National Lobster Hatchery

Positive experience: Such a lovely little place, we only found this through the leaflets in a Sainsbury's. Glad we went, it's only small but worth a visit especially for the video!

Positive experience: Very interesting facts about Lobster life and the Cornish coast. The only thing I will say is that the experience is short lived as it's a small facility.

Fantastic experience: A really fun and insightful activity in Padstow, I learnt a lot about the process of hatching lobsters and felt like I was supporting a really valuable project. Can’t recommend enough!

Positive experience: Lovely chilled atmosphere, nice calm place for the little ones

Fantastic experience: Interesting to see what actually happens to protect the lobsters in our waters

Positive experience: A good little attraction. But it is little. The hatchery does fantastic work, supporting the UK's lobster populations and educating people on them. The ticket lasts a year which is a nice gesture. But I can't see anyone wanting to return after a single visit. I would recommend a few more educational boards explaining their preferred environments, I found it was a little vague/basic.

Negative experience: Took less than 15 minutes to walk around and look at everything. Quite disappointing for the money so wouldn't recommend it.

Positive experience: Important work done here. A small but fun aquarium and informative guides. The key takeaway was that lobsters eat each other given half a chance!

Fantastic experience: We loved our visit!! Friendly staff and highly educational! Lots of fun lobster facts and the charity is doing great work!!

Fantastic experience: Lovely little, informative centre. Staff are very knowledgeable and welcoming.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely brilliant, small, but we'll worth going. The video show is the best, most amusing I have ever seen in a museum.

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit with the kids, especially if you’re staying locally to the area - the entry tickets gain you access for a whole year, we made it our morning routine whilst on holiday to pop in and see the lobsters. It is very small but lots of information and interesting exhibits. The staff are so friendly, we were lucky enough to see various activities being done in the hatchery.

Fantastic experience: Very informative and interesting visit. They do a fantastic job and are so dedicated

Fantastic experience: Kids loved this and it was very interesting for adults too. Incredible to see the baby lobsters and learn about the conservation.

Fantastic experience: We visited for the first time this half term. It’s rather small but really informative and educational and the volunteers are so passionate and we learnt a lot we didn’t know about lobsters , definitely recommend as it’s a little gem of a place to learn all about them! We will definitely visit again on our next trip to Cornwall, easily accessible from the parking directly opposite and then we went into padstow for ice cream after

Positive experience: Bit disappointing, not enough to see but plenty of information posted on the walls

Fantastic experience: Very interesting and informative! A wonderful program worthy of your support!

Fantastic experience: Loved this spot. Fun place and doing important work.

Fantastic experience: We booked for a large group of us for a look around the hatchery. It was very enjoyable indeed. Ellen gave a very informative and interesting talk about the lobster hatchery and coped very well with the fact that half the group were French, so there was a lot of translating going on, making it a tad chaotic for her. As well as Ellen, Anna and the other staff were friendly and helpful. Everyone commented on what a lovely time we'd had. Thank you all so much.

Fantastic experience: Found it fascinating how these fine folk rear up these creatures for release and quite ironic that Stein has his eatary across the road from them , the kids and olds liked the visit very informative and knowledgeable staff worth a visit we adopted a Lob called "megalob" can be tracked for years

Positive experience: Very educational experience. Learned a lot about the lobster life cycle and the challenges they face. It takes about 1 1/2 hours for a complete visit

Positive experience: If you're visiting on holiday the £24 family access is quite a lot for what's there. We were done in about 45 min including letting the kids colour and do the word searches etc upstairs. However you can visit as much as you like for 12m so it does offer good value in that respect. My kids enjoyed the activity area and watching the boats so you could return to kill an hour or so fairly often if you were local. The staff were really friendly and knowledgeable and spent ages answering questions, plus the view from the first floor across the estuary is beautiful. You can see a lot of thought has been put into making it more of an attraction. If you can find a place with leaflets for days out, you'll likely find a voucher which definitely makes it better value for money.

Fantastic experience: Good place to visit staff very informative would recommend

Fantastic experience: An excellent and interesting visit to a charity that I didn't know existed. They do fascinating and essential work which I had great pleasure in supporting using my admission fee and making some purchases from the shop. There are some excellent videos on YouTube about their work which are well worth a look.

Positive experience: Really friendly and knowledgeable chap on the till who you could tell was very passionate about what they are doing. We read everything and looked at everything that was there and still did it in under 30 mins so don't plan it as a day out. Definitely worth a visit as the tiny lobsters are lovely to see. Unfortunately you can't take one home as my partner did ask but probably for the best.

