The Brighton Sea Life Centre – A Weatherproof Day Out For All the Family!
The primary problem with the British Summer is, well… we don’t really get one. Sure, we might get lucky with a couple of days of interrupted sunshine here and there, but it’s only a matter of time before the clouds and rain make a reappearance in our skies.
This, as a parent of two excitable children, presents somewhat of a problem because, on one hand, children should be active and educated as much as possible. On the other hand, no one likes getting soaked through.
So unless you have a fairly robust set of waterproofs and an equally robust sense of humour, your opportunities to get out and about are often curtailed on this sceptred Isle on which we are fortunate to live.
Brighton Sea Life Centre
Luckily, Brighton is blessed with several all-weather alternatives, and a firm favourite activity in our house is a family trip to the Brighton Sea Life Centre. Mrs B, as the family interior expert, really enjoys the fantastic architecture and the impressive quadripartite vaults within.
The children really enjoy the aquatic life and I, for my money, quite like the sausage roll served by the café in the middle. Something for everyone, I guess.
The History
The history of the Brighton Sea Life Centre is long and fascinating in itself. It originally opened in 1872 as Brighton Aquarium, so as a result, it holds the claim to fame as the oldest continuously operating aquarium in the world which is pretty cool.
Originally designed by famous maverick Eugenius Birch, it was audacious right from the outset, demolishing several existing areas of Brighton to make space for a display of the wonders of marine life. Crammed with exhibitions, it was a huge success – and continues to be so today.
My own particular childhood memory of it was in the days when it had an actual dolphinarium, but fortunately these days we have a more enlightened attitude towards keeping dolphins in captivity. I was hugely pleased to discover that the last 2 dolphins, “Missie” and “Silver” were finally relocated to the wild in 1991. Swim free, little buddies.
Anyway, super keen to ensure my own children had equally happy childhood memories (albeit with better animal welfare awareness), on one grey summer day, we headed into Brighton for a morning of happily pottering around an architectural and marine education, hopefully with a sausage roll somewhere along the line.
Brighton Sea Life Centre Tickets
The first thing to consider, if you are visiting, is the cost. My brain – which is more or less stuck in 1996 – refuses to believe inflation is a factor and therefore nothing should cost more than about a fiver.
Unfortunately, as Mrs B will wearily testify to, there is a significant disconnect between “my brain” and “reality” and therefore it was a bit of a shock to find that tickets for a family of four to the Brighton Sea Life Centre cost in the region of from £15 in advance, from £24.50 for entry at the door and up to £32 for a complete experience package that includes a free VR experience.
Suddenly a cheap and breezy family day out threatens to cost North of £100 of real British money.
Ever the bargain hunter, even Mrs B with her firm grip on economics (and reality) baulked at that price and immediately set off trying to find out ways to relieve the pressure on our wallets.
Fortunately, at the moment, Kellogg’s (those of the cornflake fame) is offering 25% off on up to 2 Online Advance Priced Tickets at participating Merlin attractions in the UK – of which Sea Life Centres are one. Hurrah!
The Boy loves CocoPops (other cereals are available) so it was a quick trip to Tescos to stock up on cereals, tearing off the codes, and entering these on the website for a bargain reduction on our day out.
Depending on when you’re reading this, you should probably note that the offer is valid until 30th June 2025 – but I’m sure they’ll do something similar again soon.
How to Get to Brighton Sea Life Centre
Cheaper tickets duly secured (and feeling a bit smug about it, to be honest), we duly piled in the car and by sheer luck secured a parking space very near the Sea Life Centre, although Brighton is pretty good for car parking generally.
The best way to get there is by car, you can park along Madeira Drive which runs directly from Brighton Pier, but arrive early at the weekend as it can get extremely busy, especially on a sunny day.
It’s expensive as hell, but there is a lot of it. If money is an issue, there are also the fast, frequent and reliable local buses and of course the train, depending on where you’re coming from.
What to Expect at Brighton Sea Life
The first thing you’ll see when you come in is the impressive Neoclassical entrance of two kiosks with tented metal roofs on either side of a staircase leading to a sunken entrance plaza, all made of a once white artificial stone, but these days sadly a little greyer.
Straight away the history grabs you and you know you’re in for a little bit of a treat. Having had our tickets scanned, you’re invited to have a quick family photo to commemorate a successful family day out and, again, as Mrs B will testify to, I’m never one to avoid pulling a funny face and then suddenly, you’re in!
Beautiful High Victorian Gothic architecture smacks you in the eye and the impressive quadripartite vaults loom in front of you. It’s an effort to remember you’re there to see the fish and not gawp at the building as it’s so lovely.
Someone once described it to me as being like an underwater cathedral, and that’s probably the fairest description I can think of too.
The children happily ran off to pull faces at the fish, molest the starfish in the touch pool and begin the first of their regular demands to be brought a slushie at the café. Mrs B wandered off to admire the building and I took the opportunity for a reinvigorating coffee.
Just as we arrived, we were informed a talk and feeding was happening in the turtle tank, so we quickly marched off in that direction to see the turtles. I like turtles – slow, old and more or less permanently interested in food, they would absolutely be my spirit animal if I was forced to pick one.
The enthusiastic young Herpetologist spoke with incredible passion on the local and worldwide efforts to conserve the turtle population and spoke sternly on the dangers of litter and plastic to the enthralled children. That’s the best sort of education – the sort where children don’t realise they’re being educated.
Duly educated, we happily ambled between the various areas showing the marine life in rainforests, and what happens at night in the sea. The children even managed to get me to part with an additional tenner so they could try the aforementioned Virtual Reality ride that showed them what it would be like to swim with a shark.
Our Favourite Bits of the Sea Life Centre
It might be small, but it packs a lot in.
The underwater tunnel and new floor-to-ceiling viewing window of the big tank are not to be missed, complete with bio-luminescent UV coral. The glass-bottomed boat is also a treat, with a guide telling you all about the many sea life animals in the tank including the turtles, sharks and rays.
The rainforest section is one of our kid’s favourite areas. Full of terrapins, spiders and Bearded Dragons, it is a fascinating insight into tropical rainforest life.
Brighton Sea Life Centre is such an excellent way to spend a couple of hours on a dull or rainy day – we probably go a couple of times a year and it’s still always a treat for the mind. And you don’t even care if it’s raining outside.
Sure, it can be a bit pricy but there are discounts – the further out your book the better your chances of securing a cheaper ticket are, and under 2s – who in my experience are the most excited about fish – are free.
Tragically, I fear our days enjoying this brilliant little day out are numbered. It’s only a matter of time before my daughter makes the horrifying connection between the Sea Life Centre and Moshimo, her favourite Brighton sushi restaurant and the Boy stops eating CocoPops.
So I’ve written this blog so those of you with younger kids – or at least, act like younger kids – can enjoy the absolute gem that the Brighton Sea Life Centre is. Go along – there really is something for everyone.
