About fifty aquariums share one name. A ticket is for one building, most visits take two
hours, and the door is the dearest place to buy. Here is how to pick the right one and book it well.
Ten aquariums, one pageFour continents, the same brand, very different buildings
What the ticket coversTaken from each listing, including the rules that catch people out
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before, on every ticket listed here
Secure checkoutBook on GetYourGuide, with a mobile e-ticket
Tickets
Choose your SEA LIFE aquarium
In the centre, the London flagship at County Hall, next to the London Eye. On the left, Sydney's
Darling Harbour aquarium with its rescued dugong. On the right, Orlando's 360-degree tunnel on International Drive.
Each is a timed e-ticket for that one building.
Skip-the-line entry to the Darling Harbour aquarium, which the listing calls the world's largest collection of all-Australian aquatic life. Shark Valley, the Penguin Expedition raft ride and a rescued dugong.
What's included
Entry to SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium
Skip-the-line access, as stated on the listing
Day and Night on the Reef, Shark Valley, Penguin Expedition, Rockpool Ranger
The timed e-ticket for the County Hall aquarium beside the London Eye: 14 themed zones over three floors, a glass walkway over the sharks and the penguins of Polar Adventure. Arrive at the time on your ticket.
What's included
Entry to SEA LIFE London Aquarium at your booked time slot
Mobile e-ticket: scan it at the timed-entry door
Infants under 2 free, but they still need a ticket; under-16s with an adult aged 18 or over
Disabled guests pay the standard rate and a carer enters free; wheelchair accessible (max 10 wheelchairs inside at once)
The International Drive aquarium with Florida's only 360-degree ocean tunnel, a jelly wall and a coastal touch pool. An easy indoor hour or two between the parks, and a quick walk from the ICON Park wheel.
What's included
Entry to SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium
The 360-degree ocean tunnel, Jelly Wall and Coastal Rockpool touch pool
Daily feed talks, as described by the operator
Behind-the-scenes tour and VR experience are extras sold on site, not included
The name is the same everywhere; the buildings are not. London, Sydney and Melbourne are the big
ones with two-hour visits; Minnesota, Arizona and Benalmádena are an hour inside a mall or a marina. Time
needed and validity are taken from the operator and from each listing.
Every ticket in this table cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide. Paris and
Bangkok do not allow re-entry once you leave; Minnesota applies the Mall of America escort rule for under-16s after 3 pm.
What you actually get
SEA LIFE is a brand, not a place: your ticket opens one door.
SEA LIFE is the aquarium chain of Merlin Entertainments, the company behind LEGOLAND and Madame
Tussauds. The first centre opened in Oban, Scotland, in 1979; the group now counts about fifty aquariums in the
United Kingdom, mainland Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, from a Victorian arcade in Brighton to a mall
basement in Bangkok. They share a look, a conservation programme and the shark tunnel, and little else.
That is the thing to know before you search for "SEA LIFE tickets". A ticket is for one building on one day,
at a booked time. The London flagship fills two hours; the Minnesota aquarium takes about an hour by the listing's
own estimate. Several sit next to a sister attraction, which is why so much of what is sold is a combo:
the London Eye, Madame Tussauds in Orlando, a LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Arizona.
1979
The year the first Sea Life Centre opened, in Oban on the west coast of
Scotland. The oldest building in the chain is far older: Brighton's aquarium dates from 1872.
LondonSydneyOrlandoBangkokMunich
The same brand, a different building in every city: the ticket is for the one you stand in.
01
Timed entry
The London listing states that you must arrive at the time on your e-ticket; most SEA LIFE tickets work the same way.
02
Online, not at the door
The operator's own site says door prices are higher and same-day entry is not guaranteed.
03
Two hours, not a day
The operator estimates one and a half to two hours in London, Sydney and Melbourne. Plan the rest of the day around it.
04
Who should skip it?
Anyone expecting a marine park with shows: that is SeaWorld, a different company. SEA LIFE is an indoor aquarium walk.
