complete with a beautiful lagoon, a mangrove swamp and coral reef, where 40 varieties of coral are flourishing and covering eight times their original area.
The sealions are another must-see, especially as you walk through their pool in an underwater transparent passageway, giving the impression that you are in the depths of the ocean.
Nausicaa, just 15 minutes' drive from Calais, is open every day of the year from 9.30am to 6.30pm (8pm from July 1 to August 31). Admission is 9.50/10/12 euros for adults (low, mid and peak season prices) and 6.50/7.50/8.50 euros for children aged 3-12. A total of 90 per cent of the centre is wheelchair-accessible.

HOW do you fancy walking through shark-infested waters? Well you can do that at the amazing Nausicaa sea centre in Boulogne. Its 1.2 million litre shark pool allows you to see these awesome creatures from the middle of an ocean ... without getting your feet wet.
The centre has another pool for sharks, the Californian Aquarium, where visitors can watch horned and leopard sharks gliding through a forest of kelp, just like they do off the West Coast of the USA.
These new attractions are adding to the appeal of Nausicaa for thousands of British tourists. Since the centre opened in 1991, it has welcomed more than 4 million visitors, making it the most popular tourist attraction in the Nord-Pas de Calais region and the fifth most visited in France. In fact Britons comprise a quarter of all admissions to the centre, which boasts 36 aquaria and a staggering 10,000 marine creatures!
Not to be missed is the Pacific island,