SEA LIFE London Aquarium

I took my partner (a real fishophile) to the London Aquarium on the 3rd June 2008 as a birthday treat.

Stupidly we had not booked in advanced so we missed out on two possible reductions (booking online has a 10% reduction and we are both over 60). There was just one person at a desk to service both the 'not booked in advance' and 'fast track' tickets and it was not at all clear which line to stand in. We were not offered any guide to the place, either free of paid for.

The entrance to the Aquarium is gloomy in the extreme and the whole place feels old and shabby and well in need of attention. Having been to one in Perth, Western Australia perhaps my expectations were a little high but this is the centre of London and as such should be top notch. I would have been mortified if I had come more than 60 miles for this.

Perhaps because this is popular with tourists notices should be in several languages. I saw a small German boy having a great time banging his hands in the water, despite a huge sign saying 'no splashing'. Nearly everyone was taking photos, again despite signs saying 'no flash photography'.

And finally, we were somewhat surprised that there was not one single cod or sea bass (two of our most common North Sea inhabitants) in the whole place.

Standing outside leaning on the wall watching life go by on the Thames and listening to Big Ben for free was worth the trip though.

Altogether a rather disappointing visit.

I went the acquarium because I love all acquariums, and couldn't bare the thought of having one in the vicinity and not paying it a visit. I had read all the reviews on this site and others, and therefore went with very low expectations. Yes, the entrace fee is high, even by UK standards (I'm American by birth), but there was literally no line when I went at about 1pm on a Friday. The tanks were nicely set up, clean, and well marked with placards detailing the type of animals in each tank. There was a "touch tank" for the kids and a shallow no-touch tank where you could peer over the stingrays, etc from just a few feet away. The shark tank was underwhelming and predicatably crowded, and the "shark Walk" was even more of a let down.

While it wasn't the best aquarium I've ever been to, it was a nice experience and I'm happy I decided to go. I can now add it to the list of the acquariums I've been to from all over the world, and there were a few species I'd never heard of before.