National SeaLife Centre Birmingham Review

Visits with my 6 month old and 4 years later with the 4 year old asks her brother. The penguins alone are worth the trip.

The National sea life has a very good parking.As we started to go we saw the penguins they were kept in a very good space and we can see them diving and swimming under the water their are very big glasses fitted aquariums where we can see them swimming beneath.from their it was just like we went under the water can see sharks, and many different kind of starfishes,sea horses octopus etc.the water features are so well built and looks very natural.all over a good experience.kids enjoy this place a lot

We love coming regularly. The new seals are amazing to watch and the staff are kind and knowledgeable

Fantastic place. Been there countless times as so good.

Having visited several Sealife Centres this is easily the best and biggest. The tanks and displays are excellent, the staff friendly and helpful. You need at least a couple of hours to come anywhere close to doing it justice.

It is a good attraction, but think entry is a little over priced. It doesn't take a long time to go round. Glad I had a voucher to get in. The gift shop is pricey too. Also went when school trip was there with a very loud shouty teacher following us round which spoilt it a little bit.

It's not worth the money if I'm honest. You're done and out within 40 minutes.
Kids thought it was okay.

Lovely day out, lots to see and do. Great range of wildlife, my son particularly enjoyed the penguins.

Can get a little crowded in some places, but as long as you're not in a rush, you can sit back and wait for it to pass.

The 4d cinema was fun.

Only disappointment was I thought it would be a little bigger.

Not as big as i thought it was but its a lovely space for both kids and adults. Lots of opportunities for "finding nemo" jokes and references Wouldve liked to see more variation but i shouldn't expect too much. The best bit was the glass tunnel walkway where stingrays, fish, sharks and a huge turtle swim over you. Brilliant photo opp but be wary of other visitors. Will be best to go at a quieter time to enjoy the experience. Penguins were cute and theres interaction activities to enjoy if you're not squeamish with sea animals. Gift shop and coin printing are good for souvenirs.

Good day out if you have buy one get one free entry

My toddler absolutely loved the Sea Life centre. Had a good range of fish, jellyfish, sharks, seals and penguins. Not huge so only takes a few hours.

Best if you visit on the half price days for more value for money.

School holiday treat... Love watching sharks swim effortlessly. Clean, informative, staff were helpful and kind

4 adults and 11 month old grandaughter visited on a Friday pm. Always wary of places that offer continuous discounts and after scanning some previous reviews, I went with an open mind. What a pleasant surprise. Yes, it was well worn and a More

I took my young son here recently and it was a great family experience. He loved being able to see all the aquatic creatures (and he would have gotten into the tanks if he could). The Undersea tunnel was amazing (great experience having a shark and turtle swimming over your head). Would recommend to anybody to visit but I would suggest you make sure you prebook the tickets as it will be cheaper.

Waste of a train journey
Building works we were not made aware of at the time of booking. That shouldn't be allowed. I would not have bothered..not even an hour was spent that noisy place.

A good day out , the tickets are expensive however. Unless you have Merlin pass which you can buy on line. It does become a little cheaper .

you can get around the whole sea life center in a couple of hours and i would of liked the center to have been a bit larger .

However on a positive side, there is a new Penguin sanctuary, Turtle Sanctuary ranging from very rare species of turtles, otters, sting rays , sharks, two large sea turtles that you can view from the under water tunnels and not forgetting a fun 4D cinema.

* please note that the gift shop is pricey so over all expect an expensive day out.

as for lunch options save money and take a picnic or eat a Jimmy spices on Broad street . ( back of the rub bar) it is cheaper

Good value, as had voucher, some enclosures closed but still nice.

Took my son here and he really enjoyed it. Personally I think it was a little expensive as we were only in there just over an hour and a half but it s worth it if the kids enjoy it.

Decent for little ones a little small over all the penguins section is pretty good. For the size of this particular centre I think the prices are too high. However comparing the London one Bham one has a much better penguin section. Make sure you plan to see when they feed the penguins as that worth watching as the penguins are naughty and are funny. After visiting the London one I have edited my review I still think the prices are too high.

A super visitor attraction for all the family. Well worth checking on offers prior to your visit.

Excellent and the behind the scenes tour is well worth doing too.

I was pleasantly surprised by how big it was, drop worth it and we don't even have kids! Yet :/

We visited here a few years ago and really enjoyed our trip . This time it was disappointing it is looking quite run down and uninteresting my seven year old granddaughter was not impressed either. There needs to be some staff training as most of the staff looked like they didn't really want to be there. Shall not go again.

Nice place. Just a bit small compared to other sealife. It is only about 1 hour walk.

Friendly staff, clear and easy to follow covid instructions and plenty of sanitising stations around the venue. Great experience here and some beautiful and incredible animals

Good if you go early, but can be very busy and hard to get around. They did a good job letting people know of exhibition was closed and offered free return visit.

