Porto
SEA LIFE Porto
At SEA LIFE Porto you walk through a tunnel in the main tank, with rays, blacktip sharks and Mariza the turtle swimming over your head. The aquarium stands on the seafront by the Castelo do Queijo fort, with Humboldt penguins outside, and one ticket lets you come and go all day.
From the Douro to the shark tunnel at SEA LIFE Porto
The way round starts in fresh water, with tanks for rivers, streams and the Douro itself. Then it heads for the sea, past rock pools with an underwater camera, a sunken ship and a coral nursery, where the aquarium breeds endangered corals for the SEA LIFE network.
A room called A Dive into the Rest of the Ocean fills in the big animals SEA LIFE doesn’t keep. Its immersive displays show orcas, sperm whales, dolphins and belugas, and it’s linked to the beluga sanctuary that the SEA LIFE Trust, the chain’s charity, runs in Iceland.
The Salácia Kingdom, the main tank at SEA LIFE Porto
The tunnel runs through the Salácia Kingdom, the main tank, where hundreds of species live. SEA LIFE calls this tunnel the only one of its kind in Portugal. Mariza the turtle lives here, with her own talk at 11:30.
Children get a smaller tunnel of their own near the end, and a visitor in 2024 warned that adults have to crouch or crawl through it.
Rays, sharks and the feeding talks at SEA LIFE Porto
The talks and feeds come with the ticket, and they set the rhythm of the day. There are shark talks at 11:00 and 14:30, ray feeds at 12:00 and 15:30 and a penguin feed at 16:30.
Times and topics can change on the day. In between, look for the Ray Bay, where the aquarium’s first ray was born, the Ocean Cave, with more sharks, and the Seahorse Temple.
Penguins and play for children at SEA LIFE Porto
SEA LIFE aims the place at families with children from 2 to 12. Besides the kids’ tunnel there’s the free SEA SCAN app, for spotting species in the tanks; a visitor in 2023 said it kept the children busy. Outside, a playground is designed for under-9s.
Also outside is Penguin Harbour. It opened in 2019 with seven Humboldt penguins, a species of the Peruvian and Chilean coast, and a visitor in September 2026 counted three.
SEA LIFE Porto tickets and opening hours
Tickets are for a day, with no time slot, and you can leave and come back as often as you like. Buy the SEA LIFE Porto ticket for €19; children from 2 to 11 pay €14 and students €14.
- Monday to Friday
- 10:00–18:00
- Weekends and holidays
- 10:00–19:00
- Last entry
- 45 minutes before closing
- Children up to 15
- Only with an adult over 18; ID may be asked for
- Food
- None from outside except baby food, or in the outdoor area; café inside
- Pushchairs
- Welcome, but there's nowhere to leave them
- Cancellation
- Until 23:59 the day before
- Porto passes
- Not included
It’s a family outing first, and some visitors on Tripadvisor since 2020 have found it small for the money. For one Tiqets buyer in June 2025, though, it was the “Best activity to do with kids in Porto”.
How long you stay varies a lot: visitors have spent anything from 15 minutes to a couple of hours inside.
Wheelchairs can go the whole way round, with lifts; only the backstage tour and the VIP turtle feed have stairs. Guide dogs are the only dogs allowed.
Getting to SEA LIFE Porto, and on to Serralves
SEA LIFE is at the end of Avenida da Boavista, by the Castelo do Queijo roundabout, where Porto’s seafront runs into Matosinhos.
From the centre, bus 500 runs from São Bento station towards Matosinhos and stops at SEA LIFE Castelo do Queijo, as does the 502. On the metro, take line A to Matosinhos Sul and walk 20 minutes.
Drivers have a separate car park off the roundabout, with an exit straight to the door; its prices change with the season.
Serralves and Boavista by bus
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Serralves Museum → Bus 502 runs between the two, for the contemporary art museum and its park. €24 -
Casa da Música → The Metrobus or bus 504 from Serralves to Casa da Música, for a tour of the concert hall. €12 -
Porto Tram Museum → From the Casa da Música metro, 23 minutes' walk down Rua D. Pedro V to Porto's old trams. €8
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