9 New Things At Haven Holiday Parks For Summer 2023

Haven has a deserved reputation for regularly investing in its holiday parks.

But which are the newest and biggest developments which have taken place over the last year or so?

Highlights for 2023 include new restaurants, upgraded swimming pools, new entertainment areas and new outdoor activities.

Here’s our summary, along with a bit of advice about the resorts.

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1. Nerf Training Camps at 31 Haven resorts!

​This new activity launched at Haven last month – and it looks pretty cool!

It’s a bit like laser tag but you use Nerf guns armed with soft darts and run around an inflatable arena. There are two teams of eight people. At the time of writing it will cost you £10 for a 45 minute session. When I looked, the sessions were split into two groups – one for 6-11 year olds and one for 12+.

Nerf Training camps are available at 31 out of the 38 Haven resorts. It’s probably simpler to say which Haven resorts don’t have the Nerf Training Camps. That includes: Seaview and Weymouth Bay in Dorset, Riviere Sands in Cornwall, Lydstep Beach and Penally Court in Wales, Lakeland in Cumbria/Lake District and Reighton Sands in Filey.

You can book on this page. 

Nerf Training Camps are available at most of Haven's resorts for 2023

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2. New entertainment and an inflatable arena at Haggerston Castle in Northumberland

Haven Berwick Caravan Holiday Park is our current pick as the best value holiday park in Northumberland – but Haven Haggerston Castle Caravan Holiday Park certainly isn’t far behind.

It gets reviews of 4/5 on TripAdvisor and has facilities including an indoor swimming pool, a boating lake and minigolf.

We’ve also found Haggerston Castle Holiday Park to be a great value resort (northern Haven resorts tend to be cheaper than Westcountry Haven resorts).

For the 2023 summer holidays, Haggerston Castle is getting a second entertainment area called The Spotlight. It will be home to ‘evening entertainment on the park seven days a week, with everything from visiting live acts to Haven’s signature entertainment shows.’

The new venue is a big one and has space for 499 guests (personally, I’d have squeeze in one extra).

Haggerston Castle is also getting an ‘inflatable arena’ which is a combination of a bouncy castle and an obstacle course. It costs £8 for a 30 minute session and is suitable for 4-16 year olds.

Haggerston Castle is one of several Haven resorts with new inflatable action arenas for 2023

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3. A new restaurant at Skegness Holiday Park in Lincolnshire

Those of us who obsessively follow the world of holiday parks (Ed: er, I think that’s just you) will know that Skegness Holiday Park used to be called Richmond Holiday Centre. It was a popular family-friendly resort which is now Haven’s newest park after it was bought last year.

A new restaurant is currently being built, along with the Marina Bar. The restaurant will be called The Richmond Arms, as a nice little reference to the site’s former name.

It is due to open on August 4th 2023.

The holiday park also has an indoor swimming pool, a playground and sports court. The beach is a walk of about 20-25 minutes.  

This was one of the CGI designs of the new restaurant at Haven's Skegness Holiday Park

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4. A new entertainment centre at Allhallows in Kent

Allhallows Holiday Park is your best bet if you want a quick weekend away from London. It’s only about an hour from central London by car and it’s got an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, a nine hole golf course and plenty of kids' activities.

The ‘beach’ at Haven Allhallows isn’t really a beach – it’s part of the Thames Estuary. It’s nice to look at but you won’t be building sandcastles.

For 2023, Allhallows has a massive new entertainment centre called the Marina Bar and Lounge. It sets 1200 people, whereas the previous venue had space for less than 400 people.

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5. An inflatable action park and tube slides at Devon Cliffs

Devon Cliffs is one of Haven’s biggest holiday parks – so it’s not surprising that they keep adding new entertainment.

There’s a new ‘inflatable action’ park. As mentioned earlier, these are a bit like bouncy obstacle courses.

The ‘Tube Slides’ are also new. These resemble a dry ski slope with rubber rings which you sit on and slide down. You’ll pay £6 for a 15 minute session.

The tube slides send you down these tracks which are like a dry ski slopes

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6. New places to eat and drink

A few different restaurants have opened at Haven for 2023.
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Extra options for the summer include a Chinese restaurant called Chopstix in Presthaven Holiday Park in Wales and at Haggerston Castle Holiday Park in Northumberland. Meanwhile, Slim Chickens restaurants have opened at Thorpe Park Holiday Park in Lincolnshire and at Perran Sands in Cornwall.

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7. An inflatable park and an 'indoor' swimming pool at Hopton Holiday Park in Norfolk

Norfolk has an abundance of decent Haven resorts – including Hopton Holiday Park. It scores 4/5 and can be found halfway between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, which are both worth a day out.

In the last few years Haven has opened a new ‘entertainment arena’ at Hopton as well as a climbing wall.

Now, they have added an ‘inflatable action park’, similar to the one at Devon Cliffs.

The outdoor swimming pool has also been upgraded so that it’s now an indoor pool!

Hopton's outdoor swimming pool now has a roof!

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8. A new water slide at Craig Tara Holiday Park in Scotland

Craig Tara is another huge Haven holiday park with a big choice of things to do.

The swimming pool is excellent and has been upgraded a couple of times recently. For 2023, they've added a slide with 'three crystal clear sections' as well as 'special effects and coloured lights' and 'timers to record your speed'.

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9. A moneysaving food card

Haven has introduced the 'Haven Food and Drink Card' which is good for anyone who is sure they will eat out at least two or three times whilst on holiday.

You load £100 or more onto the card in advance and they top up the balance by 10%. You can add it as an extra when you book a holiday or add it later.