Fantastic experience: Small but really important part of local conservation. Everything you wanted to know about lobsters and how this faclity is helping sustain them as an important part of the local eco system and economy.

Negative experience: Virtually nothing to see here, not even any lobsters! £8 was too much money for something that literally takes 2 minutes to see. Wouldn't waste ya time even if it was free!!

Fantastic experience: Nice, little lobster hatchery. Kids will have stuff to do too. Very nice gift shop,with very cute stuff. Tickets are valid for one year from the purchase date. Second time here for us.

Fantastic experience: Cute little place. Staff were friendly. £8 per adult, and you can revisit within the year. A little expensive for the experience, but it goes towards looking after the hatchery. We got to see some tiny baby lobsters and some adult ones up close. It's dog friendly as well.

Positive experience: It's definitely for younger children and is a tiny space so on a rainy day it gets very full. It only takes 20-30 minutes to see. They're doing a great job for lobster conservation though.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant project. The entire experience is fascinating for children and adults. A real insite to how theyre boosting our lobster population

Positive experience: Very overpriced for what it is. £8 per adult and slightly less for children. It's a charity operated by volunteers so we didn't mind paying. Great venture to save and restore lobster populations by safeguarding young lobsters on site to optimise their chances of survival prior to release back into the ocean. Knowledgeable volunteers, interesting lobster information and a few lobsters to see in tanks along with a handful of common fish.

Fantastic experience: Only a small centre but very interesting with informative videos to watch. Lots to read and lobsters to view. I adopted a 'family' of lobster hatchlings and I look forward to hearing about their progress back to the sea!

Fantastic experience: Friendly and interesting visit with a bonus of a ticket tthat is valid foe a year.

Positive experience: Quaint little place, like a sea life centre but much smaller. Very informative. We adopted 2 lobsters on our visit. Hooe they do well.

Fantastic experience: Small, but very impressive insight into the fantastic work the charity does to save lobsters in these waters

Positive experience: It is very interesting, informative, and good place for a visit with or without kids. Also Had a yellow lobster when we visited.

Positive experience: Unique and very interesting exhibition with fascinating content.

Fantastic experience: It's tiny but hard working. The staff are super friendly and very dedicated. Their work is making a difference. There's an upstairs section aimed at children, which was really nice, and there's a little gift shop too.

Fantastic experience: A sure fire visit for us. Granted, it's not changed a huge amount in the years we have been. It's still nice to visit and help support this great charity! Great information and cool to see the baby lobsters get ready for the real world.

Positive experience: It is interesting and good to see how much effort goes into supporting nature with help from a number of different agencies and businesses.

Positive experience: It was pretty small, just a few tanks. Seeing the mother lobster with eggs and then several stages of the baby lobsters was cool, but probably would have skipped if I'd realized how small it was.

Fantastic experience: This was a true gem. The place itself is rather small, we probably spent about 45 minutes to an hour, but with tons of interesting info about the project of the charity and their scientific research around, well, helping baby lobsters survive in order to increase their population and in turn help the fishing industry be more sustainable so that everybody thrives. all explained and displayed for different age levels, so that the kids can be engaged as well. It is a rather unique experience which makes you think about the way you consume, the impact of team work especially when working with different economic local actors, and also makes you discover a super interesting species.

Fantastic experience: Great place with lots of interesting info and history, caught a chat with one of the technicians who even passed around some new born larvae I'm test tubes, highly recommend. Take your time reading all the info!

Fantastic experience: Well worth a visit if you are in or near Padstow. Very informative about the life cycle of Lobsters. Activities for the children to do. You can even adopt a lobsterfor yourself, you and your partner or for the whole family or even as a gift. It was a bit smaller than I expected but don't let that put you off.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely fantastic place to visit when in Padstow. So informative but delivered in such an interesting way. Doesn't take long to do but still worth it. Lots for littlies in the upstairs rooms too. Great friendly staff

Negative experience: Not worth £8 per person. Expected it to be a lot bigger. Not many tanks or exibits.

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit, only about 30min attraction but free to go back the rest of the year. Dog friendly

Positive experience: Very pricey for what it is . Theres a area upstairs for children to do activities , lovely look out in the sea from the window. If you dont stop and watch the short films youd be in and out in 30 mins.

