Easy to build and with plenty of opportunities for play, this set is ideal for the recommended age group of 5+. The minifigures are great, the animals are amazing, and the builds have several fun play features, with opportunities to invent many more.
The set is constructed in three build phases, each in their own numbered bag with their own un-numbered instruction booklet. The first bag contains the submersible, a diver, and the stingray; the second builds the boat, a researcher, and the hammerhead; and the third gives us the underwater scene, a second diver, and a small and a large turtle. At the end of each building phase, the builder is left with something that can be played with on its own. I see this as a brilliant bit of design - if a young builder gets tired partway through, they can take a break and play with what they've built so far. As such, the build experience is perfectly catered to the target demographic.
I feel the set provides decent value for money, containing three minifigures, four creatures (hammerhead, stingray, small and large turtles), two vehicles and some scenery for a relatively low price. Although the set has a poor price-per-part ratio, it's worth noting that three of the animals in the set use either new parts or new prints, and several of the other pieces are large. Overall, you get a lot of stuff for the price, and this set provides the best play value of any set in the Explorers wave of City sets.
Overall, if you want a great playset that's good for young builders, this is one of the best currently on the market!