Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary Review
SEA LIFE Sanctuary
Scarborough
Reviewed by Ruth Clements
The Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary is situated close to North Bay, and is well signposted, there is a good sized car park although I was surprised that it was a pay and display, it would have been nice if this was free for visitors to the centre. There are several different pricing packages available.
We were welcomed by 2 friendly staff and asked to sit on a bench and then to strike different poses, several photos were taken. We were given a barcode to present further on in the centre where we were able to view our photos. A variety of backdrops were used and the poses we made then made sense, there was no pressure to buy, but were a reasonable price, with different packages available including fridge magnets and keyrings. We opted for a photograph for £9 which takes pride of place on the playroom wall.
Our deep sea journey began. The children had logbooks to complete, although I had to go back for them as we weren’t offered any. There were little quizzes along the way and the correct answer was then stamped into the books. My children were a little young for the quiz, but enjoyed stamping their books anyway. On completion of the logbooks the children were given a SEA LIFE medal.
All the areas were well labelled with information about the different sea creatures that we saw. All the exhibits, were well presented, with some viewing holes for little ones, and the bigger people too. The areas were well signposted and ensured that you were able to see everything
We were looking forward to seeing some of the shows, we were given a leaflet, but didn’t realise that the times were on there, so we missed most of them. We stumbled upon the otters being fed, the keeper was very knowledgeable and gave lots of information about the two otters, maybe too much as you could see the children getting a little bored and just wanted to see them being fed.
Later in the day when inside the building we heard an announcement that a show was about to start, this was the first time we heard it and was too late for us, not sure if the tannoy was not working outside or if this was the first announcement of the day ?
There was a seal show and also feeding the penguins.
A new addition this year was the penguin walkthrough, which was great, you could get up close to the penguins, unfortunately at this time of year the penguins were molting, which meant that they weren’t waterproof so didn’t tend to go swimming, so they were not really doing very much.
Upstairs in the main building was a café, with a small soft play area, we didn’t sample the food, just enjoyed coffee and cake. There was a small picnic area outside with several tables and stools, there appeared to be a refreshment kiosk, but this was not open on the day of our visit, also looked like a pirate ship under construction.
The toilets were clean and each cubicle had a different sea creature on the door. They were situated through the gift shop and weren’t very well signed from the main areas.
Once we had seen all the magnificent sea creatures, we walked through the ocean tunnel, touched a star fish and an anemone, watched an amazing display of jelly fish, sea horses and sea dragons, come face to face with Antiopi a 50 year old turtle, we gave the Pirate Adventure golf a go, depending on which pricing package purchased there may be an additional cost. My trio were a little young at 3 to play, but they had a little go at it. A great feature was the rope pulled rafts, which my boys loved playing on. Friendly staff who gave the boys pirate coins when we left.
Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary also boasts Yorkshires only seal hospital. They rescue, rehabilitate and then release back into the wild any injured or sick seals or seal pups.
Overall a very enjoyable day out, and would definitely visit again.
Rating: 4.5/5
Tickets from £18pp and under 3’s are FREE. Book online for discounts up to 50%.
For more information or to book tickets visit www.visitsealife.com/scarborough.
If you are interested in buying a Merlin Annual Pass prices start from £129pp for 12 months and gets you entry into 31 Merlin attractions throughout the UK including Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary. For more information visit www.merlinannualpass.co.uk.
Scarborough SEA LIFE Sanctuary, Scalby Mills, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO12 6RP
