Natureland Seal Sanctuary (Skegness) — Attraction in East Lindsey

Visited today as two adults and teenager and a toddler. All I can say is everyone left extremely upset, the enclosures for all of the animals were far too small and very dirty. Every animal we did get to see looked very depressed and lonesome. The koi pond clearly hadn’t been cleaned or any sort of filtration system at all, the water was that dirty that you couldn’t see the fish. The seal pups on the side of the observatory had less water in their pool than a small garden paddling pool. The two meerkats look terrified and thin. The reptiles exhibit had several snakes in tanks that looked on the small side and after looking at the caiman for around 10-15 minutes I’ve genuinely started to think it may be plastic along with the plastic eggs they have in a tank. The lizards seemed okay along with the chameleon which was the only positive thing I can say.

We saw two dead butterflies in the butterfly shed.

The tortoise exhibit was empty, no rabbits or guinea pigs to be seen.

The ‘exotic birds’ was maybe three or four very over heated budgies.

As for the goats enclosure, it was caked in urine and feaces. I’m not stupid and I know that these animals do create a lot of mess but there wasn’t a single bit of grass for them and they appeared to have not seen a field in years. The largest goat was very funny and allowed us to give him a good stroke however he did have a little nibble on my toddlers hair which is to be expected with farm animals.

The aquarium was very upsetting as fish lovers, a handful of very small tanks which were poorly lit and dirty. The poor eel couldn’t even turn around properly in its tank.

Over all I would say we were very disappointed with the nearly £35 spend and very upset at the conditions these animals are being forced to live in. The whole place could do with a good clean, cobwebs hanging everywhere, chunks of the walls having fallen apart. In desperate need of a lick of paint. Not a single animal keeper anywhere in the hour we were there. The ground is majorly uneven and dirty, even the entrance is uneven and very dated.

Over this week we have visited several animal sanctuaries, zoos and aquariums in the local area, all of which had cheaper entry fees and are far more enjoyable.

I do understand this is a charity run facility which is why I didn’t ask for a refund however I would like to believe that somebody who worked there could have been present with the animals and monitoring the litter and rubble over the ground.

The whole place was very depressing and dilapidated, I understand that you may be monitored by vets and licensing however after looking at reviews it’s clear to see these same complaints have been an ongoing issue with no changes. These poor animals don’t have a voice to speak for themselves and it was very upsetting to see how small every single...

Skegness Seal Sanctury is much more than its name suggests. Yes it is a place of sanctuary for seals but it also houses an aquarium, a reptile house, an aviary, a butterfly house, penguins, goats, alpacas, guinea pigs, a tortoise, terrapins, a restaurant/cafe and of course the obligatory gift shop.

There are talks about and feeding of the seals at regular times by those who look after them and clearly love what they do. It is great to see the speed at which some of the seals move to catch fish. The way they are fed is often to get them ready for release into the wild. It is a good reminder that this place is doing great work in looking after and rehabilitating the seals.

My visit was just outside of normal season (March) and so certain things like the butterflies, alpacas and tortoise were missing due to the cold weather. The chickens and turkeys were also missing and the penguins were indoors but this was due to the ongoing issues regarding Avian Influenza.

The cafe looks like it is recently done up and boasts a 5 star food hygiene rating. However the rest of the sanctuary is looking rather tired and dated. Sadly improving things would be costly and places like this usually only have enough money just to look after the animals. As such, unless some kind benefactor comes along, I can only see it deteriorating further.

Overall it is far better than its name suggests. My family enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend...

We arrived here around 11am, quite busy due to the Easter holidays. The lady at reception was very friendly and approachable. It was £27 for 1 adult and 2 children. We got there just as the seals were being fed, with a member of staff giving out information over a mic which was hard to hear. There is a little hut to get hot drinks and ice cream, and a café which serves hot food and lots of seating. We didn't eat in, but it looked nice enough. We walked around to see penguins and sheep (watch out for Henry the sheep, very friendly and liked taking a good chunk out of my coat and bag!) I bought some animal 'feed' which turned out to be just grass! So I was a bit annoyed by that, as it was 50p each. The lady in the gift shop was lovely and helpful though. There were plenty of wash stations after handling the animals. There was a butterfly section, along with a garden of birds. There were alpacas too. A very small aquarium , where my kids said it was probably the smallest in the world! It probably took us around 50 mins to walk around the sanctuary. Some parts were closed off and some things where there was nothing to see. For the price, I personally thought it wasn't worth it. Especially, as we drove over an hour to get there. It's okay if you were passing, or in the area as it is close to the arcades etc. all the money goes to continuing the work...