A Family Day Out at The Deep Aquarium, Hull – If you haven’t visited The Deep before, it’s a huge aquarium in Hull. I was really impressed by the quality of the exhibits and there are loads of interactive displays for the kids to explore. It’s educational but not in a dry or stuffy way. It was opened in 2002 but still feels new and vibrant, and must have ongoing improvements to be so good. Hull is a great place to visit for a weekend away too.
The kids loved this map of the earth. It shows the different continents but also shows the troughs and mountains beneath the sea – which was a new concept to them and they have mentioned it since.
The Deep, Hull
There are several huge windows to an enormous tank where I could sit for hours just watching. It really feels like you are under the sea itself.
The Deep has Gentoo penguins. Everyone loves penguins and my family is no exception. When we visited there was a week old baby penguin chick being fed by its parents. Miss H was mesmerised and took lots of photos, including this one (which I think is great).
Miss H also took this photo from a walkway with a tall window into the tank. The staff could see how enthusiastic she was and really engaged with her, pointing out things that she hadn’t seen and prompting her to ask questions.
At the very end of the tour you can take the glass lift up through the huge central tank. This pauses briefly half way so you can make the most of the experience. It really is the closest you’ll ever come to being below the water whilst staying dry!
There is a cafe with fabulous views over the river. The food is cafeteria style and excellent value, we stopped and had lunch. It was surprisingly inexpensive especially for such an attraction.
The Deep is a very contemporary feeling Aquarium with an emphasis on current ecological issues and challenges. A ticket for a family of four is just over £40 but crucially once you have paid, you can return as many times as you like for a full year, for free.
If you are interested in other days out in Yorkshire, or cheap days out ideas we have a post for that!
The Deep invited us to visit,. but as always, all opinions expressed are my own.