A Sneak Peek at the SEA LIFE Centre Manchester
The SEA LIFE Centre Manchester opens it's doors to the public on 6th June 2013 but lovely Laura from Blogs Up North managed to get around thirty blogger families into the centre today for a special preview of the forthcoming attraction. The attraction isn't quite finished yet but the vast array of sealife is installed so we jumped at the opportunity to meet up and have a wander around.
The Manchester SEA LIFE centre is the newest addition to the countrywide chain of aquariums and can be found in Barton Square at the Trafford Centre, beside the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre (another Merlin attraction). We entered the attraction through the foyer and, following this, were taken through to an interactive presentation about turtles laying their eggs on the beach, and the dangers that they face. The Manchester centre seems to focus on turtles quite a bit, not ideal for me as I'm a bit scared of them! From that point onwards we were free to explore the centre at our leisure. Bud loved meeting all the fish and other marine creatures (lots of turtles) and some of the tanks were incredibly innovative.
The vast array of different creatures was terrific. Highlights for me were the rays bombing around one pool and the beautiful sea horses (my favourites) serenely gliding around their tanks. Bud loved the huge turtle, Ernie and the touch pools which featured shore and hermit crabs, although he refused to actually touch any of them. For a toddler of Bud's size the attraction gets off to something of a slow start as, following the first two rooms, there is a series of tanks that he was too little to properly enjoy. I was a little anxious that this would continue and I would have to lift him up all the time but this wasn't the case as the rest of the tanks were at a much easier height for a toddler to investigate.
The Manchester SEA LIFE centre will become the home of a new Sea Trek experience which allows participants to walk along the sea bed in the main tank using a self-contained diving hood with no need for a tank and SCUBA mask. This is a European first for the centre and they are accepting bookings at £60 per session.
It was fantastic to get such an early look at what I can imagine will become a really popular addition to the Manchester tourist trail. We only got a glimpse of some of the attractions, like an interesting soft play tower, and the very well stocked gift shop so I think we'd definitely love to return when the centre is fully open to the public for the full SEA LIFE Manchester experience.
If you'd like to keep up to date with all the news from SEA LIFE Manchester you can like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.
Disclaimer: We were invited to attend a special bloggers' preview of the centre.