Fantastic experience: The National Lobster Hatchery is well worth a visit. Easy parking in Padstow outside and easy access to the centre. It was great to see the baby lobsters and to learn more about the facilities. Great for kids and families. Find yourself in Padstow this place is well worth a visit.

Fantastic experience: informative and enjoyable, loved seeing the babies. staff were very friendly and had loads of information to share with us about the mums with eggs. they have a cute little gift shop with magnets, toys etc etc. fair price. £8 for an adult and return all year, we are not from the area but visit a couple times a year so to be able to come next time for free is a winner!

Fantastic experience: Always walked past this place for years but finally decided to book a ticket for the family. It gets you a year's free entry too and it's a good cause. It's very small so don't expect the world but it's full of knowledge about lobsters and the great work they do in conservation. The staff were lovely and knowledgeable. Go know, give it a visit and some cash to support our seas.

Fantastic experience: If you want to learn more about this fascinating creature and the efforts to help conserve it around the Cornish coast then it's well worth an hour or so exploring the hatchery

Positive experience: Good visit to the lobster hatchery. It was interesting to see the various lobsters they take care of and the lobsters that just hatched. The staff were very knowledgable but I wish they had had more on display as it was quite small.

Fantastic experience: Well worth a visit. Great children's / education area upstairs. Loved seeing the pregnant/baby lobsters and finding out facts.

Negative experience: The lobsters are very intresting and plenty of infomation posted about them around the site. It is a small place and what really annoyed me is that a large coach group of students was allowed in all at once making it impossible to see or let alone move in such a confined space. I think they need to limit a certain number of people in at time. I did fear my grandmothers safety as she was with us and was getting swarmed but loads of people.

Negative experience: Interesting but very over priced. Each adult was £8.

Positive experience: It's a nice place to look around but in my opinion it's a little pricey. Fair enough once you pay the first time you can go back for free for a year but I don't think that there is enough there for a return journey. It's a good place to bring the kids and they can learn all about lobsters and even see baby ones.

Positive experience: Does what it says on the tin! Very informative. Interesting to find out how lobsters have changed and evolved over the many decades. Cool to see so many of the lobsters. If you go at the right time of year you can see all the baby lobsters from first hatching to nearly ready for release, if you’re either to early or late don’t worry as they have some older lobsters on show as-well. The good thing is by going you’re helping to conserve the lobster along the English coast and give Them an even more secure future. A little expensive (keeping in mind they only sell annual passes) but what you’d expect from a small charity who need the money. Not a day trip you would only spend a maximum of half an hour here. Nice but a little pricey for the time it takes to walk around. 4 stars on this one!

Fantastic experience: an unique initiative for conservation The exhibits were wonderfully and lovingly exhibited and explained hats off

Fantastic experience: We have been here twice love to see that the lobstersare happy and safe from fishing trawlers.I love to do a bit of colouring✏ upstairs my design is on my pictures very good fun. Also very nice lady telling us all about the lobsters facts witch is very interesting I support the UK lobsters Welfare Society and don't eat lobsters because I do feel they are very pretty sea fish hopefully we will be back again soon love from Ben

Fantastic experience: Lovely to see the great work being done here to increase stocks of lobster in the sea. I hope other areas of the fishing industry also adopt these techniques to counteract overfishing. I learnt so much about lobsters and the important work and research being performed here with the helpful information at the lobster hatchery. Friendly staff and worth the price

Positive experience: Quite small and a quick visit. Entry was quite expensive given the content. I’d just treat it as donation. The exhibition in general was informative. Good to know about bits of lobsters and the region. There’s a children drawing area upstairs. Some fossils exhibit. There’s also a disable toilet in the middle of exhibition. Car park right in front.

