Boasting an insane array of aquatic animals, the Sea Life Centre has something for everyone. No matter your age, you can’t be disappointed with the number of tanks on display.

We had the absolute pleasure of visiting this Sea Life Centre and I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, the children or Callum! You start your visit in a beautiful open rock formation that just smells of the briny sea air, the perfect thing to set you on your underwater experience!

Walking through the first section, you’re instantly greeted by a colony of Gentoo Penguins! With two massive windows and a smaller underwater observation bubble further in there is plenty of room to see these penguins all huddle together, waddle about and enjoy a swim in a very spacious enclosure. We timed it perfectly to catch one of the workers cleaning the enclosure and the penguins absolutely loved it! They were scrambling around the hose, circling the worker and hopping about everywhere.

After that, it clearly was time for a swim and we had some great views of the Gentoo Penguins diving in, effortlessly swimming and even launching themselves out of the water.

Moving through the Centre you move through see all sorts of creatures from big to small, long to short, fat to thin colourful to camouflaged. Every area is themed for its natural habitat and there is always an educational plaque or banner to tell you loads of information regarding their habitat, growth potential, special features and diet.

Halfway through your journey you can choose to wait in line for a special 4D cinematic show where you can join a group of fish go on a small adventure to explore the underwater areas around a coral reef. The animation quality is excellent and it’s produced by the Jim Henson company, so it’s super family friendly and the 4D experience really does add to the whole show.

By far, the absolute best area of the Sea Life Centre has to be the Shark Tunnel! It’s an absolutely gigantic tank that houses Nurse Sharks, Zebra Sharks and Black Tip Reef Sharks along with a MASSIVE turtle and plenty of fish too! This tunnel actually has a see-through floor too so it’s a completely open view above, below, side to side and every angle in between view! For those who don’t want to brave the tunnel there is a small exit door that skips you through so don’t worry if you can’t bring yourself to be underneath 100,000 litres of water and a couple hundred swimming teeth!

At the end of the Sea Life Centre you can buy your photos and look through the submerged viewing bubble into the Penguins enclosure. But, there is also a small seating area with a lovely little “Soft Play” zone with a ball pit, a couple of platforms to climb and the like. This is a perfect spot for the grown ups to just take 5 minutes out, check the time and plan what to do next.

Overall the Sea Life Centre is a fantastic place to spend a good 2-3 hours for the family, a great place to learn about the oceans and their ecology and also have the opportunity to see some truly incredible species that inhabit our planet.

For those of you who want to book tickets you can get reduced rates, special package deals and fantastic VIP Exclusive experiences!

https://www.visitsealife.com/birmingham/tickets/