At the weekend we went to the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham to meet one of the girls’ favourite characters Poppy Cat. We have visited before before the twins were born but not since then because of the cost. At the time we last visited a lot of the exhibits were being redone so we didn’t really get a fair idea of what was there.
The Sea Life centre is on lots of levels so you wind your way upwards. It feels impressive when you first enter because there are lots of waterfalls and trees. The girls loved getting close to the fish.
One of the new parts is the jellyfish. This was really fascinating with the jelly fish being lit by backlights. They looked really beautiful floating around like a real life lava lamp.
The descriptions were also glowing which made them more fun to read. Do make sure you go to the toilet before you start to go round the Sea life centre. There aren’t toilets on every levels and they aren’t signposted so if you need to take a little one it is quite a trek and a wait as there are only one of each toilet. Stressful when you have three little ones.
I like how the tanks have been made to look like real pools. It makes it seem much more realistic.
The best bit by far is the water tunnel. it was hard to take pictures because it was quite crowded. You walk through a clear tunnel with the fish and other sea creatures going around you. It was amazing to get so close to giant turtles.
The girls were excited to see a real mermaid under the sea.
This really does feel quite magical, just like you are under the sea.
At the end of the trip is a small soft play area. The girls love this and played there for a long time while we waited for the main attraction Poppy Cat. I made a trip to the shop where it was very busy and there were long queues to buy anything with only one member of staff on at peak times. If we hadn’t needed drinks then I wouldn’t have bothered.
It was great to see a real life Poppy Cat. The girls were really scared but the attendant tried hard to put them at their ease. It was hard to listen to the story because it was so noisy.
Baby Poppy Cat was very pleased to meet big Poppy Cat.
If I were going again I would make sure I went mid week s it was much too busy on a Saturday afternoon to really enjoy it. I would also leave coats and bags as it was very hot. There is a new Midweek toddler ticket which is £12 for a parent and toddler and £12 for additional visitors only valid Monday-Friday between 10am-4pm. I think this would suit us better because it would be quieter in the week. Also I was surprised at the cost. For a family of five we would have paid £70 with the cost of parking on top of that. That is totally out of our budget – although there are often deals and 2 for 1. It’s definitely worth looking for the vouchers and using them – even just for the jellyfish and the water tunnel which are amazing experiences for toddlers.
To see another review of the day see Pinkoddy
Disclosure: We were given tickets for day for the purposes of this review.