It's a wonderful place and lots too look at. However I believe that it's a lot smaller than you think it's going to be. The tunnel is by far the best thing there also the penguins

The tunnel through the main tank is still awesome. The 4D experience is fun, if not a little short-lived. Everything is the same as it was 10 years ago. Bit of a one hit wonder I'm afraid.

I expected more. Aquariums were dirty. Totally overcrowded. Thing I liked the most was the tunnel.

It's a great day out with families and friends very educational for those who love fishes and other sea creatures. Also a nice pub nearby over looking the canal.

Took our son here for his first birthday he loved it and we will be making it a yearly tradition.

It's okay, not really worth the money they're asking for entry. Some interesting aquarium pieces and it was lovely seeing the turtle swimming around. Would hate to go there when it's very busy. I don't think we'd bother going back due to the cost and how long it lasted.

Great place to go with kids, good 2-3 hours entertainment. Close to Lego discovery centre, so can these two combined make great day out.

Perfect day out
Would recommend

It was an lovely and exciting experience for the kids they loved every minute off it

Amazing place for family fun with all varieties of exotic fish and not to forget the penguins!!

When you are selling customer pics have some patience when customer is trying to choose which one they need pronte. Dont huff and puff at them

Interesting place to visit with family. Great for kids

Absolutley amazing place we went with our 8 year old 5 year old and 1 year old we all had a great time the 4d cinema was amazing !

Interesting place. Good for kids. Can get money off the entrance price quite easily with the promotions they run.

The National Sealife Centre is a good place to spend a few hours with the children but not the best of the sea life centres we have visited. It is an expensive entry if you do not have a discounted voucher and the exhibits are fine if you have never visited an auquarium before. Buggy access is good and the variety of fish and unusual creatures from the sea is good for kids to marvel at.

great place to visit with grandchildren (or children).

Was very crowded, and some of the exhibits were closed/undergoing refurbishment. My daughter and I walked around it all in 20 minutes or so.

We really enjoyed the place. Looks a little conjusted but then it was a holiday. A weekday should be a better option

The sea life center is good for a half day visit but it is 3 to 4 hours for the whole visit. I have given it 4 stars as the staff are sporadic and restricted to main talks allot of the time and there is not allot of Sen support or access. Also if you have a wheelchair or accessible pushchair your going to struggle on busy days for space. Other than that it's a great half day out and there are usually lots of deals for a visit as well.

A lot smaller than I expected. Lots of screaming school children in the week. Best go of a weekend if you want to take everything in. Lots of steps once inside to take you to different levels. Souvenir shop was a bit expensive on some of the items, but this is to be expected if the place is going to survive. You can have your hand stamped and come and go as you please during the day. Grandson liked it. But was a bit upset that penguins were not available for him to see. The enclosure was being refurbished. So they were kind enough to give us free tickets to go back.

Nice center with friendly staff, smaller than I expected, but it is right in the middle of Birmingham so I'm not sure why I thought it would be bigger. Well laid out overall.
We particularly enjoyed the 4D cinema

Great place for the kids to explore and learn but we did feel a bit like a sardine ourselves at times! You have to walk in a certain direction and it gets quite busy so it s easy to get squashed.... no idea how people with small kids felt but I didn t like it.
We didn t go on the 4D cinema as the queue for that was even more squashed with crying kids.
We loved the penguins and seeing the fish was lovely but if it s busy it s not fun I m afraid.

Excellent afternoon out, a bit pricey so look out for deals.

Super cool tunnel. Nice collection of fish and other sea life. Plus the talks are interesting and the layout is very good. Can be busy sometimes with school trips during term times so be mindful when booking. Friendly staff.

Sea Life is a great defender of the oceans and wildlife in general. Most exhibits are of excellent quality and makes for great viewing and learning for everyone.

Great to have this in the centre of the city. Was having works done when we were there, so will be nice to see what the new extended experience is

My family and I enjoyed a great day out here last Saturday. One of the best Sea Life centres we have visited. I would recommend!

I had for the second time yesterday the penguin experience and I absolutely loved it and would do it again and again. The keeper was lovely and answered all of my questions, the penguins themselves are characters too and so well looked after. I enjoyed feeding them individually and then throwing the smaller fish into the water for them to dive after and had a few toys to play with too. I would recommend anyone who is crazy about penguins to have this experience at least once although once wasn't enough for me. Madonna is my favourite though she loves people and didnt really leave my side both times I've done this now

My little boy absolutely loved it. It's a great day for the whole family, it even has a little soft play at the end. We will definitely go back

very nice place but when I went swimming in the indoor fish tanks I was disappointed they threw me out. I was having a lovely time. even caught one and kept it. a good swim.

Nice place but not too big as I expected. Booking online - cheaper. We loved cinema 4d in there

Sea life center is in central Birmingham which is very much reachable from any place in Birmingham or around Birmingham . If u want to take ur kids for a outing then this is the place , truly amazing the collection they have got and the maintenance is very well done ,there is 4d show also !!