Fantastic experience: Thoroughly impressive and terrific attraction situated in the beautifully picturesque harbour town of Padstow, Cornwall and is dedicated to the Conservation efforts of the European Lobster. The admission for adults is £8 which is more than reasonable and is valid for 12 months so you can visit the attraction as many times as you like during that period. The Centre does a fantastic and diligent job of its conservation of the European Lobster and their efforts to protect. On entry into the attraction there is a wonderful informative introductory exhibition about the European Lobster it's biology, it's habitat and it's breeding cycle and also the demand that there is for the European Lobster as food and how the Centre looks after Lobster Hatchlings rescued from the wild and then releases them back into the wild. The introductory exhibition also covers the sustainability of the European Lobster, which is an interesting read but also a great way to introduce to the attraction and what does for the conservation side of things. There are a couple of tanks you can view where you can see some of the Lobster up close and personal where if you get too close you can see their renowned aggressive nature and in a couple of other tanks you can see some other fish and also crabs. In one of the other tanks you can see the maternity ward housing all of the pregnant lobsters that have been rescued from the wild and there is some information about the centre extracts the egg from them giving you a clear and full picture of the processes involved. There is some information about how the equipment looks after the young hatchlings and also the pregnant lobsters. You can also see a tank of the young lobsters hatchlings which is an awesome and rare sight and for people who have never seen lobster hatchlings is very intriguing and enlightening. There are a couple of rooms upstairs going into the biological history of the Lobster and also there are a couple more lobsters to see in the tanks which is again very interesting and also some interesting fossils to see as well. The other exhibition upstairs talks about the conservation of the European Lobster and sustainability of it for the future and how people can live responsibly alongside it. There is a small gift shop in the entrance area which has a decent array of souvenirs at affordable decent prices. Overall this is a fantastic and fabulous attraction to visit and learn about an unusual and unique creature in the European Lobster and learn about the fantastic work the centre in the conservation efforts to look after them and release the hatchlings back into the wild.

Fantastic experience: We loved this! It's such an amazing place doing so much for the local environment and conservation of the lobster population

Positive experience: Very small attraction that doesn't take more than 30 minutes to look around. I would say it's overpriced, but the cost does entitle re-entry for a year.

Negative experience: Very disappointed when we visited in May 2024. They do great work but £20+ for three of us to look at 4 tanks with lobsters in and one with tiny baby lobsters that you can look round in 10 mins flat is a bit much really. Admire their work but make it cheaper as its a bit of a rip off.

Fantastic experience: The bad weather on our trip to Cornwall was a frustacean but we had a lobly time at the hatchery and are happy to see that the repopulation of lobsters isn't a lost clawse.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely loved our visit here. Great to support such sustainability. Dog friendly and accessible.

Fantastic experience: Nice compact and interactive activities for kids and above. Tickets bought can be used for a year.

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility, genuinely interesting. Didn't realise they did so much important conservation work.

Positive experience: A nice informative visit for a rainy day in Padstow. Quite a few tanks to see and information to look at. Nice views of the river.

Fantastic experience: Fascinating visit. A great example of scientific research in collaboration with fishermen and restaurants in helping develop sustainable food supplies. Well worth a visit

Fantastic experience: It's fairly small, but manages to pack in plenty of information, and the staff were very friendly and helpful. There were also plenty of seats around for those who find it difficult to stand and walk for long, which I found thoughtful.

Fantastic experience: I learnt a lot more about lobsters than I started the day knowing! Really passionate and enthusiastic staff. Enjoyable quick visit.

Positive experience: Not a great deal to see for the price, took half hour to see everything. Nice that your supporting what they do but definitely wouldnt have paid that price knowing what it was. Not great value sadly.

Positive experience: Actually I was at the car park at Padstow trying to take a photo of Rock on the other side of the river

Fantastic experience: Visited the hatchery on the 18th October 23 - it's an interesting place, I learnt alot ontop of what I already know as a 36 year old during my visit. I adopted a lobster (Doug), can't wait to see him released into the ocean.

Fantastic experience: Fascinating little creatures, and very informative staff. It was great learning more about lobsters and seeing the excellent work the hatchery does to help survival rates for lobsters in the wild.

Positive experience: A lot more to learn than I initially thought. Staff were very friendly and very informative. Interesting and thought provoking. Good range of different ages and stages to see.

Negative experience: Not a big place and you pay £7 for an annual ticket. There is no choice of a one-off payment. There is not much to see at all and you complete the tour in a couple of minutes due to the venue being so small.

Fantastic experience: Popped in to have a quick look around and ended up staying 40 minutes! Very friendly, enthusiastic and informative staff on site coupled with excellent exhibits and the lobsters themselves made it a great visit. We even got to see a large lobster being transferred to a new tank by the brave team!

Fantastic experience: Great little experience. Took our 2 year old. A good mix of activities and information for both adults and children. It's also dog friendly which was helpful for us. The lady on reception was super welcoming and friendly. She gave us a good rundown of what we can see and do in there. There was also a gentleman who offered to talk more about the lifespan, the capture and breeding of the lobsters and the work that the hatchery does. Really interesting. Tickets are valid for a whole year from purchase so if you're visiting regularly it's very well worth the money.

