National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham

Positive experience: Great day out for families with young kids who like sea animals. Has a large variety of sea animals and information about them with helpful staff along the route who are full of information. There is pushchair/wheelchair access and lifts within.

Fantastic experience: Had a lovely visit. Got to see the Sea Otters up close which was lovely.

Positive experience: My family have been here a few times over the years & always have a good time. Friendly, professional staff. Place itself is always clean & tidy.

Fantastic experience: Good fun for all the family.

Negative experience: We was quite disappointed ☹️ we came just before our slot which was 12.10, early by roughly 5 minutes, and had finished everything by 12.50pm. There wasn’t really much happening, other than the aquariums, no side tasks, talks etc, it was very underwhelming and disappointing unfortunately I wouldn’t say it is worth the drive (if you’re not located in Birmingham) or the money it costs to enter:(

Positive experience: Lovely, the kids love it. Wonderful place for sightseeing

Negative experience: ❌TOURIST TRAP❌ It’s not often I post a bad review but there’s rarely been a time I’ve felt this badly ripped off, Not only are the prices for this poor excuse for an aquarium ridiculously high, Half of the exhibits are also empty, so be prepared to spend a long time looking for the animals until you realise there aren’t any. Don’t bother worrying about your timeslots either because neither do the staff, there were around 200-300 people all crammed in when we went it was awful, absolutely zero regard for allocated timeslots and footfall management. The DEEP in Hull puts this ‘ Aquarium ‘ to shame, not only is it bigger, but an annual ticket costs less than it does for a single day ticket at this awful place. My advice, DONT DO IT ❌

Fantastic experience: Lovely way to spend an hour or 2 and the tunnel is really stunning.

Fantastic experience: Loved it here. Reviews said its half an hour to go around but took us more than 1.5 hours. Was lovely. Kids loved it and the tunnel was amazing! Penguins we're lovely to watch too.

Positive experience: We enjoyed our trip but felt that that our 5 and 7 year olds got a little restless towards the end - maybe needs a bit of an up date now.

Negative experience: I visited the Sea Life Centre Birmingham today with my parents and was really disappointed with the experience. From the start, there was a strong fishy smell coming from the open tanks with sea bass, which made the visit uncomfortable. The much-advertised tunnel was the biggest letdown – the perspex was dirty, the water looked cloudy, and the floor was opaque with condensation/beading from below, so it was nothing like the immersive 360° experience we were expecting. To make matters worse, the jellyfish tanks near the toilets were filthy, which gave a very poor impression of how well the place is maintained. For the price of tickets, I expected a much higher standard of cleanliness and presentation. Sadly, this visit fell far short of what I’d hoped for, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Positive experience: We had a lovely 3 hours - it’s not a huge place & we thought the entry price was quite expensive… the majority of the staff were lovely and friendly, especially the 2 girls at the entry - the fish are obviously very well cared for. The only negative for us was during the otter demonstration the member of staff “jokingly” picked on a couple of young women because they were yawning - please be a bit more careful and considerate as some people have had bad experiences with being bullied and this can be a trigger…

Fantastic experience: Visited today with some family and we had a blast. We had such an enjoyable experience and learned so much about the underwater life, courtesy of some spectacular service from Finley. Finley was a gem and his facts and service made our experience a memorable one. He deserves all the praise he can get. An amazing young lad with the brightest future. We recommend this experience to every one of all ages. We will definitely be returning one day.

Fantastic experience: Lovely experience for kids with a great selection of sea life and activities to do, including a VR experience. Best to book tickets in advance if you want to manage cost.

Fantastic experience: bit shorter than expected (took us about 45~ mins) but was really pretty and had some cool animals :) otters were definitely the highlight!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful day out with my sister and the kids for my nephews birthday, perfect place to kick start the summer holidays. We booked online, so entry was smooth. On arrival, you immediately get submerged into the beautiful surroundings. It's like walking through a pretty rainforest. At the rock pool, the children had the chance to touch star fish along with other things. We were hosted by the fabulous Kyle! Kyle was very good with the energetic children, warm welcoming and entertaining. Kyle was also our host over at the VR (virtual reality) station along with Jayla they were extremely pleasant, informative, and lovely to talk to, they really added to the experience and made the birthday boy feel extra special. We also met a pirate who made us walk the pretend plank (fun). There was so much to see and do, very educational too, it's fun for all ages from the newborn to the children to the adults enjoyed themselves! On leaving, we went to collect our photos from the lovely Sacha! Sasha was very helpful and patient, making sure my pictures were exactly as I wanted and that I had the right photo package. Lastly... the gift shop had a great selection. We purchased a few souvenirs and headed to the next exhibit. 100% returning! Thank you

Fantastic experience: Brilliant little day out. Love it! Kids love it! I think its reasonably priced considering proceeds go towards helping the animals so thats always worth it! The creatures are all gorgeous, the bits where kids can crawl through the tanks its a fun little treat and keeps them engaged. Staff are all lovely. Was all in all a positive experience that we will all remember for years to come.

