I wanted to take Smallest Child to an aquarium for AGES but hadn’t been able to get to one because of stupid covid. We’d originally planned to visit the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham to do a review in December, but then things got bad and we couldn’t. Finally though, we managed to go, and it was worth the wait! It seemed to be in quite a nice area of Brum. I’ve only really been to the city centre for training courses and conferences thought so I don’t really have much frame of reference! We did go for a nice walk along the canal once we’d finished.
We paid for our own tickets to visit the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, but I’m also an affiliate for them. When you pre-book your tickets via this affiliate link I do earn a small commission, at no cost to you.
First impressions
I’ll be honest, I was a bit worried! You know when you get somewhere and think “is that it?” From the outside I did wonder how the hell we were going to be here for more than about an hour as the building doesn’t look very big. I love it when I’m wrong. From the ticket office it looks a bit like you’ve wondered into an aquatic Jurassic Park set. It’s handy to have something for the kids to look at whilst you’re queuing.
The Pin-gwins
The penguins (to give them their proper name) were one part of the aquarium I was most looking forward to. I wasn’t sure how it would work being inside, but actually they all looked quite happy. Just before you get to the penguins there’s an ice wall. I swear, you’d think Smallest Child had never touched frost before! We had to keep going back to it again and again.
The penguins were really cool, and very curious. They kept coming over to the glass so I’ve got some really amazing pics of Smallest Child face-to-face with a couple of penguins. Because of how the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham is laid out you’ll come back to the penguins again later for a different view! Actually, that happens with quite a lot of the larger tanks.
The Tropical Ocean and Rockpool
I promised Smallest Child that she’d get to see some sharks. Whilst you’re waiting for your turn in the Rockpool (aka the touch pool from Finding Dory) you can explore the tropical ocean pool – which includes some small sharks. There’s also some incredibly grumpy looking fish in here!
Next up was the rockpool itself where you got the chance to touch a starfish. I’m always a bit sceptical about things like this. Are they OK?? You were closely supervised and only got one gentle stroke (it feels like touching a rock tbh. I’m not even 100% it was an actual starfish we were touching and not one of Smallest Child’s toy animals.) It did remind me a lot of “that” scene from Finding Dory, but it was much more gentle than that. I’m not sure how it works in “normal” times, if it’s a bit more of a free-for-all.
The 4D Cinema
When we first arrived we were offered tickets for the 4D cinema. It’s £3.50 each so I decided to go for it. It’s on the top floor and I’d booked tickets for about an hour after we arrived which meant we went through once at quite a fast pace, and then went back round again. The film was quite good fun and there’s lots of 4D surprises along the way. Smallest Child hadn’t seen a 3D film before and at one stage she was actually trying to touch the fish which was sooo cute.
Only thing I would mention is that when we were sold the tickets we weren’t told any of the safety warnings. Apparently it’s not suitable for expectant mothers, guests with a heart condition, sensitivity to strobe lights / loud noises or back / neck conditions. As someone who is epileptic (albeit not photosensitive) I always pay attention to warnings like this. Consider yourselves warned!!
The 360 ocean tunnel
No review of the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham would be complete with loads of photos of the 360 ocean tunnel. This isn’t particularly long but it’s amazing. We’ve been to a couple of aquariums and I always love the ocean tunnels. This one is pretty special because there’s a section where even the floor is glass. At one stage the giant turtle swam right under our feet which was so just amazing.
I’ve also decided that the mouths of rays look a bit like Cassandra in Dr Who!! One of them decided to settle down right over our heads for ages. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!
There’s actually a couple of different viewing areas for the ocean tank. Everyone tends to linger in the ocean tunnel itself, which makes it a bit of a bottleneck. Actually, the best place to linger is around the corner. There’s a little corridor which most people seemed to miss but it’s got a huge viewing window. Hardly anyone came down here when we visited so we could stay for as long as we wanted.
Speaking of tunnels, there’s actually several smaller tunnels around the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. There’s one under a waterfall which we did a couple of rounds of. You can walk through (well, if you’re a small child you can. If you’re an adult with a massive backpack on, it’s less graceful) a swamp full of piranhas or a tank of clown fish.
Everything else
There’s actually lots of other animals at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham that I couldn’t fit into the review. Realistically you could get around the whole centre in an hour or so fairly easily, but then you’d miss lots. Because of the 4D cinema tickets we went around relatively quickly the first time. That meant we decided to go around a second time! I’m so glad we did because we got to see lots of the animals that were hiding the first time around – the octopus and the otter.
There’s also seahorses, turtles, a bay of rays and jellyfish.
This review of the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham was written whilst covid measures were still in place. That means their program of feeding times and talks is suspended. It’s a shame because these always help to bulk out the day.
Exit through the gift shop
Honestly Sea Life, what are you trying to do to me?? There’s is literally no escape from the gift shop – aka every parent’s nightmare. You can’t even just skim it. Basically the only way out is by running a gauntlet through the plethora of expensive cuddly toys and hoping for the best. Good luck!
Our National Sea Life Centre Birmingham review
We really enjoyed our visit and the ocean tunnel is something really special. They always are though. It’s really pushchair friendly as you just follow ramps up and round and around until the top. Then you get a lift back down to the ocean tunnel and exit. The National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham has managed to pack an awful lot into a seemingly small building. In total we were here for over three hours. It’s not the cheapest place you’ll visit per hour, but I do think it’s worth it as a treat day out.
If you don’t live in Birmingham then there are Sea Life centres all over the UK. The other nearest one to us is Sealife London (affiliate link).
Admission cost
Admission is £22.95 per person. You might have noticed that I only mentioned Smallest Child in this review, that’s because we visited the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham on a parent and toddler ticket which was just £18 for both of us. They’re only available Monday – Friday, term time. Tickets can be pre-booked via their website. Just click the image below to book.
You can also get tickets that combine a visit with the Legoland Discovery Centre (affiliate link) across the canal. Forgotten to pre-book them? You can buy tickets from £10 on the day from the machine in the shop! Even if you don’t visit the discovery centre, you can still get a pretty cool pic with a giant Lego giraffe.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – The nearest car park is the south car park at the adjoining Utilita Arena Birmingham, Sheepcote St, Birmingham B16 8AE.
Address – National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham, The Water’s Edge, Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2HL
Toilets
Toilets and baby change on site
Food
There are various vending machines around the centre. There’s no cafe on site. I saw quite a lot of people having lunch on benches but I’m not sure if they’re supposed to!
Looking for a special family day out? Free Time with the Kids is all about free and cheap days out, but there’s also a special section dedicated to more expensive days out. You can have a look at that here.
Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook