Seal Rescue Ireland
Seal Rescue Ireland
5
10:00 - 17:00
Monday
10:00 - 17:00
Tuesday
10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday
10:00 - 17:00
Thursday
10:00 - 17:00
Friday
10:00 - 17:00
Saturday
10:00 - 17:00
Sunday
10:00 - 17:00
About
Come visit Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) for a unique learning experience! SRI’s Visitor Centre, located in Courtown, Co Wexford, invites visitors to come to meet our adorable seal pups while they’re on their road to recovery, take a tour, learn their stories, and be inspired to join the efforts in protecting seals in the wild! Come check out our gift shop, adopt your favourite seal, and make sure to take the time to explore the beautiful surrounding Courtown Woods Walking Trails and scenic coastline.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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5.0
169 reviews
Excellent
153
Very good
10
Average
3
Poor
1
Terrible
2
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
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noel l
Kilkenny, Ireland60 contributions
Jul 2022 • Family
Visited the sanctuary on numerous occasions over the past few years as we live fairly local, very surprised on this occasion to be charged €44 for 2 adults and 3 young children seen as this was a free venue with a donation for the last few years before…. Very ignorant staff with no concept of tourism or family values…what a complete waste of time and money where you are shown the seals for mere seconds from behind a curtain whilst you are briskly taken away from them and not allowed to view them after….. we donated blankets in the past to this sanctuary and of course they were accepted with both hands wide open, I fully understand this is a worthwhile charity but not at the expense of the visiting tourist or locals who have supported them throughout the last number of years
I wish them the best of luck in fooling other money rich tourists in parting with their cash for this 10 minute experience…. My opinion save your money and time and visit Dublin zoo for an extra €20 and enjoy all it has to offer
I wish them the best of luck in fooling other money rich tourists in parting with their cash for this 10 minute experience…. My opinion save your money and time and visit Dublin zoo for an extra €20 and enjoy all it has to offer
Written 14 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Noel, we are very sorry that you didn’t enjoy your visit to Seal Rescue Ireland.
As a charity, we do have limited resources as we are almost entirely funded by the public, but our volunteers always do their best to ensure our guests have the best experience with us. Our proceedings go into feeding our seal pups and the maintenance costs of our Rescue Center.
Also, our guided tours are 30 minutes and sad to hear that the visit let you down. We are very grateful for the community to which we belong and visit and would like to hear more about the visit so we can try and improve for the future. Please feel free to email me at education@sealrescueireland.org
Written 27 August 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Marketeer83
Dublin, Ireland151 contributions
Aug 2021
This isn't a cheap hour to spend, especially with a family but we would say it's worth it. I went with my son (4) to a morning tour. The guides were great, very friendly and really knowledgeable. They clearly love what they do. My son loved pitching in to get the feed ready and throwing it to the seals at feeding time. Our guide did mention that the seals can be more playful in the afternoon so that's something to consider when booking. Also recommend wearing wellies.
Written 20 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather220_1
Belfast, UK427 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
We pre-booked a tour here as I love seals. There was a mother & daughter & another couple & everyone was socially distanced.
The guides were so clearly happy in their jobs & very knowledgeable about everything seal-related.
We had an educational talk about seals, the Irish coast, their work & the environment. Then we got a detailed tour & talk around the seal cub ICU & seal cub bays. Then we got to help feed a couple of seal Cubs in their pool. I’m probably getting all the terminology wrong as I was so enamoured with the seal Cubs that I couldn’t take it all in!
They do amazing work & I think that anyone aged 5-100 would love a trip here.
The guides were so clearly happy in their jobs & very knowledgeable about everything seal-related.
We had an educational talk about seals, the Irish coast, their work & the environment. Then we got a detailed tour & talk around the seal cub ICU & seal cub bays. Then we got to help feed a couple of seal Cubs in their pool. I’m probably getting all the terminology wrong as I was so enamoured with the seal Cubs that I couldn’t take it all in!
They do amazing work & I think that anyone aged 5-100 would love a trip here.
Written 25 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rebecca M
8 contributions
Jan 2022
Two of us visited Seal Rescue Ireland and took part in the Feed and Enrichment Experience. It was a very educational and interactive tour led by the staff who were very knowledgable about the individual seals in the centre, the threats facing seals in the wild, and on what we can all do to help. There was a small group of us (6 in total) which made it easy to ask questions and take part in the activities. The tour ran for a little over an hour and afterwards we had the opportunity to visit the gift shop and find out about more ways to help the important work of SRI (Seal adoption and volunteering in particular). I would recommend this for anyone who is in the area and is interested in learning more about some of Ireland's beautiful wildlife from very friendly and interesting guides.
