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5 Isle Of Wight Dinosaur Attractions And Days Out
The Isle of Wight is famous for dinosaurs, which are particularly appealing to a) small children wearing Jurassic Park T-shirts and b) bearded men called Brian who bring a notepad and a tape measure to a beach.
According to the British Museum, the Isle of Wight is the 'Dinosaur Capital of Great Britain'. Anyone planning a dinosaur-themed holiday in Dorset should immediately cancel their plans and visit the Isle of Wight instead.
Over the years, many notable fossil discoveries have been made on the Isle of Wight. My favourite was the nine year old who had a species of pterosaur named after her after finding a fossil at Atherfield Beach. There was also a BBC programme in 2001 called Live From Dinosaur Island that had less, er, spectacular results. Experts enthusiastically searched live on telly and found...practically nothing. They were then accused of making a mess of a precious piece of coastline.
You are most likely to spot fossils around the West Wight or around Yaverland. You might also see some old fossils trying to squeeze into wetsuits. Say hello if you see us out and about.
Anyway, here are five dinosaur themed days out on the Isle of Wight:
According to the British Museum, the Isle of Wight is the 'Dinosaur Capital of Great Britain'. Anyone planning a dinosaur-themed holiday in Dorset should immediately cancel their plans and visit the Isle of Wight instead.
Over the years, many notable fossil discoveries have been made on the Isle of Wight. My favourite was the nine year old who had a species of pterosaur named after her after finding a fossil at Atherfield Beach. There was also a BBC programme in 2001 called Live From Dinosaur Island that had less, er, spectacular results. Experts enthusiastically searched live on telly and found...practically nothing. They were then accused of making a mess of a precious piece of coastline.
You are most likely to spot fossils around the West Wight or around Yaverland. You might also see some old fossils trying to squeeze into wetsuits. Say hello if you see us out and about.
Anyway, here are five dinosaur themed days out on the Isle of Wight:
This handsome T-Rex can be found at Blackgang Chine theme park
1. Fossil hunting tours and dinosaur footprints
Fossil hunting tours are excellent value and they're a good way to spend a couple of hours. You can expect to pay about £5 per person, which is about the same as a large punnet of blueberries in Waitrose.
They take place either around the West Wight's rapidly collapsing coastline or in Yaverland in the East Wight. They are both beautiful bits of coastline but the West Wight is much quieter than the East Wight.
You can pick from Island Gems, Dinosaur Expeditions, Wight Coast Fossils and Dinosaur Isle. At the time of writing, Wight Coast Fossils are promoting fossil and geology holidays where you spend a full five days looking at old stuff.
Island Gems was the winner of an award at the Isle of Wight Awards in 2022 and gets 5/5 reviews.
We did a fossil hunt with Dinosaur Isle a couple of years ago. We had the excitement of finding a small fossil but it was a rather windy day, which made child one a little less keen. I was expecting it to involve chisels and Jeff Goldblum style banter but it was more a case of looking for small black things that had washed up on the shore. We then presented them to our guide who explained whether it was a fossil or a black stone ("no, that's another stone" quickly became a catchphrase).
If you don't want to embark on a full fossil hunting tour, I would still make time to search for the dinosaur footprints of Brook Chine (sometimes called Brook Bay). These are whopping great things that you may well trip over.
You can read about our efforts to see the dinosaur footprints here or read this guide from DinoWight.
They take place either around the West Wight's rapidly collapsing coastline or in Yaverland in the East Wight. They are both beautiful bits of coastline but the West Wight is much quieter than the East Wight.
You can pick from Island Gems, Dinosaur Expeditions, Wight Coast Fossils and Dinosaur Isle. At the time of writing, Wight Coast Fossils are promoting fossil and geology holidays where you spend a full five days looking at old stuff.
Island Gems was the winner of an award at the Isle of Wight Awards in 2022 and gets 5/5 reviews.
We did a fossil hunt with Dinosaur Isle a couple of years ago. We had the excitement of finding a small fossil but it was a rather windy day, which made child one a little less keen. I was expecting it to involve chisels and Jeff Goldblum style banter but it was more a case of looking for small black things that had washed up on the shore. We then presented them to our guide who explained whether it was a fossil or a black stone ("no, that's another stone" quickly became a catchphrase).
If you don't want to embark on a full fossil hunting tour, I would still make time to search for the dinosaur footprints of Brook Chine (sometimes called Brook Bay). These are whopping great things that you may well trip over.
