd like in the 3hr time slot.

Well worth the entrance fee when you look at the labs and see the work being completed. This is not a sea life centre but a brilliant marine aquarium. Good covid controls in place...it felt safe

Get one ticket here and the opportunity to have free entry for the next 12 months. Just fill in the form with a photo attached.

Lack of signs and routing. Access via harbour bridge closed.

There was a show where divers got off and it was interesting.

Great day out. The team have put in great safe guards for tpir protection. Food was ok and the staff serving are all wearing masks. At the moment you must book ahead and wear a mask.

Brilliant experience for all ages with a wide variety of exhibits on offer that make this aquarium fun and educational. The only criticism that it seems that over the many years of visiting here there are less fish on offer for public viewing.

It was really good, my 2.5 year old grandson and I spent hours there. Lovely helpful staff in all parts.

Really fun day out! Staff are always around to give you more Information on the sealife!

Very slow service, disappointing that you can only buy discounted online tickets 3 DAYS in advance of going.

Expensive for how little is in the center, could have been better if it was cheaper or had more on display, you could easily go around the entire center in under an hour.

There is only 3 main tanks, but you get to see them from different sides, which i feel is a bit of cheat.

Little disappointed: :(

Great fun for adults/ children it is amazing never seen a tank so big and some beautifully coloured fish .Can park your car near by you can walk around to the marine or take a trip over by boat .

Fantastic place, you get to see so much, the staff are great and knowledgeable. Fun seeing the divers in the tank.

What a lovely place, full of wonder. There is enough here to keep children and adults alike occupied for a few hours. Definitely worth a visit

Amazing place! My budding marine biologist 2 year old son loved it!

Went on a very wet day, and as you can imagine it was packed. Staff friendly and helpful. Had a great time.

Nice day out with my granddaughter. Bit expensive though tbh...

A great vantage point for the National Firework Championship plus a quiet late night walk around the Aquarium exhibit tanks

Very good, staff are very friendly, fantastic place to visit.

Great aquarium to visit, but we went through it relatively quick. Was in and out in half an hour.

Amazing place to take kids, a must if in Devon/ Cornwall. Pay once and get entrance for a year. A firm favourite of ours, Def worth a visit.

Had to go over a narrow bridge and then had to wait in the rain on the bridge whilst people that were coming out of the aquarium crossed the bridge , I think it should have been us that crossed over first because the others had been in the More

Lovely day out, I would say more for kids. We went with friends and a 2 year old who thoroughly enjoyed it. The education part is second to none. Some of the displays are a bit tired but the fish all seem really healthy and you get great views from the different tanks!

Great displays & aquariums. Can get very crowded - best visited mid-week away from any holidays. Stupid entrance queueing system, pre-paid tickets can jump to the front of the queue (but it still takes several minutes for them to be processed) by the time they have been processed more pre-paid customers have arrived & jumped to the front - meaning that the queue is served only when there is a lull in pre-paid visitors. Very frustrating & unfair, they should have a single till & queue dedicated to the pre-paid visitors with the remaining tills servicing the main queue.

Amazing day out. Pay once and get a year's entry! Can't go wrong

It was ok but I thought it was very pricey for what was there.

Very difficult in a wheelchair, the slopes are very steep. Food was not good at all :(

Lovely place to visit, huge tanks and saw the sharks being fed, could easily spend hours here looking at the different fish, enjoyed the experience. Only fault is that it was alot smaller than I imagined, still a good activity though and definitely worth the visit. Also paying for one admission gets you in for an entire year!

Go on a weekday and enjoy an incredibly calming experience with sharks, eels, stingrays and other assorted exotic fish. Would recommend.

I was only young at the time but from what i can remember... the experience was amazing. I also like the wind turbine/s and the marina gate there

Be careful! When you have paid online, they try to charge you again upon entry!

I saw the turtle and, my fave, the Ray. There will be queue so make sure you book online t skip it. Fast track is also cheaper than booking on the door.

Only went for a meeting but the staff were extremely helpful and obliging.

Wonderful to see the fish up close. The children were delighted. They handled the COVID restrictions very well.

Amazing for a hobbyists like myself. Great selection of tangs and rays. I would love to see a REEF tank one day

An amazing place with amazing staff always ready and happy to help you answering your questions and introduce you to some of the species in the building, as well and an small cafe where yoi can take a break eat or drink something while you are there

Amazing experience for all the family for a reasonable price. Staff are great and friendly, great restaurant in terms of food and pricing as well as a reasonable gift shop with a range of decently priced products. Easy parking and access to the site, always well kept inside and out. Information plaquards litter the place inside about the exhibits inside and about marine science and more. Lovely place to walk around and mearander at the exhibits.
In all, great day out to take the family out to, rain or shine.

Lovely place to visit, great exhibitions and great staff.

Best venue! I worked as an in tank mermaid entertainer here for the Mother's Ruin 1751 gin festival this weekend. The event was fabulous & the staff were great. It goes without saying, the setting is stunning!

Quite small but you could watch the big tanks for hours.

Good for a day out with children. Lots of interesting things to see and do, helpful staff.

Really great here, excellent value, can spend a long time here, looking around at your own pace, very easily accessible for all abilities, nice that carer go in freev

Really nice place, good to enjoy a good few hours with the kids when rain stops play outside. Book online to get fast track entry to skip the main queue if busy. Takes 2 mins

Expensive if you re only visiting once. But the aquarium is amazing and they do the entry for a year thing to take a bit of the sting out of it. Try and time your walk through with the talks. It makes the experience better and more engaging especially with kids.