Sea Life Blackpool

Visited Sealife Blackpool on 30th July. I was a bit apprehensive given the current Covid-19 situation but we had nothing to worry about. We were booked for 10.45 & arrived a few minutes before. Promptly at the allocated time a member of staff asked everyone to have their pre booked tickets ready & allowed a couple of groups in at a time asking them to use the hand sanitiser on their way in. Once in there are arrows on the floor showing you which way to go to avoid bumping in to other people. Plenty space inside to socially distance, it did get a little busy at certain attractions but if you use your initiative & hang back to avoid making it even more busy then its fine. Staff friendly & attentive.

We had a great visit to SeaLife Blackpool this week. My son loves sea creatures and was excited to see so many. I was really impressed by the staff. My son was keep to tell them the facts that he knew and they listened carefully and told him even more facts. The lady who did the behind the scenes talk at the end was particularly good, as was the lady who was dressed as a witch and another lady who had been cleaning out the tanks.

I did feel it was quite expensive- it was around £50 for an adult and two children- and we were only in for just over an hour.

Overall a good visit.

We visited while on a weekend trip to Blackpool. Our b&b hosts were kind enough to give us some money off vouchers to use at various attractions. We have a 5 12 and 13-year-old children. So finding something that all of them enjoy doing is difficult. They chose to visit the sea life centre, which even with the discount came to over £50. It took us about two hours to look around and that was taking our time. The tank with the sharks and giant turtle in seems far too small for the amount of large fish in there. We were hoping they would have some kind of cafe facility but there was only self service hot drinks. There is a small soft play area but this was for under fours only. The older children went on a virtual reality ride which was £4 each, however the next people on paid £7 for two people? The shop which is next to the soft play at the exit is expensive, and filled with the typical souvenir shop tat and toys. We weren’t offered a carrier bag when we bought things so ended up carrying a large blue paperweight and a giant stuffed turtle around with us for the rest of the day. When we arrived, we were ushered to one side to sit down and have a picture taken, we weren’t given a choice in this and thought we were having some kind of talk. This is a very sneaky way to get people to spend money on a photograph (we didn’t buy it) all in all it was nice to have a walk around but I wouldn’t be going back in a hurry.

We visited here as a last minute alternative as the tower was closed for the high winds but were actually very glad we did. It turned out to be the highlight of our trip! There was so much to see, we spent nearly two hours exploring (did loop back a couple of times and spend a while watching the sharks and turtle). The exhibits were beautifully presented, clearly a lot of love (and work) has gone in to this! Each tank was a great balance of creating a close to natural environment for the animals but also something beautiful to look at, they were works of art! There was plenty of information to read about the animals too but the TVs cycling through it meant it wasn’t overwhelming. The stingrays were a real highlight for me, I have never seen so many species in captivity before, we really loved the big tank with relaxing music being played. That was such a nice touch - could have stayed there all day. The tunnel was another great bit letting us see the sharks etc. from a different angle but the absolute highlight was the turtle. She was so beautiful, but we particularly liked that she was kept in such a big tank so we caught glimpses of her as and when she chose rather than feeling like she was ‘on display’. Throughout the sea life centre animal welfare appeared key and all the animals looked happy and healthy. The Covid-19 safety measures were also good with a one way system, plenty of hand sanitizer and reduced numbers of people it all felt very safe.

We loved the Mermaid experience at the Sea Life centre! There were pirates throughout the centre who wanted us to fight them with inflatable swords and tell them funny jokes in order to pass into the next area, which we all loved!

The centre is at limited capacity for the experience which is always an added bonus as it does get chocker otherwise, and on a hot day it really does reach some high temperatures in the ocean tunnel, so less people is always a winner.

There is so much to do with quizzes being handed to you at the door and a mission pack available to buy (only £4 which isn’t bad for what you get in it). The variety of sea life, as to be expected, is extensive and there’s many resources to encourage education regarding many of the creatures.

Being able to see beautiful creatures such as sharks in an environment that seems open and highly maintained is lovely; they just seem to float about with enough room to do so freely.

There was an issue with the turtle not wanting to participate in the Mermaid Show itself which did put back the show, but the mermaid looked beautiful and was as interactive with the kids as much as you can be from behind a screen and being under water!

If going throughout the summer, the things I’d recommend are to take plenty of drinks and a fan, a caboose for a baby if possible (lots of prams were in there making it a little difficult to get around) and definitely stop at the pirate in the tunnel as they sing songs!

We love the Sea Life Centre and even without the current mermaid event, we will almost certainly be visiting again.

Very good visit during the cornavirus but sadly could be better. For the money i thought £54 was quite expensive considering that this sea life centre isn't exactly big you can get around it within 30-45 minutes probably even less.

Some parts there were too many people so i think less people in building. There was hand sanitizer stations but there could of been more although i had my own sanitiser.

The sea life tried there best to get people to keep there masks on so i think that was good.

Overall i did feel fairly safe.

Standard sea life centre, took about an hour to get round but mainly because of social distancing queues so it is quite expensive for what it is. Reasonably ok from a covid perspective in terms of advice given on the way in, and guidance given on the floor markings, but some areas people were cramming into small areas together. None of the interactive bits were running which is a shame.

We visited today with 3 young children (5, 3 and 1). We live locally and have been plenty of times before. We booked a slot online due to coronavirus. We had to wear a mask all the way round (obviously due to government guidelines), but it was so hot and we had to que all the way round. We had to wait until the family in front had moved on so we could take our turn all the way round. The kids were hot and they were getting really bored and agitated whilst cuing. They just wanted to go onto the next bit but impossible with the restrictions in place. Me and my Mum both said we will definitely not be visiting again while coronavirus is going on. We thought by booking a slot they would only let a few round at once but it was as if they had crammed as many visitors in as possible. I have never written a Trip Advisor Review but wanted to warn all parents with young children - you will be waiting and cuing the whole time and the kids (if anything like mine) will get restless, hot and fed up!

Lots to see ,great for all ages admission prices value for money ,lifts for people with wheelchairs and pushchairs .
Staff were friendly and knowledgeable.
Look out for jade who gave a talk at end of the tour she is very comical when finishing her speech

We made a family visit to Sea Life Blackpool under the understanding it was COVID secure. Our experience was awful:

1) the queue system outside does not allow for social distancing. People were sandwiched together with no masks.

2) inside is no better. People ignore the floor markings which provide guidance on social distancing. The groups behind us regularly joined us in our space. A big contributor is the sheer number of people let in at once.

3) inside 90% of people opt to remove masks and face coverings and the cough all over you.

If you look at the website and think this place will be a safe place to visit, don’t. It was horrible.