SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham Review
SEA LIFE Centre
Birmingham
Reviewed by Claire Humpidge
I had the pleasure of visiting the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham on Sunday 12th May 2013. I'd been previously, as had my husband, but this was the first time my 3 daughters (the eldest will be 4 in July and my twins are 2 years, 3 months) had visited.
We'd built a bit of hype about the trip, so anticipation levels were running high. The central location, Brindleyplace, is easy to access and the girls even got excited about the small water fountains outside in the square.
Upon arrival, we went straight to the Fast Track entry (which incidentally is a great initiative allowing customers who purchase their tickets online to avoid queues). The young man attending to us was helpful and efficient.
We were offered a guidebook, which I bought for £3. If I’m honest, we didn't need to buy the guidebook: we neglected to refer to it whilst walking round, and although there were lots of interesting facts included in the book, there was similar (possibly the same?) info on boards throughout the venue. The guidebook did include some kids’ activities, but they're not really age appropriate for my preschoolers. The book does, however, include vouchers for 'kids go free' (1 child for every full paying/adult ticket), '£3 off when spend £15' (recoup the guidebook fee?), or 20% off an annual pass, so if you have older children, or plan to return, the guidebook is perhaps more worthwhile.
I was initially impressed to see there was a buggy park, as this is very often overlooked; however it was not secure, so on reflection, had we have taken our pushchair, I think I’d have preferred to keep it with us. This would not have been an issue though: as we walked around I didn’t notice any areas that I felt would have been inaccessible or difficult to navigate with our side-by-side double.
With 2 recently potty-trained toddlers, our first stop was the toilets. Being honest, they weren’t the cleanliest we’ve visited in a venue such as this, and the cleaning record on the door hadn’t been updated since the previous day.
Our disappointment was soon forgotten though, as we rounded the first bend and were met with ‘Reef Edge’ – The tank was the perfect height for my toddlers to be able to stand & stare in wonder at the reef sharks.
Next were the rock pools, where the girls were totally enthralled by the crabs, starfish and sea anemones. A knowledgeable and friendly member of staff presented the pool to us, and the kids, even my scaredy cat, touched at least one of the creatures.
The new Jellyfish Discovery, with its clever use of lighting, was really beautiful and I imagine babies would be just as captivated by it as we all were.
Up to this point, we’d been really impressed, but the 4D cinema, showing an 8 minute long Sponge Bob film, lifted the whole experience even higher. The 3D effect, with the characters leaping from the screen towards us was amazing. Adding in the vibrating chairs, ‘seaweed’ lapping at our feet and water spray (just a bit, thankfully!) made it a truly thrilling sensory experience. My eldest daughter, who scares easily at Disney films (don’t ask…?!) squealed with delight throughout the show, and even my twin who gouged chunks out of my neck when we suggested we had our photo taken with Upsy Daisy once, sat through the whole film with only a couple of grumbles.
The corridor of mirrors was simply hilarious. My twins were wearing identical cardigans, and it literally got to the point that none of us knew who was who, who was where, or which way to turn. All 5 of us laughed constantly from start to finish and I honestly can’t think of another occasion where something has spanned the ages so effectively.
The ocean tunnel was another memorable experience: my twins couldn’t fathom their surroundings at first and were a little wary of walking on the clear floor, but they soon settled and started to marvel at the mammoth green turtles gliding through the water all around us. They also really loved waving to the divers who were cleaning parts of the underwater world, and daddy enjoyed telling his daughters that he used to be the ship’s diver when he was in the navy. It was great that he had an opportunity to share this with them in context.
Throughout the entire Centre there was lots of interesting, and often surprising, facts about the sea life we were viewing. There was a big focus on conservation and because the information was presented in a variety of formats, appropriate for young and old alike, it held our interest.
What’s Not So Good (Suggestions for improvement)
The aspects, however, that let the experience down, relate primarily to the stuff we were supposed to see, but unfortunately weren’t able:
It was really disappointing that the enormous tank that houses the rays was empty. There were several other tanks that were drained. The electric eel was having his annual check up, so wasn’t available to be viewed either. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Sometimes displays have to be closed for essential maintenance and cleaning, this is not only so visitors can see what is in the tank but to protect the species inside and give them a clean and healthly living environment).
Most disappointment was caused by the older children’s’ soft play area being cordoned off with hazard tape, accompanied by a sign saying that it was closed due to essential maintenance.
My very small 3 year old was taller than the height restriction of the toddler’s soft play area, but children of all ages had no option but go in the toddler area, which frankly was poorly equipped even for tiny tots. Whilst trying to play, my 2 year old was thrown forwards and straight onto her face, when a roughly 7 year old, very boisterous boy up ended the large fish she was stood on. It was obviously frustrating that the incident happened, but I didn’t really feel the child could be blamed, more so the situation, since he was unable to play in the older kids’ area. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The height restrictions are in place to ensure accident's like this do not happen, so please follow these restrictions).
Another aspect that I feel really let the Centre down was the lack of café facilities. There was a tired looking eating area surrounding the soft play, with an impressive number of high chairs (as a mother of twins, you always notice how many highchairs there are – I counted at least 12) I’m pleased there were lots of highchairs available, but it seems odd when there were no facilities to heat baby food?
The only available refreshments were from a vending machine. We’d not taken any food with us and after a couple of hours inside the venue, were Hank Marvin! The machines provided costly crisps (90p per bag) and chocolate only.
I really think the venue would benefit massively if they were to have a café onsite.
My final grumble relates to the cost. Parking at the closest public car park cost us £5. Entry is free for children under 3; the door price for groups of 2 or more is £15 per individual. At the moment 2 of my 3 children are under 3, but this time next year, when I expect they would get a lot more out of the experience, it would cost us £75 to visit just in entry tickets. Add to that parking and refreshments etc, and realistically it would be £100. I just don’t feel this would be value for money, especially when several of the key attractions were unavailable and we weren’t made aware at the entrance.
That said, I am aware of a number of ways you can reduce the cost: purchasing in advance online ensures the best price (£10 per adult ticket instead on £15), and 2 for 1 offers are common.
The shop prices seemed really steep also. I appreciate that the Sea Life Centre carries out some fantastic conservation projections and I’d happily accept heightened costs if it was clear a percentage went to help preserve sea life; unfortunately though, if this is the case, it wasn’t made clear.
Overall, I was impressed with everything we saw at the Sea Life Centre. I think the fact that we spent over 2 hours there, with 3 very young children, speaks volumes.
Rating: 3/5
For more information, prices or to book tickets online visit www.visitsealife.com/Birmingham
