Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary – New Shipwreck Shores Play Area

Have you visited Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary recently?  All the information you need to plan a family visit is in this post – read on!

News flash! There’s now a kids play area within the Sanctuary, called Shipwreck Shore.

There’s space to run around and a play structures with slides and so on.

It’s also got its own little aquarium for the kids to look into.

And there’s some water play there too.

And a cool tunnel – loved that.

Here’s our full family review of Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary

Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary

West Esplanade

Manly 2095

Phone: 8251 7877

Website: www.manlysealifesanctuary.com.au

Open: Daily 10am–5.30pm, except Christmas Day

Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary is smaller than the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour, but it has a good variety of marine animals on view plus the advantage of generally being a lot less crowded. Plus it’s in Manly so you can make a great day out of it with swimming at the beach, fish and chips and the whole works.

First you walk into a circular room with a huge round tank in the middle and several tanks built into the walls. Most tanks are too high for young children to see straight in so they will have to be held up to look closely. Some tanks do have ledges to stand or sit on to see the wonderful displays of colourful coral reef fish and others.

Outside this main area,there is also a touch pool here with starfish, sea cucuumbers and other sea creatures who don’t mind being touched by little hands.

There are two flights of stairs going down to a perspex tunnel which  goes through a huge tank featuring sharks in all their sharp-toothed glory. All sorts of other large fish can be seen here, like wobbegongs, Port Jackson sharks and even a huge turtle. Some children may find this area a bit scary.

On the top level there is space which is where the gorgeous Fairy Penguins live. Children will adore seeing theses little creatures toddling around and swimming.  There is lots of information here about how endangered these gorgeous, noisy little creatures are.

The SEA LIFE Sanctuary has an emphasis on protecting sea creatures and on looking after injured animals.

Cafe: Not within building but there is one very close by.

Baby change/toilet: A baby change table in the ladies toilets

Accessibility: The stairs are a big problem so the only fully accessible area is the central floor which you walk into.   There is no lift at all.  This is because the building is heritage-listed and so renovations are tricky and very expensive. But let’s hope this can change in the future as currently the aquarium is not wheelchair-accessible.

Strollers: You’ll need two people to carry them up and down stairs, or leave them in the stroller parking area.

Shop: Yes

Mum’s report: My kids adore the feathery scorpion fish. There is plenty to see here and so much to combine the visit with in Manly.

Extra: West Esplanade Beach has a large baths area.  Manly Waterworks (open in summer) is right alongside. All the other joys of Manly!

Map reference: Gregory’s 288 F10, Sydway 260 D6, UBD 198 A10

Parking: Meter parking on West Esplanade and surrounding streets, can be very busy

Nearest ferry: Manly Wharf is a five minute walk away

Bus stop nearby: Yes

Image from SEA LIFE Sanctuary

It’s great to see some strong environmental message for kids, as well as the amazing facts, which I just love myself too.

 Have you ever seen a fairy penguin?

What’s your favourite Sydney sea creature?

 Happy exploring

Image from SEA LIFE Sanctuary