Fantastic experience: It's an awesome experience with the kids, they kept on smiling and aspiring for more sea creatures. Very good enough, the best was saved for last, the sharks glass tunnel. Seeing the various types of sharks swimming among the small fishes. It was when we were a little bit in that I noticed the fishes were swimming below our feet us as well as above our heads. The wide ray fish stick to the glass above you canopying itself, making you feel you can touch it. Also, the jungle like nature is beautiful, nice pictures were taken there. The continuous spiral arrangement for movement of the centre was well planned. The kids loved the boat paper making section as well as the pirate hats and the virtual reality experience. I would love a revisit.

Positive experience: Beautiful place if you like low activity… walk around see fishes swim and that’s about it —- note gate closes 4pm

Positive experience: Paying to see alot of fish you can buy at your local marine aquatic store. The penguins enclosure looks depressing for them; the best part is the shark / turtle tunnel at the end. (There's alot less tanks than 5yrs ago) Walked through in 40mins

Fantastic experience: Nice, you need one hour to visit, clean and the service was good

Fantastic experience: Friendly and helpful staff who were well educated on the creatures in the area they were stationed. Clean toilets located in different sections of the exhibits. Overall great place and the gift shop isn’t insanely expensive

Negative experience: Hugely depressing penguin enclosure. I truly hope they have additional space we can't see. The penguins look bored, some staring at the wall or in a corner. If you can't offer them an enriching space don't have them. The two turtle vivariums are too small for the amount of turtles. Very disappointing. Otherwise it is a great little aquarium but can't get over these two issues. Took 20 minutes to go through. It seems aimed towards parents will very small children who would take an hour to potter around.

Positive experience: With the penguins and the walk through tunnel, it has some really great things to see. However, those two things are the main events, other than that it's just some tanks with fish. Although fish is pretty much what I was expecting, I was hoping for a bit more, maybe an octopus or two? If you, or your kids love sea life, you might get an hour out of it, but it is quite small and you could walk through very quickly if you don't stop for a really good look.

Negative experience: My first issue with the sea life centre was the ticket price being £26 to get in which is alot considering how small it is here only taking 30 minutes to look round. This business is cashless which I would usually boycott just for this reason they have some advertising showing they're cashless as if it's a good thing?. The penguin enclosure is very small considering how many penguins are in there and they genuinely look sad and I don't blame them it's not a good life for them. The music playing in the background everywhere can get to irritating too. I wouldn't return here it is very much a money grab as you pay a fair bit for the ticket and then there's lots of extras inside that you have to pay for again!

Fantastic experience: Mesmerising my children love anything sea life orientated my boys obsessed with sharks so that was abit disappointing because hes seen bigger sharks in other sea life's so that was the only down fall the otters were gorgeous and the penguin enclosure was super cute too overall place is stunningly laid out

Fantastic experience: The seaside center had a whole trail of fish for you to look and and loads to learn about them and where they come from, u can take photos as u go along too and they do family ones too so u can buy them at the end in the gift shop :) x

Negative experience: Experience RUINED for my wife and young son of 10months, this was meant to be a nice calm experience for us. Instead it’s rammed with school kids on trips who disturb the fish & leave you no room to walk or move around, also didn't get to see the otters as they were in another room… that alone was kind of disappointing but not too much of an issue. Literally at the start we walked in and seen all the penguins swimming near the glass etc, was great for my son to see as he was really excited as they where close and active… then a swarm of school kids come in and the penguins sort of moved away from all the disturbance they cause. (Noise and banging on the glass etc) It would be nice if they had allocated time and days just for school kids as if I knew it was going to be this bad I’d have not came, the whole reason I booked a weekday during school hours instead of a weekend was to expect a quiet, calm and nice experience for my wife and child with the hopes of no children etc… just quiet family’s with there baby or toddler too! But nope… turns out no time is good here! Spent the whole time practically trying to avoid and run away from anywhere a swarm of children were. Btw there wasn’t just ONE school, there was at least 2/3 different schools there!… But regardless my son did have some enjoyment here so I won’t be as bad to drop 1 star, but seriously… surely a lot of parent have had this issue too. It’s not really fair when people are paying for an experience.

Positive experience: Enjoyable visit , the sealife centre is well laid out with some very interesting displays. I felt the price was high for the attraction but the family had a good time. Especially enjoyed the sea otters.

