Tynemouth Aquarium — Attraction in North Tyneside

UPDATED REVIEW:

Downgraded to one star. No parking at all. Called five times for advice, as two of us are disabled with mobility issues, phone rang out four times. Fifth time was spoken to very rudely and hung up on.

Was told the business doesn't have its own car park (what's that behind the building with the coach bays?). Was told we couldn't park in the open area behind the building as they weren't marked bays, yet it's large enough to fit a good ten cars with room to manoeuvre.

Church car park full, with huge queues. Told the lady it was nearly an hour each way, was told to go home and try another day!

Website doesn't allow bookings and no car park to guarantee you can even park when you do arrive after a long drive.

Disappointing to see zero action on parking feedback two years later. I see I made made the same complaint in 2023. Took over 50 minutes to get a spot. If it was just me, I'd have come home and boycott the place, but when you promise a six year old something, you kind of have to do it. Won't be back though. Not playing parking roulette as your staff suggested. Place isn't accessible to disabled people - which I'm sure there's regulations about. Took longer to find a parking space than it did to complete the attraction. Nearly three hours stuck in the car for 45 minutes of aquarium. Got stuck there for longer as had to hang around for 3pm seal talk, which my nephew had his heart set on, after missing the 12pm one due to no parking, even though we set off before 10:30am.

OLD REVIEW: 23.08.23: 4 stars.

I decided to take my nephew here, with my parents (so his grandparents) on 23 August 2023, so that he'd have some quality time with us before going back to school. He's nearly 5, so he has some good communication skills and is very inquisitive.

It's an hours drive from me. But that said, 99% of the journey was up the A19, so whilst I was anxious, it was a pleasant drive and pretty much a straight line there and back.

It's a small venue, but I was surprised at how quickly we got through it. With the seal feed and talk we were inside for an hour. We spent over two hours in the restaurant. I think it was a mix of there being so many people there that we felt pushed on to the next section and rushed, and we admittedly didn't read all of the info sheets.

All of the various tanks and enclosures were immaculate, you can't fault their cleanliness or how much they care for their residents. The seals were a treat, spoiled only by people talking all the way through the display. They're much more intelligent and gentle than you'd imagine, when domesticated at least. The seals clearly enjoy their interactions with their humans.

They have a great variety of fish.

The gift shop is amazing. There's something for everyone. I'm 38 but I just HAD to have a large shark plush! The pricing is reasonable for a one of a kind attraction.

The restaurant was lovely. Stunning views as promised and the fish, chips and mushy peas were beautiful. A slice of bread and butter would turn this into an epic meal. We all really enjoyed it. My nephew enjoyed his chicken strips and chips. The place was very, clean.

The staff were very pleasant and friendly, especially the fellow at check in/gift shop.

My mum got in for free as my OAP father's carer and my nephew got in for free thanks to a Days Out With The Kids promotion. I ordered my adult ticket with my nephew added for free online and paid by PayPal. It was easy to use and redeem. My mum had to provide proof she was a carer and my father an OAP but it was no hassle.

My only criticism as a disabled person is that you only have four disability bays, but six EV charging bays. Now we have an EV, but our battery was at like 83% so I couldn't exactly hog a charging bay for a very short charge. You need more disability bays. Two of us have mobility issues and we had to walk from as far as...

