SEA LIFE London Aquarium Review
SEA LIFE London Aquarium
Reviewed by Claire Turner
On Wednesday 18 February I visited the SEA LIFE London Aquarium with my 2½ year old son and my Mum. Going in the middle of half term was probably not the greatest idea but my Mum is a nursery nurse so doesn’t get the quiet times off work!
We decided to get the district line to Westminster as we knew there were lifts at the station so would be easier with a pushchair. We did however have to carry the pushchair down all the steps once we had walked over Westminster Bridge. We had to collect our tickets from the priority entrance – this was not easy to find. We asked at the main entrance and were told keep walking it’s on your right (entrance C), we kept walking… we reached the London Dungeons and the London Eye. We walked back and a security guy happened to move and we saw a very small sign for entrance C, we showed the security guy our reference number and were told to join the queue! 45 minutes of queuing and it was very entertaining – people going under ropes to join the queue, people looking very confused (like we were) in the end there were 3 security guards (arguing with each other) and a member of staff trying to sort out everyone! When we finally got inside we collected our tickets and joined another queue. There were people around us with maps of the aquarium but we weren’t given an opportunity to purchase one when collecting our tickets (editors note: maps can also be downloaded and printed from the SEA LIFE centre website should you want to print one yourself in advance). This second queue was for a photo opportunity – there was no option to bypass this until it was your turn for a photo (we declined). We eventually reached the lifts to take us to the aquarium (there was an option for stairs but as we had the pushchair we had to take the lift – I’ve since found out you can store your buggy there to collect at the end – this wasn’t explained to us and would have really helped us out to manoeuvre around the attraction much easier).
My son loved his time spent at the aquarium and his favourite parts were seeing ‘Nemo’, the frogs, the giant sea turtles and the penguins. I got to touch a starfish but my son wasn’t keen on this! As it was half term it was absolutely rammed in there and you couldn’t always get a spot at the front to see the fish which was a shame as my son isn’t always keen on being held and would rather walk but he kept getting trampled on. There are probably a few parts we missed or couldn’t see and I can imagine having a map would have been helpful to aid our time spent there. In the middle of the aquarium there is a staircase up to the next section – this was not so much of a problem for us as my pushchair is light so I can carry it myself and my mum helped my son but there was a family struggling with a wheelchair and the stairs – there were no members of staff around to help or perhaps show them another way (I can’t imagine there wasn’t a lift somewhere). When we got towards the end of our visit we walked out of the lift into the gift shop – we had a quick look but it was very busy in there, we were very pleased to see a lovely little coffee shop at the exit of the gift shop – it was quiet and very reasonably priced (however, despite there being a disabled toilet and a ladies and gents there were no baby changing facilities available).
The London Aquarium is in a great location – opposite Big Ben, on the South Bank and next to the London Dungeons and the London Eye – lots to see and do to make it a great day out.
I have previously visited some of the smaller SEA LIFE centres in the UK and also the aquarium in Dubai Mall and I was somewhat disappointed that the SEA LIFE London Aquarium didn’t live up to my expectations.
I would give my visit 3 stars out of 5 (I expect my visit would have been a lot different had it not have been the school holidays).
Rating: 3/5
Tickets cost £16.95 (child 3-15 years), £23.50 (16 years +) and £80.80 (family 2 adults, 2 children) – save up to 15% by booking online in advance!
For more information or to book tickets visit www.visitsealife.com/london or call 0871 663 1678.
SEA LIFE London Aquarium is open 7 days a week from 10am to 7pm (last entry 6pm).
SEA LIFE London Aquarium, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7PB
