This place is fantastic. I first went with my own 2 children, aged 5 and 4. I must admit when I first walked in I thought we'd be lucky to kill an hour because it is smaller than I expected. However, the 2 children soon got stuck in and 4 hours later we were still there, they didn't even want to stop for lunch, despite Pizza Hut being on offer! The activities may not look much to the untrained eye, however as a trained primary teacher and Early Years specialist I was able to look beyond the home made (as one other reviwer put it) apperance of the place and concentrate on what the children could actually gain from their experiences. Their engagement was easy to see, not once were they left wondering what to do and they became so engrossed in everything they were doing, it was wonderful to watch. The layout and the activities make it an ideal time to socialise with other children, even my normalyl shy 5 year old was working out the logistics of moving the play balls with a group of other children, their verbalising, reasoning and interactions were fantastic. On leaving, my son, who's usually very negative commented "That was the best day of my life" After my very succesful visit I took a group of parents and toddlers on a trip with the children's centre I work for. From the second we arrived the staff were extremely helpful and welcoming. All parents gave brilliant feedback of the trip and the kids defineitly enjoyed it too and benefitted from it hugely. One mum commented that she could quite happily take her child out of school and take him there everyday as he learned so much and interacted well with new children. This is a wonderful place to spend quality time with your child and engage in quality play. However, if they want to go off and explore for themselves you can have piece of mind because the doors are locked and watched by staff so the kids can't escape! I would say, don't go expecting shiny, perfect resources as you'd expect in a museum, however, the freedom the children have to explore and engage is fantastic and they learn so much. read more

Overall, I would recommend Underwater Street, but with criticisms. I really love the idea of this place in principle, and I know that my 6 year old loved it (when he came here on a school trip). I thought it looked wonderful on the website, and yet when I visited today, with my younger son, I was a little bit disappointed. It just doesn't match up to a parent's expectations. Having said that, children don't have the same expectations as us grown-ups, so there is a good chance that your kids will love it here. The imagination behind so much of this is awe inspiring. I have read the answers given by Underwater Street to any poor reviews, and I wonder if the management are learning anything from the criticism? A lot of the equipment is in poor condition, with bits missing, especially in the Science section. Plastic bottles used to demonstrate water molecule activity are all dented and leaking so they demonstrated nothing but the fact that water drips. It does feel as if the place needs a refresh. My experience was actually spoiled mostly by the cafe. I would recommend parents bring their own sandwiches (if this allowed?) because I made the mistake of ordering lunch for myself and my son, and the waiting time was 45 mins. When it came, they had forgotten my son's sandwich. By then, he had gone back to playing, and the queue was so long, I couldn't face complaining. To be fair the quality of the food is good, but something needs to be done about staff levels at busy times. Others have complained about this before, and yet it seems as if management are convinced that there is no problem with this. I am in two minds about whether to return here. If only management could take on board the comments and accept some of the criticisms are well-founded, then this place could be amazing. read more

When we were faced with yet another rainy day I decided to take my children to Underwater Street-and we were not disappointed! My 5 year old and 3 year old were enthralled by every section of this little gem. Each area focused on a different theme such as art & crafts, imagination and science. It took us hours to work through all the sections (and they kept revisiting some!) My daughter was delighted with the art and crafts as it meant she could glue and stick to her hearts content! Both children loved making and painting fridge magnets which they then got to keep and the pretend shop captured their imagination for quite a while! Interspersed with this staff had workshops and showed and helped the children make things such as hot air balloons or created a volcano eruption! Staff were very friendly, welcoming and helpful to parents and children alike. Apart from having trouble finding it we had a wonderful day and we cant wait to go back with our friends. read more

I just wanted to say a big thanks to Underwater Street. We had our 4 year olds Birthday party there today. It was so relaxing to know everything was under control. The food choice was great. Party bags all ready for us. The food was served at a relaxed pace. The service from the staff was excellent, nothing was too much trouble . The kids seemed to never get bored, with so much choice for their little imaginations and happy doing bits of arts and crafts and watching the science shows. I had a party for my older boy when it first opened a few years ago and it was nice to see the same good service. Nice to take our time and not be hurried out the door when the party was over. I would definitely recommend Underwater Street as a place to visit with the kids for the day and as an excellent party venue. read more

Went here today and the kids absolutely loved it. Lots of great craft activities and workshops to keep them busy for hours. Also learnt a couple of circus tricks myself in one of the workshops! Staff were very pleasant and seemed to really enjoy their jobs. Even the food was nice and relatively cheap. Quite hard to find though and we spent £8 at the pay-and-display only to find out there is free parking close by at weekends!! All in all a great day out, We were there for nearly 4 hours and ended up with two carrier bags full of crafts and for £22 thought it was great value for money. ...just remember to check out their website for details on parking- you might save a small fortune!! read more

visited underwater street this week during the easter holidays and would like to say what a fun day out me and my family had i visited with my partner , 2yr old and 7yr old we spent the whole of 4hrs there and came home with bags full of goodies hats,masks,balloon powerd cars and fridge magnets!(which take pride of place on my fridge at home) , my 2yr old even won a goodie bag in the carnival parade :) . this was our first visit and will definatly be going back very soon the staff were really freindly which is always a bonus and the food in the cafe was lovely . read more

undewater street is a great hands on experience for children and adults we had lots of fun on the craft table it was so nice to be able to actually sit and make things with my daughter, then moved on to make fridge magnets (a super simple idea) and a fishing game. we spent the whole day at underwater street and struggled to get the children out at home time ! money well spent and will be going back v.soon . read more

Went to Underwater Street for the third time and it never disappoints. They change the theme all the time so there is always something new to do and learn. My daughter loves the craft table and the imagination village and my son loves the science shows and the balloon powered car races. The staff are so friendly and helpful. Make sure you dress for mess as there is a lot of messy fun to be had. read more