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7 Best Holiday Park Swimming Pools 2022
A decent swimming pool is high on the priority list for us when we visit a caravan holiday park.
The best holiday park swimming pools offer slides, flumes, wave machines and lazy rivers. Some holiday parks just offer a rectangle of water, which is fine for a quick dip but not quite the same.
Here’s our pick of seven of the best UK holiday park swimming pools.
The best holiday park swimming pools offer slides, flumes, wave machines and lazy rivers. Some holiday parks just offer a rectangle of water, which is fine for a quick dip but not quite the same.
Here’s our pick of seven of the best UK holiday park swimming pools.
1. Haven Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Wales (lazy river, four lane slide, swimming lanes)
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Haven Hafan y Môr holiday park is in North Wales, so it’s about 2-3 hours from Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
The swimming pool had a £3m refurbishment in 2017. We reckon it’s up there with the best holiday park swimming pools in the country. The site is a former Butlins park, but has been a Haven for several years. The swimming pool has got a lazy river, a four lane water slide, buckets which dump water on your head and swimming lanes. Overall, the holiday park scores a solid 4/5 or 4.5/5 from reviewers. It's a very large site with a beach a short walk away. Besides the swimming pool, there are nine playgrounds, nine restaurants, minigolf, soft play and several activities you can sign up for (at an extra cost). The only downside at Haven Hafan y Môr is that there isn't an outdoor swimming pool. Although, to be honest there aren't many days each year when you'll be desperate to swim outdoors in North Wales... |
The swimming pool at Hafan y Mor in Wales has a four line slide...
...as well as a lazy river and swimming lanes
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2. Haven Craig Tara Holiday Park, Scotland (lazy river, water slides, waterfalls)
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Haven's Craig Tara swimming pool is called Splashaway Bay. It had a big refurbishment in 2015 and has a similar look to the pool at Haven Hafan y Môr (see above). It's about an hour's drive from Glasgow or two hours from Edinburgh.
Splashaway Bay has got a lazy river, a three lane racing water slide, waterfalls and flumes. Overall, the holiday park is slightly behind Hafan y Môr on review scores (3.5/5 to 4/5 generally). However, it does have six restaurants, five playgrounds, high ropes, zip wires, craft activities, minigolf and an amusement arcade. Of course, you pay extra for some things. Many years ago, the park was a Butlins so it has a big range of accommodation. These include chalets and apartments that you don't get at every Haven. You can also choose from several grades of caravans which are more commonly found at Haven's 30+ holiday parks around the UK. |
The large swimming pool/splashback at Craig Tara holiday park had a refurb in 2015...
...and it has a three lane slide which you can race down
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3. Butlins Bognor Regis, West Sussex (seven rides and slides, lazy river, lido)
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There are three Butlins in the UK competing for your attention. They've all got good pools, but the Butlins at Bognor Regis has the best swimming pool/waterpark. It has more features than the Butlins pools in Skegness and Minehead and a nice seaside theme.
The pool at Bognor Regis is called Splash Waterworld and it opened in 2019 after a whopping £40m investment. That's more than 10 times as much as was spent refurbishing Haven's Hafan y Môr. The pool is a bit like a watery playground with seven 'rides' which are things like water slides shaped like sticks of rock and flumes. It reckons it has the 'only Helter Skelter water slide in the world' which is rather cool. There's an outdoor rapids which has a choice of two routes heading back to the main swimming pool. If all that sounds a bit noisy, then there is a quieter 'Lido' area where you can laze around. Butlins Bognor Regis is well located for much of Southern England. It's about an hour from Southampton or Brighton or a couple of hours from London. |
Butlins Bognor Regis had a massive £40 redevelopment in 2019...
...with highlights including the helter skelter waterslide
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4. Bluestone National Park Resort, South Wales
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The Blue Lagoon at Bluestone in South Wales opened in 2008.
Bluestone is similar to a Center Parcs in terms of scale, facilities and prices. The pool has a lazy river, four flumes and a wave pool for jumping up and down. Bluestone's swimming pool scores about 4/5 from reviewers. The resort as a whole gets a similar review score from customers. Besides swimming, you can sign up for about 100 different activities, most of which you pay extra for. There are things like high ropes, rock climbing, archery and minigolf. Bluestone is in South West Wales, so it's a couple of hours' drive from Bristol or a bit quicker from Cardiff. |
The Blue Lagoon at Bluestone gets 4/5 from reviewers
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5. Haven Seashore Holiday Park, Norfolk (flumes, toddlers' pool, swimming lanes)
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The third Haven holiday park which we think is worth a mention for its swimming pool is Seashore in Norfolk.
It had a £6.5m redevelopment which was opened in 2019. It's called The Shore Waterpark. There are two flumes called Tidal Twist and Coastal Cyclone, as well as a 'tipping bucket', a pool for toddlers and a pool with swimming lanes. The coastal location is another positive about Seashore. Some holiday parks around the Norfolk coastline are set back quite a way, but this one has easy beach access. Overall, Haven Seashore gets similar review scores to Haven Hafan y Môr (4/5 mostly). It's not quite on the same scale but it does have several activities including a climbing wall, zip wire and playgrounds. Places to eat include Burger King and Papa John's. In terms of location, Seashore is a couple of hours drive from Cambridge, Peterborough or the outskirts of London. |
Haven's Seashore swimming pool had a £6.5m revamp in 2019
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6. Center Parcs UK and Europe (waterslides and lazy rivers/rapids)
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Center Parcs deserves a place in this guide to the best holiday park swimming pools.
The waterparks are one of the few free activities so a lot of people have several visits during a Center Parcs holiday. All the UK Center Parcs have good waterparks. However, the Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Longleat gets marginally better reviews than the other Center Parcs UK swimming pools. The main downside with Center Parcs is that they are often very expensive compared to most UK holiday parks. One money saving alternative is to visit a Center Parcs in Europe. They are run by a different company and can be considerably cheaper, even once you've taken travel costs into account. Center Parcs Europe aren't quite as consistent as the UK parks. However, Center Parcs Europe waterparks which get good reviews include:
There's also a good 'Aqualagon' waterpark at Center Parcs Villages Nature Paris near Disneyland Paris. However, the park's overall review score isn't as good as some Center Parcs in France. One trick worth mentioning is that CenterParcs.fr is nearly always cheaper than CenterParcs.eu for exactly the same holiday. The saving is sometimes as much as £100 and you can ask your browser to translate it to English. |
Center Parcs Park Allgau in Germany has rapids and rides...
...whilst Center Parcs Le Bois Aux Daims in France has a highly rated 'Aqua Mundo'
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7. Tattershall Lakes, Lincolnshire (outdoor lido, watersports)
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Tattershall Lakes in Lincolnshire is a bit of a curveball in this guide to the best holiday park swimming pools.
The indoor pool is nothing special but we've included it because they've recently invested in a large outdoor lido. It opened in 2020 at a cost of £1.5m. It's essentially an outdoor swimming pool, but a lido sites alongside a beach or (in this case) a lake. It's designed with lots of seating, so you hang around and make it more of a social thing rather than just having a swim and then getting changed. The holiday park is also known for its watersports activities, including a large aqua park which is based at the same site. Tattershall Lakes is built around a number of lakes and has facilities including high ropes, mini golf and playgrounds. It's a convenient one from Sheffield, Doncaster, Peterborough and Nottingham which are all within about 90 minutes drive. |
This £1.5m lakeside Lido opened at Tattershall Lakes in 2020
Tattershall Lakes is also home to this aqua park, which is good for older children (and grown ups)
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