Like practically everyone in the world, this summer hasn’t exactly gone to plan. No round the world trip, no play dates with friends and no sleepovers with the Grandparents! As restrictions begin to ease here in Northern Ireland, we started thinking about places we could visit at home to get us out of the house, to gain some confidence in thinking about travelling again, and to support local businesses and tourist attractions. After some careful research, we decided our first big day out would be Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. It’s somewhere we have never been to before as a family, so we were excited to go and explore!
Where is Exploris Aquarium?
The Rope Walk, Castle Street, Portaferry, BT22 1NZ.
Getting there
Strangford
If coming from the Downpatrick side of Strangford Lough, I would recommend parking in Strangford and crossing over as foot passengers on the ferry. The cost per Adult is £2 return. The cost of a car is much more, and unless you are planning on continuing your journey onward after then a car isn’t needed. The Aquarium is only a short walk from the ferry port.
Belfast
If coming from Belfast direction, it would take about 45 minutes to drive along Strangford Lough. The drive does afford beautiful scenery, with some wonderful viewing points to stop and have a picnic. There is limited parking at the Aquarium, but parking is also available throughout Portaferry itself.
Public Transport
We took a bus from our home town in Bangor to Newtownards, and then from Newtownards to Portaferry via Ballywalter. The journey took around 2 hrs. It was nice to sit back and watch the world go by. However, we felt using public transport now that we have to pay for Megan, made it a very expensive trip. On this occasion it would most certainly be cheaper, and quicker driving. Drop of point for buses is at the Market Square and it was a short walk to the Aquarium itself. More information on times/costs can be found here.
Opening Times & Cost
With information constantly changing regarding Covid-19, we recommend you check out the Exploris website for more information. We paid £28.50 for 2 adults and 1 child during our visit in July 2020.
Is Exploris Aquarium Covid-19 Safe?
Now there’s a new heading we never thought we would need in a blog post! Obviously safety is the number one priority now, and it was important to us to know in advance how the aquarium were dealing with the current situation, and what measures were in place before we decided to book. You can read up on any up to date information on the Exploris website.
Our experience was almost perfect! Bookings had to be made in advance online. We booked a specific time period and were not permitted to enter prior to this. On arrival at the aquarium, after we cleaned our hands etc we were greeted by the receptionist who checked our booking, gave us a map and wrote down any times there are talks on. We were encouraged on entry to follow the order of exhibitions in a one way system, however there are multiple entrances and exits to some rooms and outdoors areas, and there was no enforcement of the one way system.
Throughout the building were signs reminding you to social distance, as well as loads of hand sanitiser points. Due to the nature of the aquarium with lots of information about the sea life, and live talks, and feeding times etc we found it did get crowded at times in certain areas, especially where families had prams or were together in larger groups. Megan did get a little stressed at times, but we just hung back in the quieter rooms or rushed through the busier ones, meaning we did miss some of the talks, but all in all we felt safe, and had plenty of time to enjoy the aquarium.
What to expect at Exploris Aquarium?
Lower Deck
The lower part of the aquarium is spilt into 11 areas on the ground floor exhibiting different types of marine life, the outdoor area and the Croc!!
We had an amazing time learning about the variety of fish found in different areas of the world, with many surprisingly coming from along the coast lines of Northern Ireland.
Some of the highlights of this section of the aquarium were the colourful fish from the tropical areas, the sting rays, and the white tip shark! Here we also enjoyed a live talk about jellyfish in the local area.
Outside is the seal hospital, their outdoor pools and the otter enclosure. Megan absolutely loved watching the otters run about.
They are noisy little things, but incredibly cute!
We also caught a live and extremely informative talk about seal rehabilitation. We learnt about all the stages these seals go through in their rehabilitation, from arriving at the aquarium, to their eventual release back into the sea. It did get a little crowded here, but we found a quiet spot to stand further away from the enclosure where we could still hear.
*There is also a soft play area on the lower deck, but due to Covid-19 restrictions this is closed (July 2020). We had explained this to Megan in advance so it didn’t cause to much trouble!!
Upper Deck
Before moving upstairs (there are also lifts) we had one last visit to Mummy’s favourite, the stingrays!
Upstairs the exhibits are dedicated mainly to Amphibians and Reptiles, we could have stood for hours watching them, and loved how up close you were able to get.
There is also a very interesting exhibit on climate change highlighting the amount of Ocean Pollution found in our sea. It was a timely reminder to dispose of everything properly even during the Pandemic.
Last, but not least we got to walk the plank over the shipwreck while trying to spot Captain Hook and not fall off into the shark tank below
Food and drink
The Aquarium has its own onsite Cafe. We didn’t stop off as we had a picnic on the seafront planned, but from what we could see it looked well-spaced out, and had all the usual lunchtime favourites on offer!
Exit via the gift shop
And then for the obligatory exit via the gift shop….. It is a small shop with everything you would expect to find in one.
Would we recommend Exploris Aquarium?
Overall, it would be a yes. Megan certainly enjoyed herself and loved the variety of marine life and other animals. The resources available from the staff on hand and information stands make it a great educational attraction as well. We think the aquarium would be great for kids of all ages.
What else to do in the area?
Exploris will take 1-2 hrs, leaving plenty of time for doing other things in the area. We hopped on the Strangford ferry, for the short but fun journey across the Lough. For foot passengers it was £2 per adult and £1 for children return. If you’re driving I would recommend checking out this website with loads of recommendations to do in this wonderful part of the world.
Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip to the Exploris Aquarium.
The Lewis Family.
If you enjoy reading about our days out in Northern Ireland. Check out our other blog posts here – Northern Ireland