Positive experience: Brilliant ambience to showcase various sea creatures. From the get go you get a full view of the penguins and even get the see them at the end of the walk with an underwater view. There's various fishes and even jellyfish to see and it's a large place that takes roughly 2 hrs to get through. There's interactive displays (even ones that let you touch) as well as glass tunnels to crawl through and of course the large tunnel through the tank with the turtle and sharks. I've been here twice with two friends and I can say that the 11.30am tickets are the best to make it just in time for the giant otter show. The guide was very friendly entertaining us even though my friend and I aren't exactly little kids though we harbor the same amount of enthusiasm. The gift store does have a good amount of stuffed animals to choose from.

Fantastic experience: Came here today with my family and loved it - we have a Sea Life Centre in Southend and this one was bigger and better by far. Special mention to Fin (thought he was winding me up!) who was manning the freshwater tanks - he offered my kids an opportunity to stroke two of the starfish, and chatted to them and told my daughter some interesting facts about starfish. A little later he was on duty at the tunnel and recognised us, again giving us some great facts about guitarfish and the aquariums resident turtle and how he’d come to live there. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us Fin; it was really lovely to see you taking pride in where you work

Fantastic experience: I recently visited the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, and it was a fantastic day out with my kids! The aquarium offers an engaging experience that captivates young minds, with mesmerizing sea creatures and interactive exhibits that keep them entertained for hours. It's a great spot for families looking to enjoy a fun day together. One of the highlights was the variety of marine life on display, although I did feel that the variety of fish could be improved. The layout is compact, making it easy to navigate, but it does feel a bit small for those hoping to spend an entire day there. After exploring, we found plenty of restaurants nearby to grab a bite, which was a huge plus! However, I did notice that the dining options within the centre were somewhat limited, and the refreshments could use a broader selection. While the entry price is a bit on the expensive side, the overall experience makes it worthwhile. If you're looking for a delightful day out with the kids, the National Sea Life Centre is definitely worth a visit!

Positive experience: Great well kept sealife and feeling a bit tired decor wise. Staff come across as a bit disengaged. I think the big downer here is the rather loud and rather dull music played everywhere. I felt like I was trapped in a 1980s lift for those who remember the evils of lift music. Complicated ticket prices to get the best deal and pre book worked best.

Fantastic experience: Another brilliant adventure with just Lilly today! First stop—the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, home to the UK’s only 360° walk-through tunnel! It was mesmerizing, watching the marine life swim all around us—impressive! We also tried the interactive VR attraction which is an added extra but We felt was worth it

Positive experience: It was alright! The tunnel was a short walk with not many different fishes! The whole place could be done within an hours or so.

Positive experience: Great Sea life facility. Wider Variety of exhibitions from penguins, sea otters and fish galore. Activities for the family. Definitely recommend.

Positive experience: It was a lot smaller than expected. We took our time and were in there for an hour and a half. Would be nice if there was more information boards around with times of the talks and feeds, saw one right at the start and no others. Some information boards dotted around, and a lot have gone electronic, which is great. It would be pretty cool if you introduced a touch screen to these so you don't have to wait for the information to circulate. The tanks and glass looked clean, making it easy to see into and get pictures. I didn't use the toilets, but there were a few dotted around. Would definitely recommend booking in advance. Great little gift shop at the end, which was reasonably priced as well.

Fantastic experience: Small place compared to London Sea life. But a lot of variety of fishes. A good place for young kids to learn about aquatic life. Mind about the fishy smell which is obvious. Reachable by bus as well from Charlotte Street bus stop.

Negative experience: Very poor value for money. We are a family of 3, 2 adults and 1 child. We won 2 free tickets and so only paid £18 for 1 person. We spent a maximum of 1 hour in the attraction. I felt we were robbed even at that price! It's poor, the information about the exhibitions is displayed on screens. The screens show a donation in-between every fish, you'd have to stand for a long time to actually be able to see information on each of the fish. They constantly push you to the donation screen. Very few physical info boards, the ones that there are are dated. Much smaller than other sealife attractions at a similar price point. The deep in Hull is much better. I would not recommend and definitely won't be back.

Positive experience: Was very good. But seemed very quick. We missed all the talks as they were spread so far apart. And they have taken away the cinema interactive bit. And replaced with a shark experience thing which costs more money

Negative experience: I recently visited it and unfortunately, it was a big letdown. The whole place feels old and poorly maintained. Many of the display glasses were dirty, which made it hard to properly see the fish and other sea creatures — it really takes away from the experience when you’re constantly peering through smudged or grimy glass. To make things worse, there was a horrible toilet smell both at the entrance and again at the exit — completely unbelievable for a family attraction like this. It’s something you notice straight away and it leaves a bad impression on you before you’ve even started. The virtual reality experience was also very poor. It felt outdated and not worth the extra money at all — honestly, it was so underwhelming it shouldn’t even be an option. Overall, this visit didn’t feel worth even £5, let alone the full ticket price they charge. I wouldn’t recommend it and definitely won’t be returning. It’s a shame because SEA LIFE centres usually offer a fun and educational day out, but this one seriously needs investment and proper care.