Heartwarming and delightful Aquarium in the Picturesque Coastal town of Tynemouth with abundance of aquatic creatures and other wildlife to see. The building on the inside looks wonderfully bigger than it does on the outside and there are a number of areas to see including Ocean Tunnel, Coral Garden, Seal Hospital & Cove, World Deadliest Fish, Predators, Endangered Zone, Amazing Amazon, Tropical Seas, River Giants, Weird and Wonderful, St Mary Islands and Mississippi River and all of these areas have wonderfully dazzling awe inspiring displays of aquatic wildlife and a variety of wildlife to see. There is a lovely variety of wildlife to see in each of these areas including Marmoset Monkeys, Red Tailed Catfish, Giant Pacu, Clownfish, Sharks, Seals and Lionfish and all of these animals make for an awesome sight when close up in their tanks/enclosures. The Mississippi River displays showcases wildlife from the Mississippi area of the USA and in this area you can see Terrapins, Plecs amd Map Turtles. In the St Mary's Island it speak about native wildlife off the British Coast and local wildlife area Tynemouth and the wildlife seen in this area is Grey Mullets, Coley, Flounders, Sea Bass, Star Fish, Snack Lock Anenome and Undulate Ray. In the Weird and Wonderful you can see unique wildlife such as Scoprion Fish and Shrimps. In the River Giants it discusses the boiling river in the Amazon and also the River Giants that occupy it such as The Giant Pacu, Red Tailed Catfish and Polka Dot Stingray. In the Tropical Seas it showcases all the fish in the world's tropical Seas and also Coral reefs and in this area you can see Guineafowl Pufferish, Foxface Rabbitfish, Picasso Triggerfish and Arabian Angelfish. In the Amazing Amazon it showcases the wildlife found in the Amazon and you can see Marmosets, Red Footed Tortoise, Neon Tetra and Angelfish. In the Endangered Zone you can see the rare Endangered wildlife in the world and in this area you can see Axolotl. There is the Predators area where you can see the Predators of the Ocean and in this area you can see Moray Eels, Lionfish, Clown Triggerfish and Panther Groupers. There is Seal Cove where you can see a small host of Harbour Seals who are fabulously inquisitive upon seeing people and well looked after in their spacious tanks and the names of the Seals on show are Calypso, Loffe, Nova and Laura and the Seal Hospital which is an absolute fantastically unique part of this place rescuing Seals that are injured in the wild rehabilitating them before releasing them back. In the Coral Garden you can see all the plant life that make Coral Reefs such Vibrant places for wildlife and you can see you can see Hammer Coral, Giant Mushrooms, Bubble Coral and Bubble Tip Anenmone. The Ocean Tunnel which is the most dazzling part of this place where you can see Sharks and Rays swimming over you amongst other wildlife and is awesome sight to see and the wildlife seen in the Ocean Tunnel is the Cownose Ray, Regal Tang and Blacktip Reef Sharks. There is a cafe with a delightful range of Food and Drink at reasonable prices and there is a gift shop with a great range of souvenirs at reasonable prices. Overall this is an impeccably brilliant and spectacular place to visit and makes for a tremendous and awesome day out. Well worth whilst...

Visited the aquarium today. It isn’t our first time so we knew what to expect. It had been a good couple of years since our last visit so we were pleasantly surprised to see it’s had a little facelift.

The cafe area is bigger and better for starters. And there’s a few changes in the aquarium, little sandpit area at the start, there was a mermaid to entertain the kids, the smelly otters have gone and replaced with huge river giant fish, they’ve invested in some dry ice too!!

So yes, it’s a canny little place BUT my reason for only 3 stars is based on the value for money. We were round it all in 35mins. And went round again after we’d had some lunch in the new cafe which was decent enough for the kids. So we were in the actual aquarium for no more than 1 hour in total, going around twice. We tried the river giant show but struggled to hear what was being said, muffled mic sounds, so we moved on.

We did enjoy the aquarium but for our family of 5, we paid £79.40 to get in. Plus the £3 parking. And £5 Tyne tunnel. Plus the £27 in the cafe. It was a very expensive 2hrs.

And for that reason, £80 for an aquarium that takes 30mins to get around, as canny as it is, it’s not good value for money. Now if said £80 was an annual pass then yes, that’s more acceptable but alas £80 was just a day pass for our family of 5. (It was £169 for the annual pass).

I’m sure making their day pass prices an annual pass would generate more income for them. People would feel it was better value and return 3 or 4 times a year, spending in the cafe and the gift shop each time. But at the current prices people like me feel it’s not good value and return once every 2-4yrs and usher the kids through the gift shop as quickly as possible while mumbling to myself on the way back to the car “what a rip off”.

Which is an actual shame because if the price was right then it would garner a solid 4 out of 5 stars easily.

It reminds me of Diggerland, which has ridiculous day pass prices and we’ve been just once in the last 10yrs. There’s plenty other local attractions who do the day pass equals an annual pass thing and it works out to be a good strategy. Beamish have done it since forever. Twycross zoo have recently done it. So come on Aquarium folks, reduce your day ticket prices or make them annual passes by default. That’s my opinion anyway.

So in summary, yes it is a canny little aquarium which we did enjoy for the short time it takes to get round it but it just does not offer good value for money in my opinion.

We’ll return in...