You can read about our efforts to see the dinosaur footprints here or read this guide from DinoWight.
The West Wight's coastline is a popular fossil hunting location
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A dinosaur footprint on the Isle of Wight (probably)
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2. Dinosaur museums
Dinosaur Isle in Yaverland is the obvious place to start for dinosaur museums on the Isle of Wight. It was the UK's first purpose built dinosaur museum when it opened in 2001. The building is supposed to look like a giant pterosaur although it also resembles a relative of the Millennium Dome/O2 Arena.
Again, it's cheap to get in at about £6. It's not huge but I was genuinely impressed with the size of some of the larger bones. The corridor with geology diagrams was a little less thrilling to me but I can appreciate that it's the highlight for some people and is necessary in a museum.
There are some activities for children, such as digging through sand to find fossils.
Dinosaur Isle is a good place to hide if it rains on your holiday, which definitely won't happen (Ed: really?). See our guide to discounts to Isle of Wight attractions to see if you can save some money on Dinosaur Isle tickets.
The other dinosaur museum on the Isle of Wight is a smaller one, which you can find on the Military Road in the West Wight. It is run by Dinosaur Expeditions, who also run the fossil hunting tours mentioned above.
Again, it's cheap to get in at about £6. It's not huge but I was genuinely impressed with the size of some of the larger bones. The corridor with geology diagrams was a little less thrilling to me but I can appreciate that it's the highlight for some people and is necessary in a museum.
There are some activities for children, such as digging through sand to find fossils.
Dinosaur Isle is a good place to hide if it rains on your holiday, which definitely won't happen (Ed: really?). See our guide to discounts to Isle of Wight attractions to see if you can save some money on Dinosaur Isle tickets.
The other dinosaur museum on the Isle of Wight is a smaller one, which you can find on the Military Road in the West Wight. It is run by Dinosaur Expeditions, who also run the fossil hunting tours mentioned above.
Dinosaur Isle is in Yaverland on the edge of Sandown
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It's not a massive attraction but we enjoyed the big fossils and children's activities
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3. Dinosaur themed minigolf
I am not suggesting that notepad-clutching-Brian will want to putt his way round the Isle of Wight's minigolf courses. He's welcome to - of course - but I suspect that younger dinosaur fans are more likely to enjoy the Isle of Wight's 47 holes of dinosaur themed delight.
The first 18 holes can be found on Shanklin Seafront at a minigolf course called Jurassic Bay. It's a modern course with a nice design and a good location over the road from the beach. We first played it in 2017, which is the year that it opened. It's at the easier end of minigolf courses, which is probably a good thing with young children. It costs about £7 per person. Read the blog.
You can fill several hours in Shanklin whilst simultaneously emptying your pockets. There are three minigolf courses in total, as well as a decent amusement arcade, a small funfair, ice creams galore and a sandy beach with watersports hire. Shanklin also has a couple of nice seafront restaurants and pubs.
The first 18 holes can be found on Shanklin Seafront at a minigolf course called Jurassic Bay. It's a modern course with a nice design and a good location over the road from the beach. We first played it in 2017, which is the year that it opened. It's at the easier end of minigolf courses, which is probably a good thing with young children. It costs about £7 per person. Read the blog.
You can fill several hours in Shanklin whilst simultaneously emptying your pockets. There are three minigolf courses in total, as well as a decent amusement arcade, a small funfair, ice creams galore and a sandy beach with watersports hire. Shanklin also has a couple of nice seafront restaurants and pubs.
Jurassic Bay in Shanklin is another nicely done minigolf course
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The minigolf course is over the road from Shanklin's sandy (and busy) beach
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Yaverland's Sandham Gardens is home to the second 18 hole dinosaur-themed course. It's another modern course that replaced an older concrete one in 2019 (Ed: do we really need a minigolf history lesson?). The highlight is a volcano that puffs out smoke. It costs about £7.
Next door, there's a good playground and it's also near to a bouncy nets attraction that you pay extra for. The same part of the Isle of Wight is home to Dinosaur Isle (see #2) and Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, which has tigers and lions. You might like to combine a few in one day. Read the blog.
Next door, there's a good playground and it's also near to a bouncy nets attraction that you pay extra for. The same part of the Isle of Wight is home to Dinosaur Isle (see #2) and Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, which has tigers and lions. You might like to combine a few in one day. Read the blog.
