SEA LIFE Great Yarmouth — Attraction in Great Yarmouth

Let me explain my reasoning for a three star review...

We have visited this Sea Life many times, especially in the past couple of years. However, it has become a bit of a novelty. It is something to do when you're in Great Yarmouth, but over our last visit I had quite a bit of sadness.

Though I am sure they're looked after properly, it didn't feel particularly clean, and it was all looking a little bit sad. The penguin area especially, there's an area you can sit for a photo opportunity and that was filthy, and again, felt novelty.

They're a cashless site which is fine, for the purpose of Covid, yet again on our last visit the place was absolutely rammed. I was under the impression you book a time-slot, which is how you do it via the Clubcard portal. So I would also assume that is down to making sure you have a set amount of people in there at one time.

Even if that is no longer something they do and people can come and go whenever, what is the point of still implementing Covid rules in other forms, such as being cashless? Needless to say though, there was far too many people in there at once, it ruined the experience and it felt like it was more of a money grabbing technique.

I have now just discovered they've changed their admissions from under 3's being free to under 2's. This is absurd... another money grabbing tactic? Literally everywhere lets under 3's go free. They know people like us will still pay it so our toddlers get to enjoy the experience though, but it is vastly different given that a two year old is far more likely to get around it much faster, and not really take advantage of their facilities as much.

A 3 year old is much more likely to be developmentally ready to go through the experience and partake. I wouldn't at all mind paying from that age, and I feel that's why many places have that rule. So why has Sea Life changed theirs?

I am hoping on our next visit the place feels like it has more life to it, and hopefully it has gone back to being the standard of which it was at before. I like to think the extra money is being used for the sea creatures, and not just for profits.

I will definitely change my stars back to 5 when this feels like it has been...

This was a very friendly and fun place to take our toddler. It's not very big and we got round in about 45mins, but with older, more engaged children it would probably fill up an hour and a half of a day. The fish tanks were very clear and we saw lots of interesting sea life up close, including a beautiful giant turtle, sharks, crocodiles, rays and an array of fish, including a tank full of finding nemos.

My daughter really enjoyed seeing the penguins really close up (literally a few cm away from the glass!) and I enjoyed the rock pool where we could touch some sealife including a cute starfish and an anemone! She was a bit young to really appreciate it all and just tried to run around everywhere, but it was worth a try and we'd definitely come again when she's a bit older

The social distancing was good - it wasn't busy at all when we visited towards the very end of the day on a rainy Tuesday afternoon and there was a one way system that was generally respected!

The staff were friendly and were willing to talk about the sealife. When we called ahead to move back our pre-booked slot a bit, the chap on the phone was very friendly and it was no trouble at all, which I really appreciated.

My daughter loved the gift shop and tried to take all the stuffed penguins home in her buggy! We bought a glittery bouncy ball with a Nemo fish in it that lights up for £2 which has given my daughter endless joy already, so that alone made the trip to Great Yarmouth worth it! It's the small things with toddlers...

I've given it five stars but I hesitated, because I think it's quite pricey given how small the place is - £40 for two adults. Maybe next time we'll look for a money off voucher...

Visiting on a weekday in January the centre was fairly quiet and really allowed us to take our time looking at all the animals. We spent about 3 hours in the building but it can easily be done in half that.

Quite a wide variety to see separated into various thematic zones. Penguins, sharks, jellyfish, crocodiles, some insects also - just to name a few and you can really get close to them.

The informational screens were a bit frustrating. Some of them didn't have a lot of information available directly on them and many are a slideshows which meant waiting to learn about specific creatures and then having a time limit to read what you want to know.

Staff were friendly and knowledgable about both the services offered and the animals kept at the centre. The young man who gave the talks (I think they were either called Harry or Aaron) was brilliant and able to answer every question thrown their direction.

Tickets were purchased online at £10 each during the Black Friday Sale (November). Normal ticket prices start at £16 per adult if booked online, £22 if purchased on the desk; £14 for a child if booked online; under 3's free entry.

Everything is very expensive. One souvenir in particular caught my eye was a Reversible Octopus plush with an asking price of £10 but mostly because I've been paying as little as £0.50 for them in thrift shops and seen them brand new for £3 in other stores.

£6.50 for a basic meal deal (sandwich/wrap, bottled drink, packet of crisps), extra 50p to 'upgrade' to a warm drink. The cafe also sells pizza, hot dogs, cakes and biscuits.

Well worth the visit but definitely keep an eye out for...