Fantastic experience: Love that this is conservation work that's sharing a wonder and love for other species. It's not huge but it's great to see the fish and animals looking healthy. More exciting than I expected!

Fantastic experience: Lovely place and friendly and helpful staff. Nice selection of fish and sharks. My youngest loved walking through the tunnel and seeing them all swim above him. We haven't tried the experiences you can do yet, but I have heard they are good. I would recommend going, also book in advance.

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyed our time at the sealife centre, if you love animals, we'll your in for a good time, the animal talks are worth the wait, it's a great way to spend a couple of hours... you can get discount with the blue light card.

Positive experience: Had some nice tanks and areas to view. It's certainly not the biggest sea life centre I have been to. We were only there for about an hour and we certainly didn't rush, (especially as my disabled father came with us) so don't allow too long for this attraction.

Positive experience: Very underwhelming.....very expensive £104 foe 3 adults and 1 child....took about an hour to wander round.....some nice viewing areas but not enough for kids to keep them occupied. Needs more interaction that's also included in the extortionate entrance price....would we recommend it. Not at the price per ticket and value for money.....NO!!

Positive experience: Went for the Animal Crossing X Sea Life event. The aquarium itself is okay, lots of different fish to see. The penguin and otter enclosures look a bit sad and could do with a bit of love but the animals themselves seemed okay. Took about an hour and a half to get round.

Positive experience: It was different, smaller than I thought as well it being over few floors, and up hill in places, difficult for people who find it hard to walk. Although more fish added. Not bad day out. Local and fun. X

Positive experience: Had a rare day off and visited on a Wednesday, luckily no school trips. Last time I visited was literally decades ago and it shows, it's looking tired with identification displays barely readable in places, toilets not the best, and the once lush faux foliage pale and degrading. The staff were friendly however and did a great job & clean and tidy throughout. Merlin entertainment has some real accountability though and I'd question the need to have sea otters and penguins in this entirely enclosed facility. Little ones will likely not notice the problems I've highlighted, but adult visitors may feel uncomfortable about parts of the infrastructure/environment. The animal crossing event was really cute and all ages (I'm in my 40s & a huge AC fan), those stampers were well used by the time of my visit. Definitely worth booking the day before to save on entry.

Positive experience: Went during the animal crossing event and it was so fun, I just wished they could have added the bonus event time frames on the website like taking pictures with the characters or when the sea otters were out. Overall amazing but intense crowding at times.

Negative experience: Narrow walkway inside and lots of glass been scratched and old. Not many species nor experience to be honest. Tickets are cheap but the parking is non-sense expensive.

Fantastic experience: Spent a good couple of hours looking at all the cool fish. The otters and penguins were so cute and the talks/feeds are well worth watching. I'd recommend booking in advance with one of the cheaper timeslots for best value.

Fantastic experience: Came here to do the Animal Crossing event. It was fantastic. The centres are very educational and fun too. The exhibits are amazing and beautiful. It's a lovely way to spend some time out of your day.

Fantastic experience: We visited the sealife centre for the animal crossing event and had a brilliant time , very clean , staff nice and friendly , prices for photos at the end a little steap imo £25 for 2 photos and a keychain but it's expected Will return when they have other events on

Positive experience: The aquarium was good. Nice variety of fish and rays. The children were impressed. It was very clean as well. It does bottleneck at a few points and doesn't take long to go through the whole thing, just over an hour so not fantastic value for money. The underwater tunnel was a big hit with the children though!

Fantastic experience: Amazing. Lovely day out with the family. I haven't been here since I was a kid with my primary school on a trip, and now I'm taking my own daughter around is mind-blowing. Staff are amazing and very informative. My wife and daughter absolutely loved it too! It has loads to offer and also the shop is great!

