Sea Life Lates
25 January 2019
London
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Last night, Love Popups London and Merlin Events invited a group of bloggers to attend the Sea Life Lates, a late night adult only event at Sea Life. Once a month from 6.45pm to 10.30pm, attendees get to roam the halls of the aquarium exhibitions in muted lighting and with a quiet, tranquil atmosphere.
Included in the entry price is a glass of prosecco or a soft drink (I opted for orange juice, as I don’t drink alcohol) upon arrival.
As this is an 18+ event, it is nice and quiet with no children running about, which is very attractive for people like me who work with children all day and like to get a bit of a break from them when out and about in the evening.
Unfortunately a few of the features of Sea Life London aren’t available in the Lates event, including the penguins, who go to sleep quite early in the afternoon, and the rock pool, where you get to be up close and personal with the star fish. Understandably, the animals need some rest at night, just be aware that you won’t get the full assortment at the Lates.
However, most exhibitions are open and available, and there is still loads to see! I really love the nautical and whimsical decorations Sea Life has throughout their aquariums. Especially with the muted lighting and colour effects, it makes for beautiful viewing experiences.
There are so many species to see here, the underwater wonderland is so rich and fascinating.
I loved walking around and taking some time viewing each and every fish tank for quite a while, finding all the different species and design elements.
Each exhibition also comes with information plaques that teach you about the species contained within. It’s great to learn all these little tid bits of knowledge.
There’s a bar about halfway through the bottom level, whereyou can purchase snacks and drinks at your convenience throughout the evening. The bar is close to the large shark tank, so you get to enjoy your refreshments just a few feet from these terrific underwater predators.
The shark enclosure has a myriad of smaller windows through which you can watch these beasts swim about. A few of the windows are mirrored on the inside, which seems to attract a few of the sharks to come up really close, giving you fantastic opportunities for shark selfies!
The gorgeous little sea horses seemed to all be asleep, their curly tails wrapped around plants and rocks to avoid floating away. You don’t often get to see a large tank full of snoozing sea horses gently swaying with the movement of the water.
As it was quite empty throughout the evening, we really got to take our time and take everything in at our own pace. It was really refreshing to have so much space at a London attraction.
Some of the exhibitions let you get really close, to the point where we sometimes felt like we were the exhibition that the fish were ogling.
On the next level up, you’ll find a beautiful exhibition centred around jellyfish! It’s colourful and exciting, with many different species of jellyfish gently floating in their little aquariums.
From the decorations to the lighting features, it was a joy to wander through the whole Sea Life aquariums and really take our time to take everything in.
We had a brilliant and night and I can highly recommend the Lates events at this location, it’s a very different experience and a wonderful location for dates or small gatherings of friends to explore.