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New Under the Sea Experience now open!
28th October 2023
Teeth or Treat?15th August 2023
The Under the Sea Experience Now Open!29th July 2023
Coppersmithing and Aquaria 29th July27th May 2023
Coppersmithing and Aquaria, 27 May – Experience AND 202330th October 2021
Teeth or Treat?14th July 2021
Shark Awareness Day30th May 2021
World Ocean DayClownfish Hosting Anemone
The Under the Sea Experience Now Open!
Coppersmithing and Aquaria, 27 May – Experience AND 2023
International Day of The Seal
Penguin Awareness Day
Christmas Gift Ideas
World Lizard Day 14th August
Harbour Seal Season
Join Our Team
We were really pleased to find this little gem! We spent a long time watching the seals, and could have sat and watched them all day. They were playful and funny – great entertainment!
Exceeded all expectations! Blair was a brilliant tour guide, so informative but also made the tour very fun and engaging for all ages.
The staff in the cafe were very friendly and the food was also incredible, we couldnt believe how high quality the meals and deserts we had were.
Just wanted to email to say thank you for the fantastic visit we had yesterday to Exploris. Our guide was fabulous. He was really knowledgeable and engaged brilliantly with the children. They loved the visit and learnt so much!!
Just wanted to write a quick email to thank you for the wonderful time we had in Exploris today. Our P4 class of 31 pupils and 3 adults were booked in for a guided tour at 11.am. We had such a wonderful experience. The sun shone, our 2 guides were brilliant, and the staff couldn’t have been more accommodating. We will definitely make plans to return next year.
Thank you so much for a great day on Saturday 18th May. The kids had a ball. Thank you for all your help when organising it, it was much appreciated.
Just wanted to say thank you for everything. The children from our nursery had a great time at Exploris on Friday. Some lovely memories were made.
Just wanted to let you know that the group I supported on Tuesday 29th May from Larne Base thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Aquarium, they said the tour and food was great, they enjoyed seeing the seal, sharks and otters. Overall they really enjoyed their visit and will recommend for people to visit.
A massive thank you to the staff who looked after us on Saturday with our competition winners. The girls and their parents had a fantastic morning. The girl that took our tour was amazing and the parents really appreciated the time she took with us and everyone found it very interesting.
Our group, 2nd Broughshane Junior CE visited Exploris on 6th May 2017, and had a really great time. Many thanks for your help.
The seals and otters are great to see at feeding times and the tanks are full of fish, ray’s and a shark. Theres even a crocodile who is small at the minute but was told he’d grow to 16ft. All in all I’d definitely recommend it for a fun day out.
We had a great day and would highly recommend it. The staff were helpful and friendly too.
We took our three kids (8,6 & 3) and had a top time. Staff were great and even though it was quite busy they made a real effort to ensure all queries were answered from all the visitors.
We had a wonderful time, brilliant exhibits, great variety of species and an enchanting experience. Can’t wait to go back again, and spend more time reading about the different species.
The all new aquarium is absolutely brilliant…it has something for all ages! Definitely worth a visit!
We were able to touch the dogfish in the first touch pool and later on the sting rays. All very friendly! We loved the Nemo and Dory type fish too.
Great to have the aquarium up and running again. A brilliant interactive experience with very approachable and knowledgeable staff. Thank you.
Very enjoyable day. I have a 10 year old boy and a 7 year old who had lots of fun. So much to see. Very friendly and helpful staff.
We visited Exploris today with our son & granddaughter. We were very impressed with this attraction. There was plenty to do; face painting, a treasure hunt and a talk on snakes & reptiles. The staff were all very helpful.
Excellent day out with all the family! Would highly recommend. Staff were brilliant with children. 10 out of 10…we WILL be back!
The children had a real blast! Loved every minute of it from being welcomed at the entrance to the very pleasant staff helping along the way. Superb!
Fantastic day out. Lovely, well thought out and designed zones. Our 3 year old loved the Halloween event and all the little treats that he was given along the way. All the staff were so friendly and helpful. Great to see the place opened again.
We had a great family day out with 2 adults, 14 year old, 5 year old and a baby. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the Halloween set up was entertaining for all. Great work Exploris! P.S. Great, friendly staff.
Mon-Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 3:30pm
Quiet Sessions Mon-Sun: 10am – 11am
The Kraken Bar
& Grill
Open from 11am daily
Last Hot Food 4pm
Closes at 5pm
T: 028 4272 8062
General Enquiries - Option 1
Seal rescue - Option 2
Group & School Tours - Option 3
E: info@explorisni.com
E: groups@explorisni.com
The Rope Walk,
Castle Street,
Portaferry
BT22 1NZ
2021 Exploris Aquarium & Reptile Visitors Centre & Seal Sanctuary
Website by Moffy.Design