This guy can be found at Dino Islands minigolf in Yaverland
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Combine the minigolf with one of the two playgrounds at Sandham Gardens
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The final 11 dinosaur themed minigolf holes can be found at The Needles, which is one of the Isle of Wight's busiest attractions.
It's called Jurassic Adventure Golf and is a nice little course, but it's more crammed in and it's a busy attraction. I would visit at the start of the day if your children are likely to take 23 shots on each hole. You pay for a book of tokens at The Needles that can also be used on the Dino Jeep Safari, which is a small ride which is popular with younger children. Read the blog.
Whilst you are at The Needles, you can ride the chairlift down to Alum Bay beach, take a boat trip towards The Needles lighthouse and stuff sand into a little souvenir shape. Whoever came up with the idea of selling sand at a beach deserves some kind of entrepreneurial award.
It's called Jurassic Adventure Golf and is a nice little course, but it's more crammed in and it's a busy attraction. I would visit at the start of the day if your children are likely to take 23 shots on each hole. You pay for a book of tokens at The Needles that can also be used on the Dino Jeep Safari, which is a small ride which is popular with younger children. Read the blog.
Whilst you are at The Needles, you can ride the chairlift down to Alum Bay beach, take a boat trip towards The Needles lighthouse and stuff sand into a little souvenir shape. Whoever came up with the idea of selling sand at a beach deserves some kind of entrepreneurial award.
The minigolf course at The Needles is also dinosaur themed
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Expect to find big crowds at the Needles and Alum Bay, which are near to the minigolf course
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4. Restricted Area 5 at Blackgang Chine
Blackgang Chine is the UK's oldest theme park and it's also one of the most charming attractions on the Isle of Wight.
It famously hangs on the edge of a cliff, which means that every now and then an attraction falls into the sea. The last big landslide was in 1994.
Back in the day, Blackgang Chine was famous for its carbon fibre dinosaurs that could be climbed on and fallen off. The original dinosaurs were delivered by helicopter, which was featured on Blue Peter (Ed: lovely anecdote, keep it up). If you visited between the early-1970s and 2013 then you probably remember Dinosaurland with some fondness.
Dinosaurland was replaced in 2014 with Restricted Area 5, which I personally think is an upgrade (putting nostalgia aside). Some of the original carbon fibre models have been wisely retained whilst several moving dinosaurs have been added.
Blackgang Chine isn't a cheap day out at around £30 but there are several ways to get better value out of your visit. During peak times they often run dinosaur themed special events with shows in the events area.
It famously hangs on the edge of a cliff, which means that every now and then an attraction falls into the sea. The last big landslide was in 1994.
Back in the day, Blackgang Chine was famous for its carbon fibre dinosaurs that could be climbed on and fallen off. The original dinosaurs were delivered by helicopter, which was featured on Blue Peter (Ed: lovely anecdote, keep it up). If you visited between the early-1970s and 2013 then you probably remember Dinosaurland with some fondness.
Dinosaurland was replaced in 2014 with Restricted Area 5, which I personally think is an upgrade (putting nostalgia aside). Some of the original carbon fibre models have been wisely retained whilst several moving dinosaurs have been added.
Blackgang Chine isn't a cheap day out at around £30 but there are several ways to get better value out of your visit. During peak times they often run dinosaur themed special events with shows in the events area.
The dinosaurs at Blackgang Chine now move and roar at you
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There are sometimes dinosaur themed events at Blackgang Chine (this one was in 2023)
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5. Jurassic Jim's Fossil Shop and Reflections
Jurassic Jim's is a modestly sized shop in Shanklin but it's worth a visit if you are passing.
There are plenty of small fossils and minerals that are not massively expensive.
It's worth a mention as it routinely gets outstanding reviews and has won awards. It currently scores 5/5 on TripAdvisor.
The other fossil shops I know of are called Reflections in Yarmouth and Island Gems in Godshill. Godshill is a busy little village with thatched cottages, but I prefer Yarmouth for pottering about and eating ice cream.
There are plenty of small fossils and minerals that are not massively expensive.
It's worth a mention as it routinely gets outstanding reviews and has won awards. It currently scores 5/5 on TripAdvisor.
The other fossil shops I know of are called Reflections in Yarmouth and Island Gems in Godshill. Godshill is a busy little village with thatched cottages, but I prefer Yarmouth for pottering about and eating ice cream.
