Marine Discovery Centre | School Holiday Workshop Review

School holiday fun with an under the sea theme at the Marine Discovery Centre.

Review by Angelica-Hazel Toutounji

I have been wanting to visit the Marine Discovery Centre with my kids for such a long time and thankfully this week I finally had the chance. Located in Henley Beach, right next to the Star of the Sea school and only a few steps from the beach, the Marine Discovery Centre truly is a hidden gem and an incredible place to have a hands-on ocean adventure.

On the day of our visit, we attended the Treasure Hunters of the Deep Blue Sea workshop. This workshop, as the name suggested, had a pirate theme and upon arrival we were given a treasure map to take around the centre and uncover the secret word. The treasure hunt took us all around the centre searching for clues and discovering fun and interactive elements across every nook and cranny.

What we loved so much about this event was that we had the ability to go at our own pace, explore what we wanted and be guided by our kid’s interests. This meant that we stopped and started the treasure hunt at multiple points along our visit and had the ability to learn in a fun and light hearted way.

Along with completing the hunt, we enjoying peeking in all of the aquariums and seeing a sea horse, searching for shells and objects in the sand, watching a movie on the big screen and trying out the virtual reality headsets. We also had the opportunity to make pirate hats and to decorate a bag. Some of the other cool elements were a fishing game, touchscreens and a hands on experience with microscopes. Towards the end we also saw a live fish feeding presentation, which was fun!

The event went for two hours and honestly we didn’t want to leave. We had a fantastic time being absorbed in marine themed play and would jump at the chance to visit again. The Marine Discovery Centre is only open to the public at certain times so it pays to book your place for events as soon as they are released. We also found the centre to be great for a variety of ages. We went with a five, eight, six and nearly two-year-old and found activities that all ages enjoyed.

So if you have ocean loving kids and want to foster their love of all thing marine and at the same time help them to develop a strong sense of environmental awareness, make sure you visit the Marine Discovery Centre!

What we like about it:

• Everything – the arts and craft, science and multiple interactive elements with a marine theme.

Things to Consider:

• The Marine Discovery Centre isn’t open to the general public normally except for events so book in early to avoid missing out.

Our favourite nearby coffee spots/cafes:

• There are so many options in Henley Beach, the closest one is Henley Breeze Cafe.

Location:

Corner Malborough Terrace & Seaview Road, Henley Beach

You can follow the Marine Discovery Centre on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information and all enquiries please visit the Marine Discovery Centre website.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go (July 2026).

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