St Andrews Aquarium boasts blue lobsters, a baby shark... and meerkats?

WITH a wet Sunday looming we decided to chuck the kids in the car and head over to the aquarium in St Andrews. The website promised meerkats and seals in addition to fish so we figured a run in the car, a visitor attraction and some lunch would keep the whole family occupied and happy.

The St Andrews Aquarium was well sign-posted and easy to find perched right on the shore at The Scores. We were there bang on opening time at 10am, but the first of the shows didn’t start until 11:30am. With a one-year-old and a four-year-old to entertain we quickly dispensed with waiting for the meerkat talk or a seal feed this time and promptly descended the stairs to see the fish.

Fortunately Sam is now walking well under his own steam so we left the buggy in the car. There are lots of stairs in the aquarium and although staff are happy to assist you with access, you would be asking them every five minutes.

On the plus side, most of the tanks are the perfect height for toddlers to get a great view of the inhabitants which became immediately obvious as Meghan ran squealing from a tank, because she thought a fish was coming to get her.

The descriptions on the tanks gave good background information with pictures to help identify the different species, but my husband and I didn’t get to read too many of those. However, I did learn that blue lobsters are that way because of a genetic mutation – so I hope that question comes up in Trivial Pursuit one day.

The Black Tip Reef Shark was a little disappointing as he is only a baby, but he still looked mean as sin. However, as his tank was just a few steps away from the meerkats, Meghan bypassed him without a second glance. Sergei and his chums really do have a lot to answer for.

The meerkats responded to their audience like the pros they are, posing under the heat lamps and having some play fights. Two of them were named Kate and Wills, after a couple of famous University of St Andrews graduates. We did pop outside to see the seals, another group of crowd-pleasers, but it was rather cold, so it was a brief visit.

Back inside, the husband and I were quite taken with the glow-in-the-dark scorpions – very spooky.

Would I drive from Edinburgh and pass Deep Sea World to visit St Andrew’s Aquarium again? Probably not, but if I was in St Andrews or the vicinity then we would factor it into our day, but be better prepared to fit in with show times. All tickets cover you for a full day and you are allowed to pop in and out so you could plan a full day’s activities around a visit. There are also regular events such as Meerkat Munchies when you can buy special tickets to feed the meerkats.

Adults £8, children £6. A family pass is £25, and you can book tickets at www.standrewsaquarium.co.uk