Hastings Aquarium — Attraction in Hastings

Awesome and sensational Aquarium situated in the Old Town area of Hastings with a variety of Fish and other aquatic animals to see. The Aquarium is of a decent size and the best advice is to take your time going around to allow time to see the wonder of the animals that live in our oceans and rivers domestically and throughout the world and there are a variety of stunning animals to see as you around, which makes this place very memorable from other Aquariums that you visit. There are a number of exhibits you see as you around the Aquarium and these include The Native Zone, Nursery, Ray Tank, Ocean Tank and Tunnel, Rivers & Estuaries and the Jungle Room and all of these areas have a diverse range of fish and other creatures to see and all of the displays are truly amazing and wonderous. In the Native Zone it talks about the UK and the Temperate waters and you can see Sea Bass, Ballan Wrasse, Thornback Ray, Lesser Dogfish, European Lobster and Grey Mullet. In the Nursery you can see a large number of fish that have just been born and they look very much home in their tanks and appear very quickly adapted to their new environment and the animals that can be seen include Seahorses, Domino Damsels, Black & White Clownfish, Majestic Anglefish & Hambug Damsel. In the Ray Tank you can see Sea Bass, Thornback Ray and Nursehound. In the Ocean Tank it covers about the fish and creatures found in the world's oceans and in this section you can see Pufferfish, Blacktip Reefsharks and Blue Tang amongst others and with the inclusion of the Ocean Tunnel you can catch a great glimpse of these magical creatures swimming overhead. In the Rivers and Estuaries it talks about the creatures found in the Rivers and Estuaries in the world and in this section you can see a Fly River Turtle and Archerfish. In the Jungle Room you can see animals from the Jungle areas of the World and the animals you can see include a Green Tree Python, African Bullfrog, Argentine Tegu and Boa Constrictor. The best places are the Ocean Tank due to the breathtaking spectacle of the sharks and other fish swimming over you through the tunnel and also the Jungle Room as the Green Tree Python and Madagascar Day Gecko just look so amazing. There are talks throughout the day at set times talks and feed for the animals where you can learn further interesting facts about them and also how they feed. Vistors can also a purchase joint ticket for this place, The Smugglers Adventure and Castle for £24, which is useful and value for money.There is a cafe selling a variety of food and drink at affordable prices and also there is a gift shop with a wonderful range of gifts at affordable prices. Overall this is an amazing and tremendous place to visit and makes for a throughly wonderful and enjoyable day out. Well worth whilst...

Really lovely time out, interesting and fun, lots to see.

This isnt the largest of places, I saw this as a huge benefit however as it wasnt tiring and can take as long as required rather than rushing through to fit it all in.

The whole aquarium is spacious to walk around still which made it easier and is definitely wheelchair and pushchair friendly. Pushchairs can be left in a pushchair parking bay inside if required.

There wasnt a moment where many tanks weren't visible as the walk throughs are also full of tanks, displays, fascinating info and more, so is able to house as much as a larger building!

The viewing tunnel is long enough but not too long to feel you're in a tunnel!

The tunnel was spacious too and so much to see. What can be viewed in the tunnel can also be seen when walking in, the difference is they swim above you, yet I found both experiences equally as great.

It was great to see some of the more unusual looking fishes and the seahorses and sharks.

There is also a reptile room and I spotted a couple of machines holding fossils in one and sharks teeth in another (which you can slot in £1 and twist the handle for a ball to drop out with your piece of history inside)! This is great as gift shop prices can be a bit on the steep side.

The entry cost to the aquarium is really reasonable and loved that tickets can be purchased when there without having to book a visit. I believe tickets bought online can be used any day within so many months so if plans change, tickets are still valid.

Staff were friendly and everyone is left to enjoy their visit, some rooms and areas are under special lighting or relatively darkened for the species that require it.

Was able to take photos and videos throughout.

A very enjoyable visit. It turned out to be a favourite for all of us, regardless of our different ages, interests and...

Staff were very friendly and welcoming. We turned up on a Sunday without booking and it was fine for us to enter. Adults were not required to wear masks inside (we'd have preferred that it was required given the lack of social distancing, especially at the "talks"). We felt the price of £42 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) was very expensive for the size of the aquarium - SeaLife is more expensive on the face of it but there are typically offers at this time of year which bring down the price significantly.

It is a lovely small aquarium, though, with some interesting exhibits. The archerfish feeding sounded cool but wasn't actually as informative as we'd hoped. It was also very packed around a fairly small tank with no social distancing and no masks. I'd suggest that if you want to run that sort of session, it would not be unreasonable to require adults to wear masks at least. We were huddled around a 5 foot tank - and when I say "we" that included an elderly lady in a wheelchair. There is nothing wrong with imposing a company policy that masks must be worn inside - or at least, at feeding events.

We enjoyed the reptile room but it was very crowded and despite warnings lots of small children were banging on the glass panes which could have disturbed the reptiles.

In all we spent just under an hour here, in which we saw and spent a reasonable amount of time viewing all of the fish and reptiles. For the entrance price it felt pretty brief. Yes, you can re-enter and go round as many time as you want, but there isn't really enough to make you want to unless you are a real aquarium fan.

Overall - nice but disappointing for the price and Covid measures seemed...