Last year we took Miss Peanut to the SeaLife Centre in Hunstanston. Although she couldn’t walk at the time she really enjoyed the experience. The Whole place had been rebuilt after a huge storm last May destroyed the place.
So this May we decided to take Miss Peanut to the SeaLife Centre in Great Yarmouth which we had been told was a much bigger place.
It was a little confusing on the drive there as we didn’t sea any signs for the place and in the end had to ask for directions. We ended up parking along the sea front near the pleasure beach area and walking along past all the shops and rides.
The SeaLife Centre was one of the buildings we found as we followed the stretch of beach and shops. This was my first time to Great Yarmouth so i wasn’t to sure what to expect.
A queue was already forming and it was quite busy as it was half term and all the kids were off school. It cost us around £40 – £50 to get inside as she didn’t have a coupon this time. (which we did for the other place).
Our hands were all stamped and as we were ushered inside we had to sit on a bench and have our photos taken. The women explained we could buy the photos at the end if we wanted them.
Miss Peanut who of course is walking walked straight up to the huge first tank of fish not quite sure what to make of them.
She seem fascinated as they swam round and round and she liked the soft lighting of the room. As we moved into the next area which was a tunnel it became very dark and she actually got quite scared and wanted to be carried.
Even Grandad commented that the corridors here were much darker than the other SeaLife centre we had visited.
The next area was even darker as the creatures in the tanks were glowing as they were jellyfish and under special lighting. They were absolutely beautiful to look at as they moved slowly about.
The next room had a door leading outside to the penguin pen and we decided to give Miss Peanut a break from all the darkness.
The pengiuns were so cute and one kept coming close to the glass and tapping on it with its beak right next to us. I was a little disappointed at how much the glass was scratched and thought they could have done a better job to clean it as i couldn’t get the best photo’s.
After watching the pengiun’s frolick around in the water for a while we decided to head back inside and see some more fish.
I had to laugh at one of the tank displays as it had a toilet inside and a rubber duck!
It was getting busier with more kids and parents as we headed to the next area. Here they were showing off some of the friendly sealife creatures. I was asked to put my hand in a swallow pool and a large shrimp swam over onto my fingers.
I was told it would clean all the bacteria of my hand if i stayed still. It felt very strange, my fingers were tingling in a strange way. It was slightly ticklish almost bordering on painful. The shrimp was quite intent and it took all my will power not to snatch my hand back.
My fingers still tingled even after we had left the pool and were still walking around.
Miss Peanut was still getting upset about the dark corridors and we took turns carrying her when needed as we had left the stroller in the car.
Alot of the tanks were smeared with little hand prints or just dirty which we all found a little disappointing when trying to see the different fish.
The main tank of the place was in the middle of the building and again i was a little disappointed. It didn’t seem as good as the other place but maybe that was because the other SeaLife Centre had been rebuilt. I also don’t think they had as many fish, sharks etc inside.
Miss Peanut didn’t seem very impressed and even needed a hug from Grandma while we watched the fish.
She was more than happy when we moved and even got down and walked holding my hand.
Again Grandad commented on the chocolately smudge marks on alot of the tanks. But i did point out we had come at half term so the kids were bound to leave lots of marks!
We enjoyed seeing the different types of star fish and Miss Peanut would stop at each tank and gaze up at them and touch the glass.
I liked a little flat fish who had very human features when it settled on the glass infront of me. It was strange but cute in a way.
The reptile area i really liked as the tanks were more open and you could see the creatures more clearly.
Grandad even spotted one of the turtles in distress on its back! When we found one of the SeaLife people we told them what we had seen and hoped they would help.
As we rounded another area we realised we had come to the end. We had been told by others that the place was much larger than the other one but in truth i felt it was smaller.
We were offered the photos of ourselves from the begining at a price but we decided not to both with them. We emerged into the gift shop and resutrant but decided to head outside.
In the end for lunch we found a lovely fish and chips place next to the beach.
All in all i think we were all disappointed with our trip to Great Yarmouth Sealife centre. I guess we had been spoilt with the visit to the one in Hunstanton and expected much more than we saw.
We all agreed in the end if Miss Peanut wanted to go to a Sealife centre in the future than we would stick to the one in Hunstanton.
But i would like to visit Great Yarmouth again as i really enjoyed the beach, pleasure beach rides and shops. Miss Peanut enjoyed walking around the town and i even found a wonderful second handbook stall in the market!
Run Brit Chick Run 