Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth

24/08/2025

One week left of our prehistoric Ancient Animals event!
There's still time to...
👣 Follow the QR code fossil trail quiz around the aquarium
🔍 Dig for your own fossils everyday at 11:30AM, 1PM, and 3PM
🐚 Decode secrets of the past at the artefact encounter, daily at 4PM

All included in your standard entry to the aquarium!

21/08/2025

🚨If you are visiting us today, Thursday 21st August, you MUST head to Victorious Festival Gate D to gain access. 🚨

Gate D is located on the east side of Clarence Esplanade near Jack Cockerill Way. A Victorious Festival team member will es**rt you to the aquarium entrance.

This is due to the Victorious Festival site set up. The common is closed off to the public for the final preperations for the festival today. As we are on the festival site grounds, you must head to Gate D to access Blue Reef Aquarium.

We apologise for any inconvience that this may cause. Please note, from tomorrow, we are only accessible to Victorious Festival attendees, until Monday 25th August. Parking is suspended outside the aquarium until Tuesday 26th.

19/08/2025

🚨 Reminder to those of you planning to visit us this week or Bank Holiday Monday 🚨

The aquarium is only accessible to Victorious Festival attendees on 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of August. An exclusive Victorious ticket rate is available to purchase online and on the door.

🚗 Due to festival site set up, parking outside the aquarium will be suspended from Thursday 21st August, and re-open on Wednesday 27th August.
🚪 On Thursday 21st August we will be accessible on foot via Victorious Festival gate D, located near the D-Day Museum. A Victorious Festival staff member will es**rt you to the aquarium via gate D.
🚶 We are open as normal on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August. Footpaths will be open to access us, but parking will still be suspended on Bank Holiday Monday.

19/08/2025

Win a family ticket to Blue Reef Portsmouth and two cuddly toys from our sustainable souvenirs collection with Nation Radio South's Summer of Tickets! 🐠🦀

Keep reading for the chance to win a family ticket (two adults, two children) to Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth plus two cuddly toys!

14/08/2025

The heatwave has well and truly landed 🌞 Southsea is soaking in the sun today, including our patio at Driftwood Kitchen!

Tucked next to the aquarium, and open to all, cool off with one of our summer drinks - iced coffee, frappés and iced tea are all on the menu - or treat yourself to an ice cream, and chill out in Driftwood's sun trap. (Don't forget the spf!)

Driftwood Kitchen is open daily from 10am.

08/08/2025

🦖 Our Ancient Animals summer event is in full swing!

There's only a little over three weeks left of our dinosaur themed aquarium event. Take the little ones fossil hunting (its even been a big hit with parents!), investigate the codes left to you by Professor Amber Saurus around the aquarium, and uncover the history of Earth's prehistoric through nine geological periods.

Ancient Animals runs daily until 31st August. All included in your standard aquarium entry. Tickets available to buy on our website now.

05/08/2025

🎊 We're at Victorious Festival on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th August!

The aquarium will only be accessible to festival attendees on these dates. If you're at the festival and you need a break from the music, want to cool off in our splash park, or simply fancy a look at the fish, you're welcome through our doors.

If you're planning to visit us on or around August bank holiday weekend, there will be some festival set up which may change the way you visit us.

🐠 Parking outside the aquarium will be suspended from Thursday 21st August, and reopen on Wednesday 27th August.

🐠 On Thursday 21st August we will be accessible on foot via Victorious Festival Gate D, located by the D-Day Museum. A festival staff member will es**rt you to the aquarium from this gate.

🐠 We are open as normal on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August. Footpaths will be open to access us, but parking will still be suspended on Bank Holiday Monday.

31/07/2025

Are sharks dinosaurs? Well, they've been swimming in the seas for nearly 450 million years, which makes them older than dinosaurs and trees! 🦖

🦈Take a dive through the history of these incredible animals in our latest blog post, which follows them from the Siluran period, all the way up to now.

Pictured: One of our Epaulette sharks, who you can see in our Shark Lagoon display. Daily talk and feeding demo held at 2pm!

26/07/2025

Today kicks of National Marine Week 2025!

The UK's seas host incredible marine life which, like many oceans, are under threat. National Marine Week celebrates our local seas and what makes them so unique.

Learn about Hampshire's local seas at our Solent Seas exhibit. Most of the Solent's coastal areas are classed as special areas of conservation, home to a range of habitats and ecosystems like marine, freshwater, and wetlands.

You can get up close to the native rays that live in our seas, and learn about their feeding habits during our Native Ray and Shark talk, on everyday at 12pm.

17/07/2025

🦕 Our Ancient Animals event starts next week on Wednesday! A full summer of prehistoric fun and ancient marine education.

Roll up your sleeves for a fossil dig, come face to face with evidence of the past at the artefact encounter, and follow the trail laid out to you by expert Professor Amber Saurus 🔍

Book your tickets on our website now 🎟️

11/07/2025

Driftwood Kitchen just got an upgrade...

Our new patio is open! The perfect little sun trap to enjoy a chilled iced coffee or cooling ice cream after visiting the fish! 🐟🍦

😎 Come catch some rays (but not the stinging kind!)

03/07/2025

Sensory Saturdays at Blue Reef Aquarium
Experience our mesmerising marine displays with minimal distractions 🐟

Our first Sensory Saturday event takes place this weekend. An hour dedicated to making the aquarium as sensorially consistant as possible for families and groups with neurodivergent sensory needs.

Get your tickets online and visit the aquarium between 9AM and 10AM this Saturday 5th July.

No music, no talks, and no distracting screens for pure focus on our aquatic animals. There will be a silent gourami feed hosted at 10AM.