SEA LIFE Manchester December 2013 Review
SEA LIFE
Manchester
Reviewed by Louisa Nashir
Recently I was lucky enough to be chosen to visit and review SEA LIFE Manchester which is set in the very popular Trafford Centre with my husband, daughter (age 7) and stepdaughter (age 12).
The place is easy to find and is well signposted along the way. Upon arrival we spoke to the lovely receptionist who booked us in and was really helpful. Whilst at reception we purchased a SEA LIFE Guide book for an extremely reasonable £3, we were also given card Scuba masks, a Dive Log Book and a leaflet showing the Talk and Feed times.
After leaving reception we had our photo take in a few poses by a fabulous and entertaining member of staff who put us at ease in front of the camera immediately, even my daughters dolly was in the photo!
After the photo’s we joined a queue and waited for a member of staff to take us to Turtle Beach, in no time at all we were stood in a dark room listening to facts and stories about turtles and I must say the graphics were extraordinary, we were all mesmerised by the moving mother and baby turtles!
Once the talk had ended we were free to venture off to the different displays and areas. We spent a good amount of time in each are and never once felt rushed. We sat on the floor in a few areas and really took in our surroundings. My daughter found the place calming and not once did she get upset or stressed which was amazing.
Being a parent of a child with Autism it is extremely difficult to plan days out as you never know how the day will pan out or whether there will be anything there which will trigger a meltdown. My daughter today was calm, relaxed and excited which for us as a family meant we could enjoy the day even more so.
Each of the areas were planned and presented perfectly and really suited the habitat of each inhabitant, The amount of different species SEA LIFE has is magnificent and certainly takes your breath away when you are stood in the glass tunnel with them all swimming around you and above you.
Halfway through the centre is a lovely and fun looking play frame which the girls both loved and my husband and I made use of the fairly priced vending facilities available and the lovely clean toilets.
Before we knew it the girls had put their shoes back on, finished their drinks and snacks and were ready to see more fish so off we went stamping out Dive Log Book along the way with the special paper stampers in each area. The idea is to stamp all 9 pages and hand the book in for a prize.
When I asked everyone what their favourite part was of the centre they all had the same answer and that was…
TOUCHING THE CRABS!
A once in a lifetime opportunity for the girls and I was truly amazed they did it as they are usually so squeamish.
At the end of the tour is a brilliantly stocked gift shop with items suitable for just about everyone. The lovely man on the till took my Photo ID card from the photo earlier and asked if we would like to purchase an item with our photo on, we decided on a funny fridge magnet for the price of £6 I thought it was a fair price for a lovely keepsake.
Whilst in the shop the girls spotted the Pic N Mix and asked for a tub each, the large tubs were £5 and they hold a huge amount of sweets whilst the medium tubs cost £3.50.
Just before leaving we handed our completed Log Book to a lady in the shop who then checked the book and presented us with an ‘I’ve Dived With SEA LIFE’ badge to take home.
SEA LIFE is a fantastic day out and really is worth every penny, the staff are all super friendly and on hand in case you have any questions etc…
You can see from the various areas and displays just how much hard work has gone in to creating this little piece of marine heaven and as a family we will be returning again very soon!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £8.25 to £12 if booked online, £14.50 to £16.50 if bought on the day. Annual Passes costs £40 with additional passes £30 (per person). Children under 3 go FREE!
For more information on to book tickets visit www.visitsealife.com/manchester.