Negative experience: Absolutely disgusted with the Birmingham sea life I contacted The night before and the next day before we got into Birmingham and they said it was okay and there was no issues my daughter has autism. Both of my daughters have disability we got in there and she said we couldn’t go in till 3.20 that means we have to hang around for one hour and a half my daughter has autism and she has trouble walking a little bit I tried to explain to one of the managers or one of the workers is there anyway we can work around it and he said no and he couldn’t help any further contacted to see life and they apologise and said they was going to put a word we hang around for one hour and a half and it wasted our time in Birmingham specially on the last day of Easter holidays thank God for the small Birmingham get together on the top. We spent a couple of hours in the library and that was very helpful. When we got into sea life, I wanted the names and the woman didn’t really want to help and I was not interested to speak to a manager. All I wanted to do was go in and enjoy the rest of our day when we got in there there was a lot of adults push and shoving the children.( there was one couple her partner was taking photos. She had her boobs hanging out and she gave me and my children nasty looks posing and taking model photos inside sea life around children. She was in an orange and white dress my experience in Birmingham Sea life was disgusting and unfair, and I would like a refund as I am a carer a full-time carer for my children an emotional support worker when I went to London, they treated us with so much love and kindness my day in Birmingham today was ruined. We lost one hour and a half hanging around and did not know what to do. My daughter had a meltdown and she was very emotional and very upset. It was very traumatic and very upsetting for both of us I’m very disappointed and I wouldn’t revise any family members or anybody who’s got disability taking the children to see life The staff was not bothered and did not care and there was not willing to help very rude and very disrespectful and when I said to her, if I couldn’t make it if my daughter was too tired, she said I could not have a refund. I want a refund. I am absolutely disappointed. I don’t think my journey to Birmingham was worth it. For £56 to be treated like that it was a very horrid process and very upsetting. They need to sort and routine the sea life. When we went into London, they had three lines one line for normal people one line for disability and Children with disability, they took their time checking and letting people in There were so much respect an order, but the sea life in Birmingham very letdown very disappointed, very, very, very disappointed. It was a place for children not for adults. To push and shove children and disrespect and take photos the sea life is supposed to be for children and Who enjoy sea life and wildlife and the ocean not for people to go there to take photos and disrespect children and families Sea life needs to take the spontaneity and I would really like my funding and I will contact the sea life company on Monday to speak to him and take this further and to see if I can get my money back and to take my children somewhere a little bit more nicer And show us a little bit of decency

Fantastic experience: I recently had the pleasure of visiting the National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham, and I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing and memorable experiences I've had! From the moment I stepped inside, I was completely immersed in a magical underwater world. The centre is beautifully designed, making you feel like you’re truly venturing deep into the ocean. Every turn introduced a new wonder from graceful rays gliding above, to the mesmerizing jellyfish displays that looked like living pieces of art. One of the absolute highlights of my trip was the 360° Ocean Tunnel. Walking through it was surreal gigantic turtles, stunning sharks, and vibrant fish surrounded me from every direction. It was breathtaking to see these magnificent creatures so close, gracefully swimming above and around me. Another special moment was meeting the adorable Gentoo penguins. Watching them waddle, dive, and interact was so heartwarming. It’s clear that the SEA LIFE team puts a lot of love and care into creating an environment where the animals can thrive. The interactive exhibits were fantastic, too. I learned so much about marine conservation and how we can all play a part in protecting our oceans. The staff were incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate they were happy to answer questions and share stories about the animals' personalities and habits. If you’re looking for a day out that’s full of wonder, excitement, and learning, I can’t recommend this place enough. It truly was an amazing trip, and I’m already looking forward to going back again someday!

Positive experience: Lovely experience especially with a baby however some of it felt run down. Worth a visit though

Positive experience: Brings back some good memory with my own children. Think Bournmouth is better. Did buy on line, parked in car park, done a pub lunch.

Fantastic experience: Had an awesome time with my family loved seeing all the sea life animals/ creatures

Negative experience: £28 per person to see a few fishes? I bet there are more selections of fish in the pond than the sea life centre and also very overvalued for a family day out.

Fantastic experience: I went today (21/04/25) and had the most funnest experience ever! From the interactive parts, to the ocean tunnel and the VR experience, it was extremely fun. It was also wonderful to meet the animal crossing mascots too! I would also like to show appreciation to one of the staff members Anika who was eager to show us around, and encouraged us to try the VR set, which turned out to be really fun.

Fantastic experience: Another visit during the Animal Crossing event, great experience and enjoyed learning some more facts on the way round.

Fantastic experience: Came here a few days ago with my little ones and it was fab! I remember coming here myself when I was the same age and it did not disappoint. They especially loved the sea tunnel with the giant turtle and also the otters, where we had a fantastic talk by Finlay, he was really good with the kids questions after! However, it was very busy so sometimes we had to wait a while to get to the glass to see the creatures. Other than that, would definitely recommend for a nice day out!

