Blue Reef Aquarium, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire
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Situated on the sea front at Southsea, Portsmouth. There's parking outside on the road which is metered. Small signed building, easily visible from road.
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Advantages: Fish And Otters Disadvantages: Cost And Not Much There
Blue Reef Aquarium, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire
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Situated on the sea front at Southsea, Portsmouth. There's parking outside on the road which is metered. Small signed building, easily visible from road.
Cost:
Adult - 7.50
Children 3-16 years - 4.99
Seniors and Students - 6.50
Family of 4 - 22.99 ...Times:
Open from 10am - 5pm (4pm November until February). Closed Christmas Day only.
What Is There?
As you walk in past past the paying tills from the lobby, you come acoss a darkened area with many tanks of tropical fish. One being the lionfish.
There is also a walkthrough tunnel where fish swim overhead. I do feel that the glass is highly magnified in places and the fish appear ten times ... more
Blue Reef Aquarium, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Situated on the sea front at Southsea, Portsmouth. There's parking outside on the road which is metered. Small signed building, easily visible from road.
Cost:
Adult - 7.50 Children 3-16 years - 4.99 Seniors and Students - 6.50 Family of 4 - 22.99 Family of 5 - 26.99
Opening Times:
Open from 10am - 5pm (4pm November until February). Closed Christmas Day only.
What Is There?
As you walk in past past the paying tills from the lobby, you come acoss a darkened area with many tanks of tropical fish. One being the lionfish.
There is also a walkthrough tunnel where fish swim overhead. I do feel that the glass is highly magnified in places and the fish appear ten times bigger than they really are.
A large open topped tank displays rays which poke their noses out of the water. A bridge allows you to walk above the tank and look down onto the rays.
There is a floor to ceiling tank filled with sharks which swim close to the glass. This makes an eye catching display.
Also in tanks are frogs and cuttlefish. The frogs are of blues and greens and are quite deadly.
Towards the back of the building there are otters in a big enclosure that do smell to high heaven. They are playful and lovely to watch if you can bear the smell. Does anyone know if they are naturally smelly??
Outside basking in the Southsea sun are terrepins with goldfish as their neighbours swimming side by side.
There is not alot to do outside apart from sitting at the tables looking out to sea at the passing ferries, hovercrafts and boats. A small one child sandpit and a large floor puzzle is about all it has to offer.
A small room shows a video of educational value. There is a small table with a net over the top which is semi submerged in a make shift rock pool with animals you are not allowed to touch. Though the net allows children and adults to give the little sea urchins a poke.
There are a couple of tables for children in the corridor near the exit with colouring paper and pens for them to use.
Cafe
The cafe is on the small side, but offers high chairs, bottle warming and microwave for visitors to use at their leisure. We didn't eat at the cafe so I can't comment on the food.
Gift Shop
This is one of those gift shops that always catches you and the children just as you are about to go through the exit. There is no way of avoiding it. Though it does have some pens, cuddly toys and aquarium related merchandise there are also many non acquarium items.
Toilets
These are clean and easily accessible for prams and wheelchairs.
Overall Opinion
Expensive for what is there. We took forty five long minutes to walk around the whole aquarium.
We had free tickets for five of us to get in, but felt that for the money it would have cost five of us to get in, we didn't feel there was enough to keep us occupied for longer than an hour at most.
If the price was under twenty pounds for five then it may have been better value for money, also if there was more to do outside.
Advantages: Interesting exhibits Disadvantages: A little overpriced and small
...was quite suprised with the Blue Reef Aquarium, in a good way. The place itself is rather small, although it does seem to be packed with all sorts of interesting displays. The highlight for me was the room with the Carp pond and the massive octopus! I've never seen anything like it! Also interesting was the Otter enclosure, they came right up to the glass wall so that you could get a really good look at them - they were obviously used to playing ... ...breeding tanks where the baby seahorses were. I've never seen anything so delicate and really quite cute.
There is a good size outdoor area for families with a splash park and a small kiosk serving food. The only real downside to this attraction is the price, rather expensive for adults, although we got a student discount. Other than that, a fun, family afternoon out! ...
LittleCharlie85 22.01.2009
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