The Seashore Centre is a very welcoming interpretation centre with lots of interactive displays and tanks full of amazing creatures from the local area. It provides a wonderful indoor experience bringing the marine environment to life for free. There is disabled access and plenty of room to store bags and equipment while students are out on the field.

During bad weather the group will return to the centre where indoor activities will be arranged.

If you would like to look around the centre during your visit please inform the ranger when booking and a tour will be given at the end of the day.

The Seashore Centre at Goodrington Sands runs a comprehensive marine awareness programme for visitors and local residents alike.

The environment of Torbay has an exceptional wealth and diversity of marine life. The aim of the centre and its staff is to help the general public to understand and appreciate how fascinating the marine life of the bay is, from the Bottlenose Dolphins that visit during the summer months to the microscopic plankton that drift around in the sea.

Over 26 schools used the education facilities run by the centre in the year 2000, with a total of 786 children taking part. The majority of these schools visit the centre in the summer term with the bulk of visits occuring from April to July.

In addition to this over 5,000 people took part in events run by the staff at the centre during the summer of 2000. Events run by the centre have included, rockpool rambles, plankton trawling, boat trips around the bay, seashore safari’s and much, much more.

The centre comprises of 3 zones, the Beach Zone, Sea Zone and Rockpool Zone. In the different zones are information displays, aquarium tanks, and a video microscope. Entry to the centre is free of charge and an average of 30,000 people visit the centre in a year.

The centre is situated on one of the major tourist beaches within the bay and in the summer an excess of 950,000 people visit the site. The Quay-West waterslide complex and Inn on the Quay Pub are also on this site.

Staff and volunteers at the centre enjoy their work and work hard but there is always a lot of fun!

Access and Parking

If travelling by coach there is a drop off point immediately outside the centre, the coach can then park in the leisure car park situated at the top of the road. If using minibuses or cars the same drop off point applies. The centre does not provide parking however there are Pay and Display carparks including disabled parking adjacent to the building.

Facilities

Full toilet facilities are available in the public toilet block that is directly opposite the centre. Please ensure you supervise all children in your care. There is a small retail outlet within the centre and there are shops, cafe’s, an amusement arcade and Quaywest Water Park situated very close.