Positive experience: Place is definitely worth seeing but has one significant disadvantage. The amount of people let in in one go is i so large you may have only 1 square meter of your free space around you. Every stop or slow down causes a queue behind or make you queue if someone stops longer ahead of you. Makes the visit much uncomfortable especialy if someone like spending more time by certain species to have a read about. In crowd like this it it very easy to loose your kids from your side that makes the visit stressful. I realise every ticket sold counts but this has gone bit too far, however its only my feeling and opinion.

Positive experience: Went on Easter Sunday as we got cheap ticket after visited Legoland discovery back in Dec. Cost £10pp. We park in the south car park as last time and it was a very short walk from Legoland discovery. It was quite crowded but it was very quick to walk through the centre. We have been to the hull one and hull was a lot better. There is a VR experience and it cost £7pp and my boys enjoyed it. Although it was not as good as hull but the kids enjoyed it. Will I pay full price to go? Nope not a chance.

Fantastic experience: So much fun! I flew in from Dublin to do a day trip for their Animal Crossing collab, and it was sooo worth it. The collaboration was fun, but getting a chance to see all of the amazing creatures was the best part. Even got to see the otters! Definitely worth the trip.

Fantastic experience: We love a good aquarium and this is a good in in the centre of Birmingham. Lots to see, penguins, otters, rays (my favoirite), star fish, sea horses, clown fish, turtles and more. Sea tunnel is fun as always. Information signs are a bit worn but staff happy to tell you about anything you have questions about. I'd recommend the behind the scenes additional tour (feeding, breedi g orograms, etc), we'll worth the small extra charge, Alim gave us a very enthusiastic educational talk, thank you, keep up the good work! I would also definitely pre-book, and only a little queue to get in, but it was bank holiday weekend. A long walk around the centre, often up slight inclines, one of the ways they maximise use of room and control flow, but lots of handrails and spots to sit down, which was useful as one of our party was not the most mobile. Lots of facilities, toilets and lifts all around. There were plenty of prams and wheelchairs around which was no problem, even on a busy bank holiday Lots of parking or park and ride options using Metro tram. We parked in NIA south car park, prebooked, no probs. No cafe, but you can buy refreshments all the way around and a few Costas nearby. No rush to get round, enjoy the amazing sealife!

Negative experience: Booked to go round at 1. 3 adults and 3 kids, 1 was in a push chair. It was absolute chaos. So busy that one in pushchair felt trapped. One of the rock pools was not open, and although mannes for kids to touch the starfish, they were high up and bo stools.for them.to stand on. We gave up in the end as felt too busy and not enjoyable. Shame as kids have been looking forward to it for ages.

Fantastic experience: We went for the Animal Crossing event held here as a family which we enjoyed. The 5 star rating I have given though is mainly down to a lovely guy on the VR named Alan. A family member of ours who has learning disabilities and ASD wanted to go on the ride but struggled with having the VR set on. Alan was so patient with her and really took his time, not worrying at that point about anything else, just making her comfortable. Talking to us, taking advice about how to overcome the VR set issue and eventually succeeding in her wearing it. She grabbed his hand and he held her hand throughout the whole underwater journey and told us she was enjoying it. We offered to take over worried about other customers but he said it was OK, there was another member of staff working the section. This guy needs acknowledgement, praise and a pay rise. He was amazing so thank you! The rest of our experience was lovely, staff all nice. Place was clean. Would definitely go again.

Fantastic experience: Good experience. Interesting sea animals such as penguins and fish. Didn’t see any of the otters while visiting though.

Fantastic experience: Visited for the Animal Crossing collaboration event but mostly just had fun walking around and seeing all of the exhibits. There's a really good selection of marine life from all over the world and plenty of knowledgeable staff members there to offer extra info when you need. If you're going on a weekend, prepare to be waiting at a few of the tanks for a little while as queues form quite quickly for certain animals. The underwater walk was the highlight of the trip

Positive experience: Very expensive for what is there however my children (age 4&9) had never been to a sealife centre before (because of the price) and they loved it. We’d heard it only took some people 50mins to walk round but we were there for almost 3 hours. It’s a one way system but I never felt rushed to move on and we found a seating area near the jellyfish to have a packed lunch. However if you’re a lover of animals you might want to give it a miss as a lot of the enclosures looked too small and the penguins having no natural daylight should really be breaking some sort of animal cruelty law. But the colleagues around the exhibits were really friendly and informative as were the people taking photos. After we’d left via the gift shop I wanted to go back round as I’d got a question about the animal crossing exhibit but as I opened the door I was screamed at “go back through the other door” (it was the door we’d originally entered through so had it suddenly not become the entrance) anyway it was completely uncalled for so I didn’t bother going back in. Maybe she should go and listen to some of the calming sea music they pump through the speakers. Anyway all this to say it was an expensive but fun few hours just tarnished by the banshee at the entrance.

