Tip: Check your cereal boxes for “Buy One Get One Free” offers.

My good lady and I had a great day out at the Sea Life Centre Birmingham yesterday. It had been at least a couple of years since we’d last been and so it made a nice change. Plus we had a “buy one get one free” voucher from a cereal box, which is always nice.

Stood behind the family in front I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Dad. He was forking out £71.80 for himself, his wife and his two or three kids. I almost tapped him on the shoulder to advise him to go next door and buy two boxes of Frosties. Thereby getting two adult entries for the cost of two cereal boxes. But I figured the Sea Life Centre could do some good with the extra.

I was impressed with the array of sea creatures throughout the building, with the underwater tunnel at the end being of particular stand out. All of the talks we saw, including the Oceanic Adventures; Asian Short-clawed otters; and the behind the scenes tour were all great and very informative.

This was also the first time I’d seen Gentoo penguins up close. They were very cool and very inquisitive with the human faces pushed up against the glass.

The route throughout the Sea Life Centre was just right – not too long and not too short. I think we got there at about 1pm and left and about 4:45pm after the last talk. So you could easily do this in a morning or an afternoon. It pretty much moves around the building in one direction with many rooms containing multiple displays. Of course you can always go back through to look at any creatures again – we did, multiple times.

The only draw back was the lack of a cafe in the building, but that isn’t really a deal-breaker for me.

If you’re in Birmingham and have a morning or afternoon free, do consider the Sea Life Centre.

Some Facts I Remember Learning

The difference between Sharks and Rays is that Sharks have gills on the side of their head; Rays’ are on the bottom of their body.

The Mantis Shrimp’s hit is so strong, that if humans had the equivalent power, we could hit a ball into space.

Some breeds of fish can change sex, for instance when one of a breeding pair is removed.