Fantastic experience: A very interesting and fun place to visit in Padstow, lots of things to see and learn with very friendly staff, if you are a fan of lobsters or just animals in general then this is a must.

Negative experience: For the price I expected a lot more. It was interesting reading dotted around and looking at the lobsters through not the clearest glass, but it would have been nice to walk around the hatchery (not just looking through glass) and have someone explaining what work they do and why.

Positive experience: This was our second visit we came along time ago Whilst the information is good we were a little disappointed this time as there was very little to actually see -last time we saw a very large lobster called Goliath many juveniles in separate individual tanks (to stop then eating one another) and lots more live lobsters at different stages of development . I value the read each and aims of the hatchery and am adopting 2 lobsters but sadly this time we felt these was very little to actually see and some tanks we saw we found it quite difficult to see the lobsters

Fantastic experience: Super informative and interesting! It's small, so it won't take much time, but everything that's written is food for thought and the merch is super cute If you have the chance to take part in a lobster release, do that. It's something you'll never forget.

Fantastic experience: What a fantastic educational place! We walked in half an hour before closing but the lovely man working there was kind enough to educate us on the process and we found it absolutely fascinating! Highly recommend to see with kids

Positive experience: Really interesting learning about the hatchery programmes. While aimed more at kids, great for adults too. Dog friendly, and you get the chance to adopt a lobster!

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyed my visit here, was one of the highlights of my trip to Cornwall! It is small, but so much information, staff super informative and you get to see the lobsters both big and babies :) Also very important to learn about the sustainable practices we should be aware of. Thanks to the team at the NLH!

Fantastic experience: Fascinating and valuable work done here. The exhibit was thorough and interesting. I have one question remaining though - why is this still the only place of its kind in Europe?!

Fantastic experience: Great little outing out with the kids on a rainy morning. Lots to see and learn for the kids.

Fantastic experience: A cool place to visit with the kids. There are some live lobsters in the tanks for them to see and some interactive dislays to play with. It's quite small but it is well worth paying for as it helps the local industry in a big way. The little baby lobster in the tank were great too see.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely fascinating really enjoyed it and I learnt some interesting facts .staff lovely well worth a visit Never too old to learn something new

Positive experience: Not sure what to make of the place to be honest! The staff are friendly the live lobsters are lovely to see but it’s small! We paid £20 or something for about 30 minutes worth of entertainment. The work they are doing is far more important than entertaining the public but honestly not sure I would recommend it to anyone other than to support such a worthwhile cause.

Fantastic experience: Great place to see how lobsters are being helped in not being over fished in the Southwest area by giving younglings a good start in life and then re-released into the sea. Small but intresting area, where you can sponsor a lobster, a couple or a family of four, name them all and if you sponsor more then one they are released together. Helpful friendly staff and dogs are welcome. The downside is (nothing to do with the Hatchery) the car park, dreadful to get a parking space, so arrive very early to get one. So I wouldn't pre-book any tickets to the Hatchery online just in case you can't get parking, which happened to me during the school holidays . Going back again soon to take my friend as paying once gives you all year entry to the Hatchery. We'll done to everyone involved in The National Lobster Hatchery.

Fantastic experience: Brilliantly designed attraction. Every bit of space is used to interest and educate. There are a lot of hands on bits: magnet fishing, flaps to open, colouring and puzzle sheets upstairs. It's really interesting to see lobsters of various ages. Very encouraging to see the work being done to support these fascinating creatures. We very much enjoyed the chocolate lobsters from the gift shop, too!

Positive experience: Nice experience but a tad confusing as to what effect this conservation work has had on the population over all these years Fisherman get rewarded if they deliver a hen lobster to the centre complete with eggs For a special treat go out on a Sea Safari rib ride (on the Lobster Release Day) travelling out to the current Life Boat Station to release the new born down a long protective tube for safe passage to the sea bed where the little ones can hide (and improve their chance of surviving) Not the cheapest of experiences, but you can’t put a price on fun If you still need some more fun, hire a bike on the Camel Trail and come back walking like John Wayne

Fantastic experience: Does what it says on the tin They have lots of information on the life cycle of lobsters and work to support lobsters locally , fascinating to read about and we sponsored a baby lobster . In three months time they'll be released onto the Cornish Coast... a change of pace from sponsoring tigers

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyed learning from the knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff. Huge amount of information packed into a small space. Spent 30 mins but could have stayed for an hour.