Schools

A visit to the Island Bay Marine Education Centre is an excellent way to launch students on their path of discovery. Experienced educators will lead your class group through a series of activities that will open their eyes and minds. Explore the rocky shore environment and discover what lives inside the Bait House Aquarium..

Since 1996, we've been offering a variety of opportunities for tens of thousands of school children of all ages and abilities to see and learn about New Zealand’s unique marine life close up at our Island Bay Centre.

Over this time, we’ve found that almost all children (and adults) are fascinated by the sea and want to learn more about it if they're given the chance to see marine life close up, and as near as possible to the natural environment.

Our School Visit Programmes have been designed to meet the requirements of the New Zealand Science Curriculum. Activities can be tailored to suit the needs of any age group and are linked to one or more of the six science learning strands.

For more information about our school visit programmes and enquiries about booking a visit, please make an enquiry.

Nice little place they have down there by the water. Good place to go for a quick and fun outing. Interesting seeing all the various types of marine life they have in one building.

Archie

The Island Bay Marine Education Centre's Bait House Aquarium is an interactive marine experience based in Island Bay on Wellington's south coast.There are lots of different sea creatures on display including a couple of octupuses, sea horses, lobsters to name a few. You can also gently touch and handle starfish, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, crabs and other sea life found in the local rock pools outside.There's far more inside than you would expect. The volunteers and expert staff are very friendly and helpful. It is really reasonably priced and we were all entertained for ages. Really good fun and educational too. Definitely worth checking out with the family.

Haydn