'Come see the fishes' Sea Life Centre
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Recommendation added: 12/04/2006 21:23
By: Darkangel (YSUK rating +133)Darkangel has been thanked 13 times for this contribution
"The Sea Life Centre in Southend is situated on the seafront. It is a very original looking building and is very hard to miss. The Sea Life centre is open all year round and is good for all ages of children and adults. The best thing about the Sea Life Centre is if you purchase a ticket it is Valid all day so you can come and go as you please throughout the day making your experience all that much more fulfilling.
I first took my children to the Sea Life centre when they were around a year old. and I have taken them every year to various centers for the last six years.
The centre is very accommodating for pushchairs as there are no steep slopes or stairs that are on the path. The children have many activities to do while they are there, including Information Trail's, Investigation Pools, where the children can feel all the different type's of sea urchins and starfish. And many fun exhibits.
When you enter the centre there are lots of different picture's and scene's including a small pool which show's how the tides work in the area, there are also many fish in tanks that can be found off of the local coasts. At the Ticket desk you can find a program about the Sea Life centre and information of different events happening at the centre including feeding time's and guided sessions on the animals.
Once you have paid and enter the main Area the fun begins. For the children all the information on the fish and other marine life in the exhibits is written on cards around the tanks, which are set at small height's to enable most children to read them, or if they are very young you can read the information to them while they follow the words.
There are several area's around the Centre including:-
Deep Water World, where you can go through a tunnel under the water and see free swimming Sharks and Sting Ray's.
The Ray Bay, which is a large tank with lots of different species of ray in. you can see them through the sides of the tank swimming gracefully through the water, or coming to the surface to be nosey, poking their pointed heads out of the water.
HMS Sub, Tropical, with lots of porthole tanks full of tropical fish of different vibrant colours and shapes, and also a special edition of Piranhas.
Sea Cavern's with its large tanks full of different fish you would never normally encounter like moray eels and pipefish
Seahorse Rodeo, where you can see lots of seahorse, and how they look in their natural environment.
Beach Walk, this are has lots of different species' native to the UK coast.
And my personal favorite
The Nursery tank section has many different tanks full of baby fish and also new arrivals in quarantine.
The Rock pool, a place where you are allowed to touch and feel all the more gentler marine creature's including sea urchins, starfish and crabs
If you time your visit in Spring you may see some of the baby Seal pup's that wash up around the coastline at this time of year being nursed back to health by the wonderful staff. Once these adorable little seal's are healthy they are released back into the wild usually around the same area or they are transported to Norfolk and released around seal island near Hunstanton.
There is a very good restaurant in the Sea Life Centre too, which serves many different meals from Burgers and chips to salads, and freshly made sandwiches. There is also a varied selection of hot and cold drinks, and lots of cakes muffins and chocolate bars for an after meal treat. If the weather is hot you could always opt for an ice cream.
There is also a small indoor play area with ball pool and slides and tunnels, where the children can run around and burn off some energy.
The Centre is open throughout the year except Christmas day and Boxing Day from 10 am till 5/7pm (season dependent) and prices are as follows:-
Adults: £6.00
Senior Citizens and Concessions: £4.75
Children (4 - 14 years old): £4.50
Children's Combo (Aquarium and Play Centre 4-12 years old): £5.50
Children under 4 years old: Free (aquarium only)
Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) £17.50 (Aquarium only)
To contact the Sea Life Centre :-
Sealife Adventure
Southend-on-sea,
Essex,
SS1 2ER
Tel: 01702 442211
Fax: 01702 462444
sealife@stockvale.co.uk"
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