Sealife Weymouth
Sealife Weymouth
Lodmoor Country Park,
Weymouth,
Dorset DT4 7SX
Tel: 01305 761070
About Sealife Weymouth
Sealife is a network of innovative centres across the UK, Europe and beyond that operate both as a family attraction and great family day out, and also as a conservation and education organisation. Sealife helps millions of people to discover the marine world through its coastal sanctuaries, such as Gweek, in the West Country, and its hi-tech, all swimming all dancing centres in Birmingham, Great Yarmouth, Blackpool, Brighton, Scarborough, Weymouth and Loch Lomond. Each Sealife centre helps to safeguard the seas and their inhabitants for the future and for all of us, by sponsoring conservation efforts and through increased public awareness among visitors on their family day out.
Dedicated Sealife projects include regular contributions to conservation and marine animal welfare schemes, and a special programme to manage and develop these activities: Save Our Seas – S.O.S.
Among the Sealife SOS success stories this millennium are a petition that led to a heavy fine for the Greek government and forced it to improve protection for nesting beaches for Loggerhead Sea Turtles on its coastline; a petition that helped to bring about a ban on the shark-finning industry in European national waters; pressure to reduce the slaughter of dolphins and porpoises in fishing nets and to implement overall cuts in fishing quotas; and funding for a new turtle rescue centre on the Greek island of Zakynthos. Ongoing Sealife campaigning includes an effort to eliminate rogue fishermen dodging EU quotas by flying flags of convenience.
Other Sealife work at its centres includes the creation of a spacious enclosure for families of Asian short-clawed otters, allowing them the freedom and enjoyment that visitors get from a family day out at Sealife. A ticket will also allow access to seahorses and the research done on them that has cast serious doubt on their much-vaunted monogamy! And that’s not the only family attraction at this family attraction!
There’s the rapidly growing Sealife seal rescue network for common and grey seals, and a ground- (or is it sea) breaking programme of shark conservation, which had rehabilitated the creatures both literally and in the public psyche. All of these things, and much more besides, make a visit to any Sealife centre an intriguing and informative family day out. Just the ticket for an all year round family attraction that the weather can’t spoil.
Sealife Weymouth is uniquely located in the wonderful Lodmoor Country Park off the windswept Dorset coast and is one of the leading maritime centres in the country, having established its reputation as a top family attraction since 1984. It’s a fun-filled family day out with both outdoor and indoor attractions set in seven acres. As part of the entry ticket, Sealife Weymouth affords access to British sea dwellers including playful grey seals and otters. Beyond the British Isles, Sealife Weymouth transports the visitor on a voyage of discovery to the oceanic seabed, from mantis shrimps and starfish, to horseshoe crabs, octopus, sharks and stingrays.
The Park boasts the National Seahorse Breeding and Conservation Centre, which opened as a family attraction in mid-2003, but which has been conducting breeding and research since 1995. Other wildlife sanctuaries include those for Penguin, with a colony of rare Humboldt penguins in a purpose-built pool with underwater viewing window. They’re a joy to behold, whether waddling on dry land, swimming or feeding at one of Sealife Weymouth’s sessions. Just watching their antics brightens any family day out, and the weather can’t put a dampener on things! Worth the price of the ticket alone.
Equally playful in the Otter sanctuary are the Asian Short-Clawed Otters, while the Seal sanctuary nurtures pups that are unable to be released into the wild. The most recent addition to the Sanctuary at Sealife Weymouth is the Turtle enclosure, which features an ocean tank with walkthrough underwater tunnel, allowing observations of six green sea turtles. An associated rescue and rehabilitation facility for fresh water terrapins gives visitors the chance to learn about them, and at Splash'n'Crab visitors handle many kinds of marine life, such as crabs and starfish.
For those of a more thrill-seeking nature, there are some of the world's most poisonous sea creatures to confront in Venom, with sea snakes, lionfish, porcupine puffer fish (which can expand to over twice their size when threatened!) and moon jellyfish – just the ticket. Then there’s the Tropical Shark Lagoon, a unique sanctuary for tropical sharks that have outlived or outgrown their previous homes, not least black-tipped reef, leopard and nurse sharks. They can be viewed from inside the hull of a sunken wreck.
Every bit as fun, if a little less lethal, is the Splash Pool, where kids of all ages can indulge in a water slide, splash pool and water jets – a family day out with added pizzazz. Then, when you’re dried off, there’s mini golf with a nautical theme. The Pirate Adventure Mini Golf provides a swashbuckling game, with each hole having a own unique challenge, such as treasure chests, gunpowder barrels and a pirate galleon, all in lovely landscaped parkland. Sealife Weymouth’s course has 18 holes with special Astro-turf greens and is rated as the best mini range in Europe. Kids can even learn about some of the world’s pirates as they play – done to a tee, me hearties!
Still not done? Then other family attractions include the Quiz Trail and AmaZone, which re-creates one of the world's great rainforests, with sound recordings, interactive displays, a river floor, forest canopy, mist and running water. There’s a programme of entertainment talks, feeding displays and demonstrations, and when you want a feed of your own, there’s a café which can be booked for any occasion, with birthdays featuring free quiz sheets, hats and balloons.