We have been fans of Bournemouth Oceanarium for many years and I am the proud owner of an annual pass and take Sebastian to see his favourite turtles regularly. In its old form however, it only took around an hour to walk round so we were really excited when they announced their expansion plans last year and now it is finally open.
We did get invited to a preview event, but we were at Camp Bestival so I used our passes and went yesterday. We have been going regularly for 6 years and I have never, ever seen a queue out of the door to get in, especially just after opening time – these penguins are obviously popular!
Thankfully the queue moved quickly and we were soon inside.
We had hoped to see the Otters being fed as it is such fun to watch as they zoom around their natural oasis but by the time we got there they were all snoozing after having a belly full of food, so we headed around the corner to the new Penguin Beach Encounter to watch them being fed instead.
We were so looking forward to it but felt somewhat disappointed as we turned the corner. The brand new custom-built exhibit ‘Penguin Beach Encounter’, which was specifically designed to replicate the birds’ natural habitat with a deep pool, beach and rockery looked fabulous and we could see the ten Humboldt penguins and a couple of diving ducks, however they had not thought out the viewing area very well. It was rammed, so much so that one of the children burst into tears because they couldn’t move as it was so over-crowded.
We managed to squeeze the children in to see the penguins through the glass panels in front of some adults, but as everyone was standing 4 / 5 people deep and with children on shoulders we couldn’t see much ourselves. The open viewing area was only on two sides of the exhibit, with a wall with a window on the other side. They should have built a small tiered area where people could sit and view the penguins to keep the walkway clear as we had no chance of walking around it to get out either. The keeper however did give an informative talk before taking questions from the crowd.
Once the talk finished the crowd started to clear and we discovered an open cafe area on the opposite side with a wall of penguins where the children could measure themselves against different species of penguins. I can’t believe how tall some are!
We could have headed downstairs at this point to the new play area but we chose to continue around the rest of the upstairs of the Oceanarium and through the tunnel as the girls wanted to see the sharks. Sebby always spends ages looking at the corals display as it is full of bright colours and this time the creatures that live amongst it were being fed so we got to see more than we have before.
We then headed down the stairs towards the tunnel and hit another problem. People were queuing down the stairs to get through the tunnel. It was so bad that the staff eventually had to intervene and open another door to move people through a different way. We did persevere with the queue for the tunnel, but instead of being able to stop and look as we normally do we were shepherded through very quickly by the staff.
Our next stop was the new play zone which was framed by a giant glass wall where you go see the Penguins swimming. Sadly today they obviously didn’t fancy it but the kids were more than happy to play on the new play equipment.
The play zone isn’t big enough to spend a great deal of time but they have tables and chairs and a small hatch serving refreshments if you want to stop for a tea or a coffee and let the kids run off steam.
Our final stop was the Key West display where Sebby got to see his favourite turtle.
The addition of the Penguin Beach Encounter adds about an extra hour onto an Oceanarium visit and I am looking forward to coming back after tourist season when it will be much quieter. I do think that on this particular visit it was over-capacity and they should have stopped people coming in but the queue as was left was as bad as when we arrived.
This looks like such a good day out. I love penguins! x
Wow, it looks as though it was particularly popular. I wonder what it is like on a regular weekend? It must be great having something like that on your doorstep.
How lucky to have somewhere like this on your doorstep?! Brill.
I’m sorry to hear that this doesn’t seem to have been thought about properly – such a shame to have the children crushed up like that. I’m sure you’re right that it will ease off after the holidays, but that’s not really the point. Hope they sort something out, as it does look like really good fun, other than the queues!
Sound like it’s to be avoided at busy times, but I bet it’s a lovely place to go in term time with the little ones. Love penguins x
I absolutely love to see penguins they are such little characters! What a shame it was so busy though that must not be good for the little creatures either. This does sound like a brilliant place to visit though x
We visited the local sea life a few months back and barely got to see any of it. My foster son is a wheelchair and no one would make space for him to get close enough to see anything. It was a shame as i’m sure he would have loved it. Though the penguins would make me super happy to see, they are a family favourite.
Oh we must check this out Kara, it looks brilliant. No wonder its a favourite of yours. I love aquariums, definitely due to a visit to one. POD is with her grandparents this week after finishing pre-school so we’ve got the odd day in-between work x
I am a huge fan of aquariums and sea life centres, I studied too be a marine biologist years ago and almost moved to Australia to get a degree in it, unforeseen circumstances stopped that, but I love visiting lace like this to get up close and personal with the marine life. This place looks incredible!
I love penguins , what a great place to visit x
This looks like a fantastic place to visit, I would be in my element here x
Got to love penguins haven’t you? My son would love to see them too.
We went to Bournemouth last week and almost visited the aquarium. Decided not to though as it was so warm and busy when we walked through the entrance. Think we made the right decision! #countrykids
It sounds great – shame about the queue though. I suppose most places are like that now due to the summer holidays 🙂 #countrykids
It’s great that you’ve got the Oceanarium so close to you and you all enjoy popping there to waste an hour or two. It’s such a shame that the Penguin exhibit didn’t live up to your expectations considering the quality of the rest of the attraction, let’s hope you guys get to go back again and see the penguins when there’s less of a crowd. Thanks for linking up with me on Country Kids.
UUm, this is somewhere I’ve always wanted to take Monkey, but whenever we’ve been in Bournemouth the queues have been awful. No way he’d cope with the penguins like you guys did. I think we’ll have to come down out of season and see them. #CountryKids
I can see why you love this place. The creatures here are just lovely and the place looks stunning! #countrykids
This looks like a great day out, I love the look of the new penguin enclosure 🙂 I will be putting this on our list. Thank you for sharing #CountryKids
I must admit I avoid the place in peek season. We went in the evening to the launch event and queued for 30 mins to get in. However although busy I found it easy to navigate around. The Penguins are cute though! Bring on the babies!
What a shame – that sounds no fun at all, and worse when you’re looking forward to something particularly and can’t see/enjoy it. It does sound like a lovely place to visit when it’s quieter though, and penguins are always great. #countrykids
Oh wow what a fantastic looking place to spend a day out – I have to admit I do love Penguins. x
This looks absolutely fascinating, especially all the penguins. J would love it!