Sensory Saturdays at the Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth Verified listing

We don’t want anyone to be excluded from experiencing the wonders of our aquarium, but we know it can be overstimulating to some. To create a more inclusive and calmer environment, we’re running Sensory Saturdays on the first Saturday of every month. We invite individuals and families with neurodivergent sensory needs to come explore our colourful fish displays with minimal distractions.

To put the focus purely on the mesmerising animal displays, there will be no music playing, no bright lights from screens, and no talks generating large crowds. You will also find increased lighting in the darker areas of the aquarium, to provide visitors with a more consistent sensory journey. At 10am there will be a silent giant gourami feeding demonstration to watch.

We want visitors to feel comfortable to come and enjoy the beauty of marine life and express their joy for it in whatever way comes naturally to them. It’s for this reason that we can’t fully guarantee there will be no loud noises from other visitors, but we will be reducing sound from the aquarium to an absolute minimum.

To prepare for your upcoming visit, we’ve created a sensory guide you can download here to understand what your visit might look, sound, smell, and feel like ahead of arriving.

Terms & conditions
There’s no need to make a special booking! Purchase any standard entry ticket to the aquarium and turn up on the first Saturday of the month, between 9am and 10am. These sessions are open for anyone to attend. Visitors are welcome to stay on at the aquarium past 10am with their ticket, however music will be turned back on, and site improvement works may be audible.