Aquarium Near Me on the South Bank: SEA LIFE London in County Hall

SEA LIFE London Aquarium sits inside County Hall on Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB, right beside the London Eye, and its official ticket page lists adult entry from £28 online against £39 at the door. For anyone around Westminster or Waterloo typing aquarium near me, this is the big one: more than 500 species spread over 14 themed zones and three floors below the South Bank, with entry booked by time slot.

The London Aquarium opened in 1997 in the basement of County Hall, the former seat of London's government on the Thames. Merlin Entertainments bought it in April 2008, closed it for a £5 million refurbishment and reopened it in April 2009 as part of the SEA LIFE chain, adding the tunnel, the Shark Walk and a rerouted visitor path. Gentoo penguins arrived from Edinburgh Zoo in May 2011, and the aquarium moved within County Hall in 2015.

The visit opens with the Shark Walk, a glass floor laid over the Pacific display so sharks pass directly under your shoes. Further on, the Shipwreck zone puts sand tiger sharks Bungle and Zippy among replica Easter Island heads, alongside blacktip reef sharks and nurse sharks named Ashley, Belle, Carol and Dean. Look for Betty, a bowmouth guitarfish that is half shark, half ray. Before that, Ray Lagoon lets you watch rays from above and through a lower window.

Braver visitors can book Snorkel with Sharks, a 60-minute session that includes 15 minutes in a transparent cage inside the deepest display, with wetsuits up to XXL provided. Every participant and spectator must be at least 1.3 metres tall, and anyone 17 or under must snorkel with a parent. Part of each ticket goes to the Shark Trust, a charity the aquarium also works with on shark fishing campaigns.

Open Oceans is built around a replica grey whale ribcage, with southern stingrays on the sand, cownose rays above them and shoals of humpback snapper, clown triggerfish and bignose unicornfish. The glass tunnel runs five metres below the surface of this 750,000-litre tank. The stars are Boris and Dougie, two green sea turtles; Boris weighs around 135kg and eats any vegetable offered, while Dougie holds out for leek and chicory.

Zebby the zebra shark, nocturnal by nature, often rests on the sand by day. For a closer look at the turtles, the VIP Turtle Experience takes up to two guests behind the scenes at 2:30pm on selected days for 30 minutes, from £200 per couple online, with arrival at 2:15pm, closed-toe shoes and a minimum age of 10. Staff warn of short waits in the tunnel at peak hours.

Coral Kingdom is a 40ft tank billed as the UK's largest living coral reef, where lighting shifts from day to night as you pass from mangrove shallows to open reef full of clownfish, regal tangs, cardinal fish and sea goldies. Behind the scenes, the aquarium is an official partner of UK Border Force and Heathrow Airport, quarantining and rehoming coral seized without the correct paperwork.

Ocean Invaders, billed as the UK's largest jellyfish experience, follows the jellyfish life cycle through three rooms, shows the smallest jellies through prism windows and lets children design a digital jellyfish. Moon jellyfish, upside-down jellyfish and Japanese sea nettles are on show all year. In Rainforest Adventure, fronted by Ben Fogle, you meet Forrest the dwarf crocodile, Bowza the rescued snapping turtle, leafcutter ants and the UK's biggest collection of piranhas.

Penguin Point, the gentoo habitat in Polar Adventure, is kept at 7 to 12°C and follows Southern Hemisphere light cycles. In the winter months the zone runs in low light and the birds may already be settling to sleep, and the aquarium itself warns that penguins can be hard to spot in late-afternoon sessions. If penguins are the reason for your trip between autumn and spring, skip the last slots of the day and book a morning entry.

The colony is also in transition. In January 2026 the aquarium reported 15 penguins with breeding paused, and in May 2026 it announced the death of Ratchet, aged 31 and among the oldest gentoos in the UK. Later that month Merlin said it intends to merge the London and Birmingham colonies into a single enlarged home with natural light and to end gentoo breeding permanently, with a full build proposal due by September 2026.

Standard tickets carry a time slot that marks your queue entry, while an Anytime ticket, from £33 online, lets you walk in whenever you like on the chosen day. Children aged 2 to 15 start from £25 online and under-2s go free. The London Eye combination starts at £49 online. The aquarium lists every weekend, 21 to 31 October and the late-December holidays among its peak dates, so book the first 10am slot during half term.

The aquarium's own June 2026 guide is written for parents of under-fives, though the recommended age is six and up. Adults who want the tunnel without pushchairs book SEA LIFE Lates, an over-18s evening from £29 with a complimentary drink in Open Oceans. If your slot is sold out, Shrek's Adventure London and The London Dungeon are indoor alternatives a few steps away.

SEA LIFE London is fully cashless, so bring a contactless card even for the gift shop. There is no cloakroom: backpacks up to 30 litres are allowed, but suitcases and larger rucksacks go to left luggage at the London Eye ticket office or Waterloo station. Buggies are welcome, with lifts beside every staircase and a free buggy bay at peak times. Flash photography and tripods are banned to protect the animals, and under-16s need an adult over 18.

From Westminster station on the Jubilee, District and Circle lines, take Exit 1 onto Westminster Bridge and cross the river; the aquarium is a five-to-seven-minute walk and visible from the bridge. From Waterloo, follow Exit 6 for the South Bank, about six to nine minutes. Buses 12, 53, 59, 76, 148, 159, 211 and 341 stop on Westminster Bridge Road, while the 77 runs along Belvedere Road behind the building.

Afterwards, walk along the Queen's Walk past the London Eye into Jubilee Gardens, the riverside lawn at the corner of Belvedere Road and Chicheley Street. From there Hungerford Bridge carries you over the Thames toward Charing Cross, and Trafalgar Square is about 15 minutes away via the Golden Jubilee Bridge and Northumberland Avenue.

SEA LIFE London Aquarium is at County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB. On Saturday 17 October 2026 the official hours page showed 10am to 7pm with last entry at 6pm, and Sunday 18 October 10am to 6pm with last entry at 5pm. Allow 90 to 120 minutes. Carers of disabled guests enter free. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for more South Bank stops.