Today I am delighted to announce that we have been invited to work with the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham for the next year, as blogger ambassadors for them.
We’ve visited Sea Life several times since having the children and they always enjoy their time there. As they have grown, they have got different things from it. When they were little the tanks and exhibits were mesmerising, as they grew they enjoyed the more interactive parts of the experience, the rock pools, trails and stamping machines, and these days, they also take in the information available about each species. It’s educational as well as fun for them now. And then the soft play at the end is always a hit!
We visited a few days ago, and as always, we had a great time. It was actually the busiest I have ever seen it, with queues out of the door, yet once we got inside we did still manage to see everything and it didn’t feel like a crush.
My personal favourite is just as we walk in, as I adore the penguins. The Husband loves the rays and could spend hours looking at that Bay of Rays pool. Boo’s favourite area is the jellyfish, and I can see why, as it is so calming in there, they are entrancing. Little Man loves the frogs, and on this visit, they were the most active we have ever seen them, hopping all over the place and making him laugh. The Ocean Tunnel is always a highlight, and there’s a new Octopus Hideout there now, too, though I completely failed to spot the octopus – next time!!
On this particular visit, we took advantage of the nearby parking at the NIA, making it easy to nip there for the afternoon. If you’ve not been before, it’s easy to find and there are several restaurants nearby. I like the easy accessibility this offers us, though we also enjoy visiting by getting into Birmingham by train and walking alongside the canals to get there, it is a peaceful and relaxing walk. That way we tend to make more of a day of it and meander down to the Sea Life Centre in the morning and then take in a few more sights and do a little shopping. It’s a fun day out.
There are various events on throughout the year, and until 13th August, the Octonauts are at the Sea Life centre…
‘Become an Octo-Glow Explorer in Shellington’s Octo-Glow Lab and take part in a range of interactive activities to discover how creatures of the deep use light to hide from predators, attract their prey and even talk to each other. Newly recruited sea scientists are also invited to share their findings in the Octo-Glow Lab during an Octo-Glow Explorer character meet and greet!’
Don’t worry if you can’t get to see them this time round as they’ll be returning 30th September to 8th October.
As we’re now ambassadors, we will be visiting regularly over the next few months and I’ll be sure to share our experiences with you. Can’t wait!
Disclosure: We have annual passes FOC for the purpose of our ambassadors role
How exciting! Congratulations!
We haven’t been to a sealife place for years. Last time we did Ellie was too young saw one fish then lost interest. It sounds like this centre has a lot of things to see. x
Thanks! Oh yes, plenty to see and learn about x