A child at the SEA LIFE London Aquarium costs almost as much as an adult, and walking up without booking costs £11 more than booking ahead.
The published table, with the advance price first and the walk-up price second:
Adult: from £28, or £39 on the day.
Child aged 2 to 15: from £25, or £35 on the day.
Under 2: free, either way.
Two things jump out. The walk-up penalty is 28%, which the aquarium states itself as the saving for advance booking. And a child is only £3 less than an adult in advance, and £4 less on the day.
Most London attractions charge a child roughly half. Here a child is 89% of the adult price. A family of two adults and two children pays £106 booked ahead and £148 on the door.
For comparison, the same family pays £24 at Kew Gardens on a Tuesday and £66 at Cutty Sark. This is one of the most expensive hours in London per head.
Two ways to get the price down
Students: from as low as £16 through Student Beans, a saving of up to 60%.
That is the single biggest discount on the site, and it undercuts the child rate by £9. If anyone in your group is a student, that ticket is cheaper than the children’s.
Multi-attraction passes: under £12 per attraction when you bundle five Merlin London attractions.
The bundle includes the London Eye and Madame Tussauds among others. At under £12 each, five attractions cost less than two adult walk-up tickets here.
So if you are visiting the aquarium at all, the arithmetic strongly favours bundling it with things you were going to do anyway rather than buying it alone.
Last entry is an hour before closing
Checked on 5 October 2026: open 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm.
A full hour of margin, which is longer than most and worth knowing if you are coming after something else on the South Bank. Arrive at 4.15pm and you are not getting in.
Hours vary by date, so check the day you are going.
What is inside
The aquarium is organised into zones: Coral Kingdom, Ocean Invaders, Rainforest Adventure, Polar Adventure, Open Oceans and the Aquarium Tunnel.
Separately ticketed experiences include Snorkel with Sharks, Meet the Turtles, a Behind the Scenes tour, a Virtual Reality experience and an audio tour with Yoto. Those are all on top of general admission.
Annual passes, group tickets and animal adoptions are also available.
Where it is
On the South Bank at County Hall, beside the London Eye, which is why the two are bundled so often. Westminster and Waterloo are both short walks and Waterloo is the better one for mainline trains.
There is an accessibility guide and a timeslot booking system on their site, and booking a timeslot is how the advance price is applied.
How to plan it
Always book ahead. £28 against £39 for an adult is an £11 penalty for turning up.
A student in the party: £16 through Student Beans, cheaper than a child ticket.
Doing other attractions anyway: the five-attraction bundle at under £12 each, which is the only genuinely good value route.
A family of four: £106 minimum. Price that against a bundle before committing.
Under 2s: free.
Arrive before 4pm, because last entry is an hour before closing.
SEA LIFE London Aquarium
- Address
- County Hall, South Bank, London SE1, beside the London Eye
- Nearest
- Waterloo and Westminster, both short walks
- Hours
- Checked 5 October 2026: 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm. Hours vary by date
- Booking
- Online with a timeslot for the advance price. Snorkel with Sharks, Meet the Turtles, Behind the Scenes, VR and the Yoto audio tour are separately ticketed
- Price
- Adult from 28 pounds in advance or 39 on the day. Child 2 to 15 from 25 in advance or 35 on the day. Under 2s free. Student tickets from 16 pounds through Student Beans. Multi-attraction passes work out at under 12 pounds per attraction across five Merlin sites
- Standing
- Six zones including the Aquarium Tunnel, Polar Adventure and Open Oceans, on the South Bank next to the London Eye
How to get in
A child aged 2 to 15 costs 25 pounds against an adult’s 28, so the child discount is only 3 pounds and a family of four pays 106 booked ahead or 148 on the door. A student ticket at 16 pounds through Student Beans is cheaper than a child ticket. Bundling five Merlin attractions brings the cost under 12 pounds each.
Where to go next
The London Eye is next door and part of the same bundle, as is Madame Tussauds.
The South Bank covers the free things on the same stretch, and the free museums are the no-cost alternative.
Questions we get asked
How much is the London Aquarium?
An adult is from £28 booked in advance or £39 on the day, and a child aged 2 to 15 is from £25 in advance or £35 on the day. Under 2s are free. Booking ahead saves up to 28%.
Is the child ticket cheaper at SEA LIFE London?
Barely. A child aged 2 to 15 costs £25 in advance against £28 for an adult, a difference of just £3, and £35 against £39 on the day. That makes a child 89% of the adult price, where most London attractions charge around half.
How do you get cheap London Aquarium tickets?
Two routes. Students can buy from as low as £16 through Student Beans, a saving of up to 60%, which is cheaper than a child ticket. Alternatively a multi-attraction pass bundling five Merlin London attractions, including the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, brings the cost to under £12 per attraction.
What time does the London Aquarium close?
Checked on 5 October 2026 it opened 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm, a full hour before closing. Hours vary by date, so check the day you plan to visit.
What is inside SEA LIFE London?
Six zones: Coral Kingdom, Ocean Invaders, Rainforest Adventure, Polar Adventure, Open Oceans and the Aquarium Tunnel. Snorkel with Sharks, Meet the Turtles, a Behind the Scenes tour, a VR experience and a Yoto audio tour are all separately ticketed.
Where is the London Aquarium?
At County Hall on the South Bank, directly beside the London Eye, which is why the two are so often sold together. Waterloo and Westminster are both short walks.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 281 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
