Not bad but could be better. (Deepsea World (Fife))

Member Name: pink_rose

Product:	Deepsea World (Fife)
Date:	27/07/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good entrance area, some lovely fish, decent cafe.

Disadvantages: Not well laid out, over-priced.

Considering it is advertised as "Scotland's National Aquarium", I have to say that Deep Sea World at North Queensferry was a touch disappointing.

As you enter the aquarium it is full of promise. Outside the main door there are remote control speedboats in the water which were a big hit with the kids. Once you've bought your tickets and enter the aquarium, a member of staff takes your photo (which they later try and entice you to buy for £10!), and then you are left to your own devices. The tropical fish tanks in this area are beautifully lit and all my son could say was "Wow!" at every turn.

Heading down to the much anticipated tunnel, we were caught up in a talk about pirahna's by a member of staff which, to be honest, was a tad boring so we skipped through the crowds and headed for the tunnel.

There is a moving travelator on the floor to guide you round which was handy for tired little feet and kept the crowd moving at a steady pace. Promising start with plenty of sharks and various fish swimming all around. However, there was sections of the tunnel that were in complete darkness with absolute no sea creatures to be seen at all. Of course they can't control where the fish swim and it's to be expected that some sections would be busier than others, but a little light wouldn't have gone amiss so that the kids could actually try to look for some fish. Carrying on round the tunnel was much of the same, sharks and fish, sharks and fish... we went round the circuit twice as my son wanted to see more.

The shark dive was just about to start as we were in there but my son wasn't interested at all so we left to explore more of the aquarium.

So we head back up to where we started (must also point out that the whole centre could be laid out much better as there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing... it didn't flow very well) and had a look in another room that had frogs and the likes... and not much else.

From here we headed to the Seal Sanctury which is just outside the back door. There is wooden decking leading you down to where the seals were with stairs and a ramp for prams/wheelchairs but be aware that the ground was VERY slippy and slimy due to the rain. Unfortunately when we got there, one seal was swimming underwater and the other one was sleeping so after 20 mins of no action we went back inside. I suppose if you timed it for when the feeds are done it would be more interesting but the kids were getting restless.

With not much left to investigate we headed for the cafe (where we were urged to buy the £10 photo/postcard pack, which we declined and received a "tut" from the member of staff). The food was very nice if a little pricey which was to be expected I guess.

We were pretty much only in there for about 90mins in total. Enjoyable in parts but not what it's hyped up to be.

My advice would be that if you are planning a visit to go when it opens in the morning then head somewhere else for lunch. We went in the morning and there was no queues whatsoever, we just walked straight in, but as we were leaving the queue was huge. Also if you go onto their official website you can print a voucher for £1 off each adult ticket!

Summary: Alright to kill a few hours if you have the cash!