Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth
Grand Parade, Tynemouth
NE30 4JF
Tel: 0191 258 1031

About Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth

Blue Reef is a new generation of thrilling sealife family attraction designed to instill an appreciation of the seas and provide an engaging and truly memorable family day out. A ticket to a Blue Reef Aquarium – located in Southsea, Hampshire; Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear; and Newquay, Cornwall – is a passport to an exotic parallel world, with open-top tanks allowing ticket holders to get up close and personal with stingrays, the inhabitants of tide-pools, and the sharks and shoals of coral reef fish in its giant ocean tanks. 

Blue Reef offers an undersea tour from the British coast to the tropics for a family day out with a difference, taking in giant crabs, lobsters and seahorses in over 40 displays. The family attraction holds regular talks and feeding displays, and the multi-level Blue Reef viewing facilities can be booked for special occasions like children’s parties. These include a Guided Tour, birthday tea, and party bags for each child, with themes such as Finding Nemo, with a tour to spot characters from the animated film, including clownfish in their sea anemone homes. For fans of Pirate Of The Caribbean, the Pirates Party is just the ticket, with an eye patch and cutlass for each Pirate King or Queen, and a treasure trail to find hidden gold dubloons. Ha ha, me hearties! The Shark Party features shark feeding (not with guests), a shark-themed goody bag and shark expert certificate. The Mermaids Party introduces sea creatures that inspired children’s stories and legends, and a fairytale storytelling session is supplemented by a mermaid-themed goody bag.

The family attraction additionally stages Educational Tours including Food Chain; Pollution; Myths & Legends – looking at seahorses, fish that create their own electricity and others that blow up as big as a balloon; Habitats –  from seabeds to coasts, reefs to deep-sea trenches; Camouflage – featuring the octopus, decorator crab and colour-changing flatfish; Hunters; Art & Design – focusing on the sea as an inspiration for artists, and providing visitors the chance to sketch a seahorse or paint a puffer fish; Reproduction – including male seahorses that give birth; and Sharks. 

Additionally, Blue Reef venues offer workshops including the Rockpool workshop, where school parties can experience close encounters with crabs, lobsters and starfish; Shark workshop; a Seashore Safari beach visit for 45 minutes (Newquay); and Rockpool Roadshow (Newquay). The family attraction offers a Kids Go Wild Tour, with a special feeding demonstration, ugh touch boxes, rockpool encounter and quiz trail, and an Undersea Garden Tour taking in undersea fauna. Just the ticket for a fascinating, fun family day out.  

Blue Reef centres are not just a family attraction, but can be booked for weddings and corporate team-building. But with disabled access and a café, Blue Reef offers an all-year round family attraction for everyone that the weather cannot spoil. 

Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth is housed in a stunning burnished steel building on Grand Parade, Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear, and is an engrossing, enlightening family attraction set within stunning coastline views. It offers an all-year round family day out that the weather cannot spoil and provides ticket holders with the chance to encounter local and overseas marine species in a huge 250,000 litre ocean tank with underwater tunnel and more than 30 multi-level displays.

A family day out at Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth includes the breath-taking centrepiece coral reef and its shoals of angelfish, puffer fish, cuckoo wrasse and giant groupers, as well as black tip reef shark and moray eels. Among the family attraction’s other wily inhabitants are stinging jellyfish, venomous lionfish and the giant Pacific octopus, with three hearts and the ability to colour and shape shape. The Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth’s Amazing Octopus exhibition includes squid, cuttlefish, nautilus and argonauts, while other exotic species include conger eels, pipefish and ‘walking’ gurnards, plus British sea bream and bass. 

A ticket to Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth opens up the world of Claws too, with hermit crabs and giant spider crabs, lobsters and cleaner shrimps, while displays of rockpools and deep-sea trenches explore their habitats. 

Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth’s feeding demonstrations contribute to a fun, informative family day out, and children’s parties and other groups – including corproate entertainment – are catered for by the family attraction. These include a tour, tea, and party bags, with themes such as Finding Nemo, featuring a tour to spot characters from the film, including clownfish and their anemone homes. For fans of Pirate Of The Caribbean, the Pirates Party is the hot ticket, with an eye patch and cutlass for all, and a treasure trail to find gold pieces. Swab the decks! The Shark Party features shark feeding (not with guests) and a certificate. The Mermaids Party concentrates on sea creatures that inspired myths and fables, and a fairytale storytelling session is included.

The family attraction offers a Kids Go Wild Tour, with ugh touch boxes, rockpool visit and quiz trail, and an Undersea Garden Tour takes in undersea fauna. The Rockpool Encounter and Shark Workshop are also just the ticket for a captivating family day out.  

Among the other highlights of Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth are the largest, deadliest amphibians in the world, the poison dart frog and giant cane toad, while the freshwater display has Asian short claw otters – a family attraction in themselves.

Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth is accessible to wheelchairs and with the Blue Reef Café, a ticket to this family attraction is a splendid family day out for everyone.