Summer at the Sea Museum

Festival

Photo showing a smiling child jumping in a colourful soft play space

This summer, dip into creative spaces and exhibitions inspired by the rainforests of our oceans – coral, kelp, rocky and shellfish reefs – some of the most beautiful and biodiverse places on our blue planet.

Resilient, vital and vulnerable, these underwater worlds offer lessons in tenderness and tenacity, care and community.

There are oceans of fun and adventure to discover every day, including:

a Sea Forest of spectacular installations, charismatic collections and collaborative play, set amid ultramarine hues
a seagrass home-building challenge for endangered hippocampus at The Seahorse Hotel
extraordinary performances of Reptilian / Crocodilian - A tale of ancient seas and swamp by ERTH Visual & Physical, journeying through ancient rivers and seas with creatures of oceans past
an invitation to be both artist and engineer in Kids on Deck, with art and science, experiments and play inspired by a splendiferous shellfish reef

Photo showing 2 children looking at the mouth of a puppet with large teeth. The boy looks excited and the girl looks scared.

Reptilian / Crocodilian by Erth

A tale of ancient seas and swamp

Step into a Sea Forest as you journey through ancient oceans, swamps and waterways to meet some of the extraordinary creatures that have survived for millennia in this interactive family show by world-renowned visual theatre makers and puppeteers Erth Visual and Physical Inc.

Recommended ages: 4-14 yrs and adults

Dates: 9-31 January 2027 (sessions Wednesday to Sunday only)
Duration: 40-minute sessions

Sea Forest

Step beneath the surface and enter Sea Forest -- a living, evolving underwater world shaped by creativity, curiosity and collective action.

Developed with Kidwonder, Sea Forest invites visitors to become ocean builders, carers and designers as they explore how our oceans have changed over time, how marine life adapts and survives, and how we can help keep ocean environments flourishing into the future.

Daily 10am – 3pm
(extended hours 18 December – 6 January, 10am – 4pm)

Part of the Summer See It All ticket

The Seahorse Hotel

Welcome to The Seahorse Hotel, where young marine architects are invited to design the ultimate underwater accommodation for Sydney’s endangered White’s Seahorse.

Inspired by a real conservation project happening in Sydney’s waters, this playful, hands-on experience invites children to check in, collect their building materials and create their own seahorse hotels using architectural components developed with Kidwonder.

Daily 10am – 5pm

Part of the Summer See It All ticket

Come aboard our vessels

1 - 6

HMAS Onslow

Endeavour

HMAS Vampire (II)

Tall ship James Craig

HMAS Advance

Duyfken

Roving performances

Come face to face with a curious cast of characters as captivating performance artists engage in lively roving entertainment around the museum.

Enjoy encounters with a jawesome crocodilian puppet, glamourous seagull roller skaters, a majestic seagrass and seahorse stiltwalker, whimsical hula -hooping hooligans and hip-shaking Island dance delights. Play with gigantic bubbles, tap your toes to the beats our roving dj, spot jovial jugglers, spectacular circus artists and sing along to live music in our rotating program of free daily performances.

Daily 18 Dec – 31 January
Roving sessions 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1.30pm, 30 min sessions
Free