Blue Planet Aquarium

We both hadn’t visited Blue Planet Aquarium since we were in Primary school – so having a baby to join us on our adventures meant we definitely had an excuse to go back and visit. Some say the baby is too young to visit and won’t remember, but he absolutely loved it nonetheless.

There is a one-way system in place to help protect against Covid and it is incredibly smooth-moving, so you’ll manage to see everything in the aquarium and not have to go back on yourself.

Tickets and opening

With Covid still looming-ish, you are definitely best to book online and at least 24 hours before you plan to visit. Tickets are an open 6 month admission, so you simply pay for your tickets and then you have 6 months to use them – good and bad I guess, you don’t have to rush and plan, but at the same time with everywhere getting booked up quickly these days, it is nice to know you have a slot and will get in.

Tickets cost £20.45 for 13 and over, £14.50 for up to 12, and free for anyone 90cm and below.

When paying for your ticket, you can purchase your parking ticket too which is £2.75 per vehicle. Part of me was thinking “why are you charging to park?”. But then in the next breath, I assume some people will use this car park as an overflow for Cheshire Oaks, so I kinda get it.

*UPDATE 20/09/21*

As lockdown rules have lifted, the aquarium is open daily 10am until 5pm, with a last entry of 4pm. I 100% advise that you arrive around 15 minutes before opening so you can get in easily. We entered the aquarium just before 10, and then when we were leaving around half 11, the queues where huge! So arrive early!

Aquarium

Northern Streams

The first exhibition we entered was through the Northern Streams, which displays freshwater creatures. You will see the likes of Orfe, Carp, and Sturgeon. This is probably my least favourite part, the baby wasn’t too enthusiastic here, mainly because the creatures here aren’t very vibrant.

Flooded Forest

We started enjoying the aquarium more from this point, as you start to see sea life creatures that you don’t get to see on a daily basis. We saw lots of catfish and electric eels, and members of the Piranha family.

Lake Malawi

Located in Africa, Lake Malawi is the third largest lake home to over 100 fish species. This area holds some of these beautiful species, including turtles. Dexter was mesmerized, as was I.

Frog Zone

We didn’t stay here for very long, but the frogs we saw were very pretty and colourful- and poisonous. And although teeny tiny, Dexter could see them, and looked pretty amazed at the bright colours.

Caimen Crocodiles

Growing up watching the Irwins, and still being huge fans of them today – I naturally have a great fascination for Crocodiles – they are spectacular.

At Blue Planet they have two Cuvier Dwarf Caiman crocodiles – the smallest of the species at 1.5m in length. If you get the chance to, you may even see the aquarists feeding them!

Rock Pools

There are three rock pools where you can see Mullet, Dogfish, Seabass and Rays. Rays are my personal favourite to watch – I love their faces!

Coral Cave

Coral Cave is super pretty, and was perfect sensory stimulation for the baby. As we put him up close to the glass, he followed the fish in all directions.

It is like your are looking at the Great Barrier Reef (on a very minute scale) and you see all kinds of tropical reef fish, rays and puffer fish. We also spotted Dory and Nemo!

Aquatheatre

Three times a day you can watch a dive show – you will learn all about the creatures, including Sand Tiger, Zebra, Bamboo, Guitar and Black Tip sharks.

We just stood and let Dexter absorb everything he was watching – again, it was sensory overload for him. It is a perfect place to see everything up close and personal.

Shark Tunnel

Obviously the Shark Tunnel is most people’s favourite, it is probably the only part of the aquarium I could remember from when I was a child. Dexter absolutely loved this part too, it was the first time he had properly focused on something, he would spot the shark and then follow it as it would swim over us, his eyes following them.

The Aqua-Tunnel here is one of Europe’s largest collections of sharks.

Venom

Spiders just aren’t may favourite things, I feel itchy just thinking about them. But it’s important the baby see’s them. The Venom display allows you to get close to creatures that are natural born killers *shudder*. Black Widow, Lionfish, Tarantulas, Jellyfish and Vipers – sounds delightful right!?

Pelican Cove

Pelican Cove was closed during our visit. But once open, you will be able to watch some Dalmatian Pelicans – which are the largest of the species.

Food and Drink

Included with our parking ticket was a free hot drink with each purchase at the cafe – so we put our orders through separately, and voila, free Latte each.

At the end of the route around the aquarium is a cafe, and the food looked surprisingly delicious. We just got a drink and cookie, and they were both really nice. You could choose to sit at a regular table or in a booth (which we did) that had a porthole-like window that made having a rest to feed the baby all the more better. We stood the baby up at the window, and he was just in awe of every creature that swam by.

Shop

As you can imagine, the shop is pretty expensive – we didn’t end up buying anything and bought the baby a hat with fish on from Cath Kidston in Cheshire Oaks (he will never know, haha).

The shop is located on the main floor, to the right of the entrance. It isn’t massive, but there is a lot to look at, from cuddly toys to bath toys.

Overall

I feel the price is a little steep – but visiting with a young, adventurous little boy, I would pay it again. It is sensory overload for babies and a great way for them to explore animals in the ocean.