SEA LIFE Blackpool — Attraction in England

Our family of 5 (3 adults, a 17yo and an autistic 9yo) visited Sealife Blackpool on Tuesday 23 August 2022. We’d pre-booked tickets as part of the Blackpool Tower Big Ticket, which is great value if you’re planning on doing all the main tourist attractions during your holiday here. You need to select the time you’ll be visiting before you arrive, so make sure you’re aware of your time slot and be punctual for it (bearing in mind there may be a queue to get to the desk at busy times ie. summer holidays or half term)

The Sealife Centre building is on the main promenade along with other attractions like the Blackpool Tower itself, the Blackpool Dungeon, Madame Tussauds and others. It’s a very large and impressive building and you can’t miss it due to the Sealife branding to the front and rear.

Upon arrival and after waiting a short time in the queue (we had an 11am entry time) we were greeted by a friendly member of staff on the entry desk, who also offered us the chance to purchase a souvenir guide (we did!) plus a free ‘spot the creature’ treasure hunt style ticksheet for kids, which we were impressed by but didn’t take as our autistic youngest wouldn’t have the patience.

POSITIVES:

Friendly & helpful staff

Loads of sea creatures to see

One way system around the attraction so everyone is moving in the same direction, plus you don’t miss anything

Very educational

The ‘under the sea’ tunnel was amazing and we enjoyed seeing the sharks and huge sea turtle especially

Positive feel to the place, plus a talk at the end about conservation work as well as the animals

Great day out no matter what the weather, and for all ages

NEGATIVES:

Despite having a timed ticket, the attraction was absolutely mobbed when we visited. I know the place being busy is to be expected in the summer holidays, but being packed in like sardines wasn’t the ‘sealife’ experience we were hoping for. I don’t know if there are limits to the number of people per timeslot, and/or if people are let in off the streets during these booked timeslots, but the way it is now just isn’t working during peak times. We felt rushed around the attraction and didn’t get to linger long at any tank/area, that’s if we could even get to see the creatures in the first place due to the crowds at each part.

It's SO hot. I understand that some of this may be down to the temperature the (tropical) sea creatures require, however in the height of summer it was just too overbearingly hot plus claustrophobic with the amount of people. I felt quite panicked at times due to the intense heat and claustrophobia, with the amount of people densely packed inside and the dim light levels. It affected my enjoyment of the attraction, unfortunately.

It's SO loud – this is due to the amount of kids visiting during the summer holidays no doubt, but it had to be mentioned. Perhaps take ear defenders (like our autistic son had to) when you visit, if you’re sensitive to noise.

High prices for souvenirs in the gift shop – again, to be expected I suppose at a seaside attraction during summer holidays, but had to be mentioned. Perhaps walk through quickly with blinkers on if you’re a family on a budget with beady-eyed small children!

On the whole we really enjoyed our visit to Sealife Blackpool, it’s just a shame it was SO busy when we visited so we felt rushed, didn’t see as much as we’d have liked, and it was so overly hot and claustrophobic feeling. Worth a visit if you manage to snag a less busy time – and perfect for any day of your holiday come rain or shine. Took us about an hour and a half to get round it, lingering as much as the crowds would...

A visit to any destination with an aquarium is hugely enjoyable for our family, and I’m so happy to tell you that we all found this Sea Life in Blackpool to be no exception.

We have learned over the years that timing your visit to attractions can be key; this is so true here. Space is finite - it's not a huge aquarium, but it's well worth a visit. Let me tell you why!

✨ The aquarium is right on the promenade in the centre of town and easy to find.

✨ There is plenty of paid parking nearby if you're travelling by car.

✨ We pre-booked our tickets as a multi-attraction package, saving us money and ensuring entry on our chosen day.

✨ All things considered, the entry prices are very reasonable and worth every penny.

✨ We visited on a weekday afternoon (during the English school term) and had plenty of time and space to enjoy the exhibits.

✨ The centre was exceptionally clean, as were the tanks and the animals/fish etc all looked well taken care of.

✨ The animals/fish/sharks etc. were all very active during our visit, which was fabulous to see.

✨There was an abundance of staff; all of whom we found to be exceptionally friendly, knowledgeable, and approachable.

✨ There were scheduled talks held by the teams, and we all appreciated “Charlie” teaching us some amazing new facts about sharks.

✨ We happened to visit on the Centre’s Sea Turtles' 25th birthday, and we were privileged to see her more than once - a rare treat.

✨ There was a fantastic mixture of creatures to view, including some of the more unusual; an adult Axolotl being one of my favourites!

✨ This was a lovely, family-friendly place to spend a rainy afternoon. We were able to spend plenty of time at our favourite exhibits - especially cool for anyone who like me, enjoys photography.

🤩♿The aquarium has a few different viewing areas, but most of the exhibits are accessible, as is the entrance. 🤩♿ As a disabled person who requires a PA (personal assistant/carer), I had no issue requesting a free PA ticket when purchasing my adult admission.

This has earned a spot in my best attractions to visit whilst in Blackpool. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

😉 My top tip: If you're visiting a few of the attractions included in the “multibuy” packages, don't let having to pre-book slots put you off - the dates/times can be...

We live in Blackpool and I had my autistic nephew with me so we took him for a visit to the sea life centre. As many people can imagine having a young autistic non verbal child with you planning a day out can be daunting because challenges can happen. Now we took him along with my one year old daughter. It was a lovely quiet day. And he become obsessed by the touch tank area, waterfall was amazing he thought that whole area was just brilliant. Now getting to the point, we got talking to a lovely man who workes there I’m so sorry I didn’t catch his name but I’m hoping you can find out who it was from what I’m about to say, and I hope he gets this message and a massive thanks as this man is a credit to the team!.. The lovely man opened up about his disability also with him also being on the spectrum so he instantly noticed my nephew was a little “different”.. he got talking to me and talking to my nephew who obviously didn’t talk back, didn’t treat him any differently than any other child going on. Now it become apparent to me that this section of the sea life where this man was sat was his favourite part.. as no matter how far we got round he would always end back at the beginning with this lovely gentleman. He helped keep him calm didn’t rush my nephew across and always welcomed him back time and time again even if we did end up going back around 15 times haha. This lovely worker knew this was just a sensory magical moment for him and just made the time much more enjoyable. I’m so grateful to this worker for making his time at the sea life just the most magical moment. Again I’m so sorry I didn’t catch his name, but if I remember rightly he had darkish hair.. was the most calm person.. very knowledgeable.. and just an absolute pleasure to be around. This man was very brave to say he was also on the spectrum himself so he just knew the troubles my nephew would be facing on a day to day basis and I hope that this review reaches you and you get the credit you deserve Thankyou so much for making our time amazing and we will see you...