Kelly Tarlton's product reviews

Kelly Tarltons is an awesome family day out. Its located along Mission Bay which is only minutes from the heart of Auckland city. It has plenty of parking. The premises is very clean & tidy. Its one of those places that no matter how many times you've been there you always see something different. It has excellent little rock pools that the kids can get up close to, which is extremely educational. Last time we went there the big sting ray flicked its tail & sprayed water on us which was very entertaining to see... couldn't get much more action than that. We also went on the snow mobile which took you through the snow to see the penguins & it was amazing. You can go on it as many times as you like & its all included in the admission price. I think that the admission prices are reasonable as you can stay there all day if you like. The gift shop has a huge variety of things that are related to the sea. We had a lovely fish n chip basket for lunch, which was appropriate considering the venue!! Kelly Tarltons would be one of the best attractions Auckland has to offer... in my opinion.

Value for money - this would be the only thing that i could have any doubt over after taking my family to Kelly Tarltons for the day . My first impression was it was over priced for the average kiwi family and was there more for our overseas guest with a few more dollars in there wallets, as it cost my family just over $100 to gain entry alone. Lets not forget the family photo and cd package lunch and the shop on the way out where all the family wants a small gift to remember the day to take home with them. Yes the extras are optional but the family photo and cd package was very nicely put together and how often is the whole family together in one place these days so really what a great chance to grab one with a world class back ground. The appeal really has the WOW factor, where else can you get so close to the under water wild life sharks stingrays and such a massive range of fishes crabs crayfish etc in there own surroundings and not even get wet. I have been a very keen scuba diver over the years and been all over the pacific and our country diving with sharks ,hand feeding them , diving tropical reefs etc, and i was quite surprised on how great this amazing concept was presented, not even having to walk all on a conveyor belt so you can take the whole world around you in amazing really. Accessibility was great plenty of car parks easy to get into as well as leaving not a common thing in Auckland. Overall what a great day out with my better half and kids the whole family had a ball , from my two year old son through to mum. This is a world class attraction and gets a 10 out 10 from me and my family. So is Kelly Tarltons value for money yes it is and i am a hard man to please.

Kelly Tarltons is great! from the minute you arrive you're drawn in by the different sights and sounds. My personal fave is the penguins! I love that you can go through the tunnels and see them in their natural habitat, the kids are always so fascinated by it too!
The stingrays in the big tank are fantastic for getting up nice and close to them.
There is always plenty to see and do with special shows being on a regular basis. You will never fail to find something new to discover and learn about with the kids. A real Treat!

From the outside, there does not seem to be much to attract the almighty tourist dollar - but once you have parked in the ample car-park and head into the underground world that really is Kelly Tarlton's you will not be disappointed (ignoring the staff problems we had, but more about that later).

On entering, we were lined up to have our photos taken, and promised we could buy prints on the way out. Great - another inventive way to wrest more cash from our hands, but hey, what the hell. It's a great memento of our visit.

Heading towards and exhibition of R. F. Scott (incidentally, a much better exhibit than found at the Canterbury museum) we were exposed to an insightful journey into Scott's world of the Antarctic. Here, there is more to slow the adults down than the kids, and perhaps a few more child-friendly interactive games here to slow down the hyperactive kids would have helped the adults to enjoy this more, but no matter.

The tunnel walkway had both my daughter and myself spellbound. Gob smacked, speechless even - what can one say? It was amazing to think that just a few short years ago, this complex held the unthinkable. What a transformation. Excellent identification charts all around helped us identify most of the fish.

The snow ride - despite being close to closing, the staff member on duty re-opened the ride for us, and not only sent us around once, she readily agreed to send us around again. I doubt my stomach could have stood a third trip around the 'white out' conditions. The commentary was fantastic and informative, as was the rest of the display.

Finally, we went to the smaller aquaria to marvel at the other fish in the tanks before heading to the gift shop.

The gift shop was the whole dampener of our trip. Normally, one would expect friendly staff willing to take money from you. Normally they will suggest other things to help obtain more money from you. Not this lot. Apart from ignoring us whilst they continued to chat with each other, they items we had in our hands couldn't be purchased because they had closed the till. They had, it seemed, closed the till before we got to the gift shop, and quite sometime before normal closing time.
The photos we were told we could buy were lost because the computer had been switched off.
As someone who has worked in retail, these staff were a discredit to the company who ran it and caused loss of valuable business. Clearly their social life was more important than us. [Editorial Note: The PhotoSpot is run by an independant company and not by Kelly Tarltons.]

I dare say I will be back again sometime, but I sincerely hope, for the sake of the company, the staff are more attentive to the customer, because as were are always told: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!

What can I say, this is a great venue. The displays are stunning, from the static stuff like the Squid Explorer sub through to the more interactive such as the boxes of costumes for the kids, and the squid sucker demonstrator. I was particularly impressed by the mockup of Scott's Antarctic cabin... wandering through this display, you certainly get a fairly good impression of life on the Antarctic continent, without the chill and frostbite. The movie clips that play, and the accompanying narrative books, give you a historical perspective on Scott's ill-fated expedition to find the South Pole.

Another major attraction is the SnowCat ride through the Penguin enclosure. It was so dinky we went around twice. By far the worst part of it is the 'white out conditions' part, which is a revolving drum that you pass through... can you say "-urp- Vertigo..."... I knew ya could... There is more than just the penguins, of course... you also see a display of all the flags of the countries that have signed the Antarctic Charter.

The longest running attraction of the venue is the moving walkway tunnel. This was the first thing Kelly Tarlton built, converting the old disused sewerage overflow tanks into a national treasure which opened only weeks before he passed away. The original tank has been expanded and sub-divided, and of course extra features and displays have been added over the years since it was opened. On top of this, you can also book for their adventure events, such as the Shark Survival dive, the Stingray Splash swim and the Snorkel Safari through the main tank. And as if this wasn't enough, you can also arrange sleepovers and birthday party tours as well!

As you enter the main area, you can get your photo taken at the independently-owned "PhotoSpot" stand, and then later you can choose a background to superimpose it in front of. Final images are available for view and selection at the "PhotoSpot" counter, which is sharing space with the Gift Shop at the end of the venue. This is a GREAT idea for any family or group outing, however you need to make sure you don't leave it too late. We got to the gift shop about 20 minutes before closing time, and approached the "PhotoSpot" counter with a good 15 minutes to spare, only to be told they had closed it down already and we would not be able to have our photos, so sorry. I was quite disappointed in their overzealousness and "Well, tough luck, we aren't powering it back up for you now" attitude... it cost them quite a bit of money, since there were 3 adults and 2 kids all wanting photos, keyrings and magnets. To add insult to injury, we were also told they had closed the tills down so we couldn't even buy a gift to take home instead! This was a rather disheartening end to an otherwise amazing, awe-inspiring and fun tour. All we ended up walking out with was a couple of the "Tourist Dollar" coins from a vending machine by the Stingray tanks, and our memories.

Overall, this was still a great place to visit, but be sure you get to the end with plenty of time to spare. The staff were a little hard to deal with, but I will chalk that up to it being the end of the day and them wanting to go home. Not a reasonable excuse, but at least and understandable reason. Parking was great, with ample spaces aboveground by the entrance, and access is easy with ramps leading down, but only stairs leading back up... so any chair-bound folk will want to head back the way they came when it's time to leave.