Inside
What a SEA LIFE visit looks like
Four steps that repeat from London to Sydney, in a different order and at a different scale in each
building. The photographs show the kind of displays the chain is known for.
01
Scan in
Show the e-ticket on your phone at the timed-entry door. Bags and strollers are allowed in most buildings; large luggage is not.
At your booked time
02
Follow the route
A one-way walk through themed zones: rockpools and reefs first, then rays, jellyfish and the big open-ocean tank.
One direction
03
The tunnel
Sharks, rays and turtles overhead. Orlando, Arizona and Minnesota have 360-degree tunnels; London has a glass walkway over its sharks.
The reason most people come
04
Feeds and talks
Short keeper talks and feeding sessions through the middle of the day, penguins where the building has them, then the shop.
Getting there, ages and access, timing and what to bring.
London: County Hall on the South Bank, between Westminster Bridge and the London Eye; Waterloo and Westminster are the nearest stations.
Sydney: 1-5 Wheat Road, Darling Harbour, a walk from Town Hall or Wynyard.
Orlando: inside ICON Park on International Drive, with the park's own parking.
Melbourne: the corner of Flinders and King Streets on the Yarra, opposite Crown.
In a mall: Arizona Mills in Tempe, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Siam Paragon in Bangkok and Val d'Europe in Serris are shopping centres; follow the mall's signs.
Under-2s go free in London, Minnesota and Bangkok by the listings; in London they still need a ticket reserved.
London: under-16s must be with an adult aged 18 or over; Munich: under-15s with an adult; Bangkok: ages 2 to 15 with a paying adult.
London: disabled guests pay the standard rate and a carer enters free; a maximum of ten wheelchairs in the building at once.
Minnesota: the Mall of America requires under-16s to be with an adult aged 21 or over from 3 pm; the aquarium is wheelchair and stroller accessible.
Bangkok: the glass-bottom boat is an extra for ages 2 and over, with a consent letter for ages 2 to 3.
Opening hours differ by building and by day: London and Sydney commonly open at 10 am with last entry an hour before closing; check the day you are going.
Bangkok opens 10:00 to 20:00 with last entry at 19:00, by the listing; its feeds and talks run from 11:30 to 16:30.
Melbourne: after booking you choose your time slot on the operator's site, and the ticket is valid for a year from purchase.
The London Eye combo is valid for 90 days; the Eye slot is booked separately at no cost.
No re-entry in Paris or Bangkok once you leave the aquarium.
Your phone with the e-ticket, charged: it is scanned at the door.
Bangkok asks for a passport or ID card, or a copy.
A light layer: the halls are cool and dim.
No flash photography in London or Paris, by the listings; no food and drink inside in Paris and Minnesota.
A small bag only: Minnesota does not allow luggage or large bags.
FreeUnder-2sFree in London, Minnesota and Bangkok; London still needs the infant ticket reserved.
FreeCarers in LondonA disabled guest pays the standard rate and the carer enters free.
24 hFree cancellationOn every GetYourGuide ticket listed here, up to 24 hours before.
90 daysLondon Eye comboTwo County Hall neighbours on one booking, valid for 90 days.
1 yearMelbourneTickets valid for a year from purchase; pick the slot on the operator's site.
19:00Bangkok last entryOpen 10:00 to 20:00 daily, in the basement of Siam Paragon.
The flagship
SEA LIFE London
SEA LIFE London Aquarium, County Hall
Westminster Bridge Road, South Bank, London SE1 7PB
The chain's best-known aquarium opened in 1997 as the London Aquarium in the old County Hall, across the
Thames from the Houses of Parliament, and became SEA LIFE after Merlin took it over. Fourteen themed zones run
over three floors, with more than 500 species, a glass walkway above the sharks and the gentoo penguins of Polar
Adventure. The London Eye is next door, which is why the combo exists.
Timed-entry e-ticket: go to the Ticket Holder's Entrance, marked with a shark, at your slot
Amazing experience. My kids were over the moon and even the adults couldn't believe how perfectly maintained everything was. So many species of fish, huge aquarium with sharks, rays, giant turtles.