Written 31 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for the 5-dot review and for choosing Seal Rescue Ireland for your family outing! It’s a pleasure to spread awareness with those just as passionate about seals as we are. We hope to have you soon again back at our center!
Written 27 August 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Audrey J
1 contribution
Jun 2021 • Family
Highly recommend, kids had a ball learning about the seals and getting to feed them. Fun and educational. Kids even insisted on doing a beach clean up to help the seals, staying nearby, disgusted to say there was plenty of litter in the beach for them to pick up...
Written 15 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachel
Dublin, Ireland4 contributions
Jun 2021
I had an excellent day at the Seal Rescue Ireland. I did the Seal Feed and Enrichment Experience, which meant being able to see the seals up close and being able to feed them. It was fantastic, but also informative, as we learned about conservation and how to help seals/ get involved. The guides were informed and chatty, and I would highly recommend this experience to anyone.
Written 10 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mary c
1 contribution
Aug 2023 • Family
Did not enjoy my time here. The tour was very quick and overall pretty boring. I could not even really see any of the seals due to the type of enclosures they were in. Felt like a waste of money and the whole place was very make shift and not nice.
Written 15 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback. I'm very sorry you didn't enjoy your experience with us. As a wildlife rescue centre, our work is seasonal and sometimes we have less seals in our care. This time of year, we are in between pupping seasons where a lot of our seals might have been in the pre-release pool which is off show to limit human interaction before they get released. We make sure seals don't get too familiar with having too many humans viewing them throughout the day and some seals may get more stressed out than others so in these cases we will close their curtains so they are not able to be viewed. We are a charity that relies on the majority of our funding from doing these experiences. I am very sorry that you felt like the experience was a waste of money. If you would like to visit in our busy season where you would most likely see more pups, this tends to be August or November/December time. Please let us know if you have any further feedback.
Written 6 April 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Alison B.
Lyon, France26 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
We took the 1 hour €30 seal feeding and enrichment tour which allowed us to learn more about seals in Ireland and the incredible work of the volunteers. We were also able to help feed 4 adorable seals in the pools, it was really cool. The volunteer team is adorable and educational. Young or old, it's a great activity that allows support for this association.
Written 12 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
chelseablue-11
London, UK71 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
What a gem off a find, a must if you are travelling in the area. First visit today. Tour was with Harry, so much information that was greatly raising our awareness to the seal families and reasons for rescue of these beautiful mammals. Information and questions answered gave us Greater awareness off the problems that seals face, examples shown about the facts of pollution,climes change, etc.
We booked to feed the seals, which was lovely experience, well worth it. The seal rescue centre is reliant on sponsorship, funding from tours like ours. It is highly recommended. Thank you to Tara who was also helping with the feeding. They where a wealth off knowledge and a valuable placement opportunity for Harry to put into practice his knowledge, raising awareness. A great time spent, highly recommended.
We booked to feed the seals, which was lovely experience, well worth it. The seal rescue centre is reliant on sponsorship, funding from tours like ours. It is highly recommended. Thank you to Tara who was also helping with the feeding. They where a wealth off knowledge and a valuable placement opportunity for Harry to put into practice his knowledge, raising awareness. A great time spent, highly recommended.
Written 13 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Chelsea! Thank you for the 5-star review! We are really passionate about what we do, and we are delighted to hear you enjoyed your visit to our rescue centre and learning all about our work! We hope to see you again soon!
Written 18 October 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
F.
Europe12 contributions
Apr 2023 • Friends
We just passed this on a trip down south.
We really enjoyed the tour and were super lucky to get on the next tour without a reservation ( I think in high season you might need one)
Anyways the money invested in the tour was worth it as we learned a lot about the seals and supported a good cause.
Well done keep up the great work.
We really enjoyed the tour and were super lucky to get on the next tour without a reservation ( I think in high season you might need one)
Anyways the money invested in the tour was worth it as we learned a lot about the seals and supported a good cause.
Well done keep up the great work.
Written 4 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your wonderful review and for your support!
Written 6 April 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Have you any seal's currently which the children would get to see and hear about their journey.
Written 7 July 2022
Will you be expanding the options to take a tour Monday-Thursdays in May 2022? It looks like they are only available Friday-Sunday. Many thanks!
Written 21 April 2022
Hi Jen! If you want to get in contact with our education manager
Krysten on education@sealrescueireland. org she'll be able to give you more information on our availability in May!
Thanks,
Dylan
Written 21 April 2022
Our apologies eirgirl we missed your question! :(
Sadly no we do not allow dogs into the centre as it causes distress to the recovering pup seals in the hospital.
We do however have a little area out the front of the centre where your pooch can stay safely and we provide drinking water for dogs.
We hope you will still come to visit! :)
Best regards,
Seal Rescue Ireland
Written 16 May 2019
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