Always a pleasure to visit Sea Life centres. First time here and very accessible either by walking or parking. Although I can see why there is good reason for people to be going in the the same direction, I'm not a fan. A wide range of creatures to sea from penguins to jellyfish and sea horses to playful seals. A must visit for anyone, whether with children or not.

A good place to visit with family or friends. You will enjoy looking at and learning about different types of sea creatures. The 4D movie was also great

I took my daughter here for her second birthday. Took over an hour to get there and walked round in 20 minutes!! Due to a part not able to access so were given a free ticket to go back. However we had a bogof ticket so that means we will More

Great place , specially for children . Lots to see ..

Good place for children to explore. Excellent service and staff. Plenty of excitement and a play area for kids also available near the end of the tour.

I took my nephew for a day out and it was pretty interesting, but there wasn't really that much to see for the amount of money spent to get in there. We really enjoyed the giant turtles but had to wait ages to get into the 3D cinema but it was good when we got in there. I won't go back there too soon again, but if the occasion arises I would pop in there again.

Excellent. The penguins were our favourite bit but so much more to see and learn.

We were left disappointed by the Sea Life experience in Birmingham, for two main reasons, as others have touched on here.

One was the small enclosures for the penguins, seals and also the giant turtle. Even if they might meet welfare guidelines, it saddened us to see these animals in such small spaces.

Second was how busy the place was they simply let too many people in. This meant we were shuffling round the whole place, more or less in a long queue, constantly having to wait to see anything, then constantly getting jostled out of the way by the next visitors. They need to reduce the number of people allowed in at any one time, so that you can actually take time to look at each area.

Thankyou staff at Sea life centre for being helpful and friendly, we had a most enjoyable time yesterday. I have noticed a lot of comments about social distancing on here and would like to say I felt you had put measures in place to protect visitors if they choose to adhere to them, after all we are all adults and should look after ourselves and families. As for charges I was happy to pay full price and donate as I understand to run this business doesn't come cheap! Loved the otters, touching the starfish and the tunnel was amazing with your sharks and giant turtle, keep up the great work

Very entertaining and fun place not only for kids. Has a small playground at the end of the dive.

Pretty expensive for me. Went with a near 2yr old and were out in an hour. Quite busy even after lockdown, small aquarium so can be done quickly. Birmingham city centre parking fairly pricey. Not in a hurry to return.

A great place to take the whole family.
Its suitable for all age groups. Loved the under water tunnel and the 4D cinema show.

Diabolical. Far too many people crammed in. Couldn't get to see 4D film because it was full. Never again.

It can be incredibly noisy but An enjoyable day out.

Very expensive for what it is, extremely busy, and staff seemed like they didn't want to be there....

Nice place to go to it lasted about 35 -40 minutes with a 15 month old may be long with older people. Nice place to go access for familes with prams. No flash photography only. different prices depending on advance bookings (cheaper) more at the door. Parked in the brindley place car park which is right next door

Very very crowded, waiting 20 minutes to be able to see into a tank to be nudged out the way by someone. Staff seem very arrogant and like they couldn't be bothered. A free return pass was given upon entering but it's not worth the wasted fuel going there. Very disappointed and wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Also half of the attraction was closed off which we wasn't told before hand.

You know what you are going to see and you do. Nothing new or groundbreaking but does the job. Awful signage though for the car park. Sat nav, Google and signs all guide you do different areas

We had discounted tickets but I still feel we paid well over value for money. Booked a 10am slot and was literally out the other side by 11.30. The pressure to move on from the people behind was high so didn t feel we could take the time to enjoy what we were looking at. The oceanic tunnel was awesome but again felt pressurised to move on without taking full enjoyment. The end of the tour came way to quickly. I thought there would be more to see. Kids enjoyed finishing off with soft play. Wouldn t be keen on rebooking to come again.

It is better place for the kids to explore the ocean life rather than family outing..

Lovely place to go with your kids. Price quite high. Would definitely be back if price is a little cheaper

Nice atmosphere, even has a soft play area at the end. We loved the penguins most.

Fantastic attraction with something for everyone. Loads of educational content for all ages. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Will definitely be visiting again.

Kids really loved it! Be warned though it is quite dark in places and extremely busy so not good if claustrophobic - however if you can cope with that then a lovely family day out. Worth trying to catch the feeding times, the ocean tunnel feeding in particular was great. We didn't know that when you get to the end there's s door so you can get back to the start and go round again! Ended up going round 3 times and my eldest still didn't want to leave. No cafe we could find sadly so bring packed lunch or ask for hand stamps so you can leave to eat then come back later

Great facilities, lots to see here. Great for kids of any age. Staff are friendly, scenery and theming is fantastic

One of the best sealife, love the open entrance with the jungle theme