★★★★★
Was worth a visit and needed about 2 hours for us to get through. Though we did stay and listen about Pig.
★★★★★
View of the sharks, fish and turtles in the tunnel was AWESOME!!!
★★★★★
This is a beautiful sea life exhibition. We spent hours just wandering around with so much to see. The gigantic crocodile was amazing and a must see. The penguins were so entertaining.
★★★★★
Amazing aquarium! It's beautiful, with lots of different fish as well as reptiles and an incredible tunnel where you can see sharks passing overhead.
★★★★★
We were celebrating my husband's 88th birthday. What a celebration! Sea Life lived far beyond our expectations. It just went on and on getting better and better.
★★★★★
Brilliant aquarium!! They had an app you could download where you went round scanning fish and it gave you info about them. Absolutely amazing for small children.
★★★★★
Really nice. Well organized. Clean. Fun petting tank. Very nice activity and great for all ages.
★★★★★
Sea Life Munich is a very great house of the sea, where you can really discover and learn a lot! Definitely worth a visit for both young and old!
In London?
Add the London Eye
The aquarium and the observation wheel share the same stretch of the South Bank. One booking covers
both, with a separate free time slot for the Eye.
SEA LIFE London & London Eye Combo Ticket
South Bank, London · Valid 90 days · GetYourGuide
The two County Hall neighbours on one booking: the aquarium at your timed slot, then a 30-minute rotation on the London Eye. The listing states the combo is valid for 90 days and that the Eye time slot is booked separately at no cost, so read the voucher before you set off.
Type "SEA LIFE tickets" into a search box and you get London, Sydney, Orlando and a dozen other
cities in the same list, because they are the same brand. They are not the same visit. Here is what the name
covers, what a ticket really buys, and how to book one without paying the door rate.
One name, about fifty buildings
SEA LIFE belongs to Merlin Entertainments, which also runs LEGOLAND, Madame Tussauds and the London Eye. The
first Sea Life Centre opened in Oban in 1979, and the group has since grown by building new aquariums and by
buying old ones and renaming them: the London Aquarium of 1997, Sydney's Darling Harbour aquarium of 1988,
Minnesota's UnderWater World of 1996 and Bangkok's Siam Ocean World of 2005 all became SEA LIFE after Merlin took
them on. The Brighton aquarium, in the chain since 1991, opened in 1872 and is described as the oldest operating
aquarium in the world. So the buildings range from a Victorian arcade to a mall basement, and the scale with them.
The tunnel is the one thing almost every SEA LIFE shares.
What a ticket actually buys
A timed entry to one aquarium. The London listing spells out the mechanics that apply almost everywhere: a
mobile e-ticket, a time slot you must keep, infants free but still ticketed, under-16s with an adult. From there
the buildings differ. London runs fourteen zones over three floors and the operator estimates one and a half to two
hours. Sydney and Melbourne are the same order of visit, with Australian species and penguins. Orlando is an hour
or two around Florida's only 360-degree tunnel. Minnesota's listing says about an hour. Benalmádena is a
compact marina aquarium whose ticket is valid for a month.
The honest small print: no SEA LIFE is a full day, and none of them is a marine park with
shows. If that is what you want, you are looking for a different company. If you want a well-made two-hour aquarium
walk in the middle of a city, with a shark tunnel, rays, jellyfish and penguins, this is exactly that.
Why online beats the door
The operator's own London site says it plainly: door prices are higher, same-day availability is not
guaranteed, and online prices vary with available capacity. A ticket bought ahead on GetYourGuide is the same
timed slot, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every listing here. That also answers most "discount"
searches: the saving is in booking early, choosing a quieter slot, and using a combo when you were going to the
neighbouring attraction anyway. Promo codes found on coupon sites are mostly expired.
Gentoo penguins live in London, Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok and Paris.