Positive experience: SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham: Fun but Pricey SEA LIFE Birmingham offers a really good experience with plenty to see and some interesting talks and presentations. The staff were friendly and engaging, adding to the visit. That said, it felt very expensive for what’s on offer, and the spacing of the talks makes it nearly impossible to catch them all in one visit without rushing. Parking at the Utilita South car park was ideal—close and convenient. Overall, a fun trip, especially for families, but better value would make it a stronger recommendation. Rating: ★★★★☆

Positive experience: absolutely lovely. great place to take the kids but if you don’t like fishes, it can get boring. they take your picture behind a green screen and charge you a lot to buy it so we didn’t get it. overall it’s fun but can get draggy.

Positive experience: With three children under five, and different school holidays to Birmingham, we booked the Adult and Toddler tickets, so it was £38 for all five of us to visit. We arrived about half an hour after our time slot, which wasn't an issue at all - the girl doing admissions was friendly and completely fine with us going to grab some lunch before coming in too, so we actually entered about an hour late. We really enjoyed walking round and seeing the different fish, and the boys enjoyed crawling through the tunnels. We loved watching the penguins and were lucky enough to see one of the otters. I was quite disappointed though, as we arrived a few minutes before the advertised time for the 14:45 otter talk and feed only to find out that they'd already done it and the timings didn't match what the staff actually did. Please make sure that the timings are accurate! We really enjoyed the main tunnel, and I especially loved the turtle. The kids loved the sharks! We had walked through the whole aquarium in under an hour, including a toilet break, so we took the lift upstairs again and went round a second time. Honestly, it was smaller than I expected, but fine as the kids who were pretty worn out after a morning at Legoland and then going round twice. The place seemed clean and tidy and the toilets (and baby changing facilities) were fine. We parked our buggy in the buggy park near the exit and used a carrier for our nearly 1yr old, which made it easier to chase toddlers through crowds! Some of the signs with information about the fish were quite worn, so tricky to read, and some of the tanks had digital signs which kept changing, so the information wasn't always visible. Fine if you have lots of time to stand and wait, but with kids who aren't patient it just meant we couldn't even identify lots of the fish. A bit disappointing that Whipsnade zoo's tiny aquarium has better signage! Overall we had a lovely visit and would come again if we're in Birmingham and we can find a good deal on tickets. I personally wouldn't have been happy with paying peak prices for it though! The adult and toddler ticket really was so much better for us. It's definitely not a whole day thing either - I can't imagine anyone spending more than three hours max unless you're wanting to ready about all of the fish in great depth. Another thing they could do with sorting out is the pricing in the gift shop - there didn't seem to be any visible price displayed for quite a few things. I'd have been more likely to buy something had I known how much everything was.

Positive experience: Sea life is really small but nice. The complete tour will be over within 2 hours.

Negative experience: My son really liked the penguins but overall pretty disappointing. Not very much to look at and it looked dated, appeared that the underwater tunnel was leaking, water all over the floor. 28 pounds per person on the door, no discount for kids and bluelight was only online 24 hours before your visit. We had completed the whole aquarium in 40 mins. Not worth the price point at all.

Fantastic experience: Such a wonderful experience! We had a lovely time and we got some great pictures to remember this day! Would definitely recommend this experience to everyone!

Fantastic experience: Love this place, great experience, fantastic half day out with the family! Lots of amazing things to see. The Ocean tunnel is spectacular, the photos don't do it justice.

Positive experience: Was a great family day out Wasn’t very happy as I got overcharged in the gift shop for some gifts I bought Also the photos that were taken professionally I was told I had to cut them out myself and add them to the fridge magnets framesmyself.. why charge so much if I have to do them myself?

Positive experience: We really enjoyed our visit interacting with the ray fish and seeing the sharks. It is quite a relaxing time actually. Main negatives are that after about an hour you’re kinda done and it is also difficult to get to see some of the tanks when it is full of school trips

Fantastic experience: Never been to the aquarium before so visiting this one was particularly special to me - really lovely place, the shark tunnel is fantastic

Negative experience: I wanted to give it less stars but when I look at the experience from a child's perspective it gained a star. Overall very run down and shabby. The toilets were disgusting and this was on a very quiet day, so I dread to think what it's like when booked out. Only 1 changing facility (large queue), then 1 in each bathroom but the ladies changing facility the changing table was directly under a hand dryer, with a second hand dryer very close which made it impossible to change my jumpy boy here. The Sea Otters were displaying stereotypical behaviours (signs of stress), this could be due to their background. I note they were "rescued" but unsure as to the background on this. Having visited Blijdorp Aquarium in the past I guess I set the bar too high but just felt the overall atmosphere lacking. We tried to draw the experience out as much as possible considering the very high cost but still spent less then an hour. Positives: Children won't pick up on the drab. Our son certainly got a lot of stimulation from the trip.