Choosing between them
Pick the building you will be standing next to. In London, the aquarium is a natural pair with the London Eye,
and the combo exists for that reason. In Orlando it is an indoor break on International Drive between the big
parks. In Sydney and Melbourne it is a waterfront afternoon with species you will not see in Europe. In Arizona,
Minnesota, Bangkok and Paris the aquarium is part of a mall, which makes it an easy add-on to a shopping or
Disneyland day rather than a destination. Munich sits in the Olympiapark, Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol
marina.
Ray lagoons and touch pools are where the talks and feeds gather a crowd.
Straight answers to what visitors ask most about SEA LIFE tickets.
Can I buy tickets at SEA LIFE on the day?
Usually yes, at the ticket desk, when the time slots are not full. The operator's own London site says that same-day availability is not guaranteed and that on-the-door prices are higher than online, and recommends booking ahead at weekends and in school holidays. The tickets on this page are timed e-tickets you book in advance; see SEA LIFE London tickets.
Is 2 hours enough for SEA LIFE?
For most SEA LIFE aquariums, yes. The operator estimates one and a half to two hours for London, Sydney and Melbourne, the Minnesota listing says about an hour, and the Orlando listing one to two hours. Talks, feeds and the 4D cinemas add time. Details per aquarium in how long you need.
How do I get a SEA LIFE discount?
Mostly without a code. Booking online in advance is what the operator itself tells you to do, combo tickets with a neighbouring attraction cost less than two separate entries, under-2s go free and in London a carer goes free. Promo-code sites are largely expired vouchers. Read SEA LIFE discounts, honestly.
How much is SEA LIFE on the day?
More than the same ticket online, according to the operator's London site, which also says that online prices vary with available capacity. This site does not print prices because they move by date and time slot: the figure at checkout on GetYourGuide is the one that counts.
What is the best time to visit a SEA LIFE aquarium?
A weekday morning at opening time, outside school holidays. The first hour is the quietest in front of the big tanks and the tunnel, and talks and feeds run through the middle of the day. Rainy weekends are the busiest.
How late can I be to SEA LIFE?
The London listing states that you must go to the attraction at the time shown on your e-ticket. If you are running late, contact the attraction or GetYourGuide rather than assume you will be let in. The listings here cancel free up to 24 hours before, so a slot you cannot make can be cancelled and rebooked the day before.
Are there penguins at SEA LIFE London?
Yes. Gentoo penguins live in the Polar Adventure zone, which the London listing describes as a land of frost and snow where the penguins splash and dive. Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok and Paris also keep penguins.
Is SEA LIFE the same as SeaWorld?
No. SEA LIFE is Merlin Entertainments' chain of indoor aquariums; SeaWorld is a separate company's marine parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio. Sea Life Park in Hawaii is unrelated too. The differences are in SEA LIFE vs SeaWorld.
Which is better, OdySea or SEA LIFE in Arizona?
They are different sizes of day. SEA LIFE Arizona is a compact 26,000-square-foot aquarium inside Arizona Mills in Tempe, next to a LEGOLAND Discovery Center, built around a 360-degree tunnel and two rescued sea turtles. OdySea in Scottsdale is an independent and much larger aquarium. Choose by how long you want to spend.
Is SEA LIFE Sydney worth it, and is it the biggest in Australia?
The Sydney listing describes the world's largest collection of all-Australian aquatic life, with Shark Valley, a penguin raft ride and Pig the rescued dugong; Melbourne has the 2.2 million litre Oceanarium. Which suits you is in Sydney or Melbourne.
What is the oldest aquarium in the world?
The first public aquarium was the Fish House at London Zoo in 1853. The oldest still operating is SEA LIFE Brighton, opened in 1872 as the Brighton Aquarium in a Victorian vaulted arcade. See every SEA LIFE aquarium.
Can I change my SEA LIFE ticket time?
On GetYourGuide, the listings on this site cancel free up to 24 hours before the slot, so you can cancel and book a new time. The Melbourne listing lets you pick the time slot on the operator's site after booking, and tickets bought from the operator in London come with free rescheduling.
Ready to book
Find the aquarium that fits your trip.
Timed e-tickets with free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every ticket below.
Darling Harbour
About 2 hours1 dayFree cancellation