Fantastic experience: It was awesome experience. I went with my wife and my son. All of us enjoyed a lot (specially my son). I would definitely recommend this to everyone.

Fantastic experience: Great place for the family. Surprisingly extensive for such a seemingly small area.. Lots of aquatic animals on show and the otters were amazing

Fantastic experience: Sea Life Birmingham is very convenient for YONEX All England spectators with a child. Brought my 2yo there and she loved it especially the sharks, and she got to feel the starfish. Oftentimes, dim lights scare but this time, she enjoyed it. The mermaid status in the aquarium was really awesome. Staff are friendly although, if we could suggest any virtual activities that shorter kids can do inside the premises? The VR one was something we missed because of the height requirement my child didn't manage to reach.

Fantastic experience: Lovely experience knowledgeable and friendly staff. Quite expensive but the kids really enjoyed themselves

Positive experience: I went with my wife and 18 month old today and we had a good time. There are toilets conveniently placed at the beginning with baby changing rooms. The centre itself has lots to see however I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the size of it. I think we got unlucky as we entered a similar time to a school trip so we often had to wait to look at tanks and wait to move on. Also unless we missed it we didn't see an octopus which is a shame! We will definitely go again when the little one is older as the whole thing is brilliantly designed for kids.

Fantastic experience: Great afternoon at the sea life centre. It’s just as I remember when I was little Took my nephew for the first time and he was in awe of everything! Tickets are around £25ish- and children are free under 2. The walk took around 45 minutes in total with lots to see and interactive things to do. Only niggle is that the gift shop was extremely expensive. Thanks for a great day!

Positive experience: It’s a nice aquarium with lots of animals. The otters were my favourite

Positive experience: Went to this attractions with my fine shyt this week, booked it on a weekday thinking there wouldn’t be kids about (I was wrong) there were many school trips and families with their young kids. It didn’t really ruin the experience for me however it felt a little less relaxing and we felt as though we had to rush looking to may way for the number of children. The place was clean and tidy. The penguins were very cool to watch, disappointed about the otters that weren’t there though :(

Positive experience: Yeah, so what is there to say, its a sea life centre for sure and a pretty nice day out for the kids with a tunnel at the end which was great, they also have penguins and a massive turtle around the size of a human. What's great is that there's no time limit but it is one way, so once you've seen something, that's it. Pretty good though but 4 stars because its quite expensive.

Fantastic experience: The sea otters were amazing! Worth waiting for the otter talk to see them feeding and playing with the keepers.

Positive experience: Great location and set up. Very crowded though so numbers should be reduced. Fish and tanks are beautiful. Loved the jellyfish

Negative experience: Overrated,expensive,non friendly staff. No add on activity since a decade. The first impression you get upon entering is as if staff are not payed or fed well ,I hope that's not the cases with fish. Waste of money and time....... Be careful at checkout andd check your receipts twice even if they are having a shout at you that's it's fine......was over charged and still waiting for return of my money . Closed shattering place,hope it survives

Negative experience: Update: given their response, I'd definitely not recommend it. Their staff didn't tell us anything about feeding times or talks. They were too busy gossiping at the entrance. They scanned our code and that was it Too many kids, A lot of the fishes were missing But they were really cute . Would recommend on weekday when it's not half term Not really value for money though, was done in an hour. Better off at a zoo or safari

Negative experience: Booked online with the £30 pp tickets 2 adult and 1 child totalling £90 unfortunately had to do it this way due to having disabilities and unable to know in advance if ok to attend at the booked time ? So had to take the expensive option. The experience it self is a little disappointing for a sea life centre more of an indoor aquarium with a few penguins and an otter ? The venue is very dated and would imagine a nightmare when busy, lucky enough today wasn’t too bad and you could get to see everything, it’s not that big and you can easily get round the venue in an hour ? The VR experience has to be booked on line so nightmare if you have not booked beforehand ? staff advised they use to do payment at the point of entry but it’s now all on line ? So at the time of our visit it wasn’t busy due to this ? Grandson had a nice time and that is the main point to the visit and I can fully appreciate the running costs of this type of venue with the cost of energy, food etc ? but personally I think it’s a little over priced for what the venue is offering.

Positive experience: We had a fun time at Sea Life! The only complaint I’d have is overcrowding, it was a weekday afternoon. If I’d go again, morning seems like a better time to visit. Very cute sea otter! Plus, the ocean walk tunnel was pretty cool.