Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness Review

We spent many hours at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness

We visited Butlins Skegness in between Christmas and New Year. Here's what we thought of Splash Waterworld and some advice for anyone visiting. We'll write up a review of our whole visit separately.

The last time I went to the swimming pool at Butlins Skegness must have been about 15 years ago. The pool was renovated in 2018, and looked completely different from how I remembered it.

This time I visited with our nine year old, who is still learning to swim and our 12 year old who is a more confident swimmer. 

​We couldn't take photos inside the pool, but we'll use some official ones from Butlins.

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Activities at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness for younger children and non-swimmers

Let's start with the activities for non-swimmers and younger children.

The first pool for younger children is the one you arrive at immediately from the changing rooms. It starts at 0.8m deep, which worked well for our nine year old and was about right for her to practice her swimming. There are a few things that splash you on the head and there are two small but steep slides (she didn't fancy those, but I had a go). 

As you go further into this pool you get to the lazy river. On some maps and signs it is called 'indoor rapids' and 'whitewater rapids' or but it is more of a lazy river than rapids. The water is deeper in this section (1.2m) so I carried her round, which worked fine. On one visit it was closed off all day with no explanation, which was a shame.

The next pool for younger children is a large splash pool that starts with no depth at all and gets gradually deeper. I believe the deepest point is about 0.8m, where you'll find three short and tame slides - one covered, two uncovered. Our nine year old enjoyed these, but they were mostly used by younger children.

The pool also has some other water features that spray water.

The final pool that is suitable for younger children is the wave pool, which is also known as Breaker Beach. It has a deep end (1.5m) but it also has a very shallow end with a sign that says "Maximum depth 0.1m - No diving". I would hope that most people could figure out that they shouldn't dive into 10cm of water, but you never know.

As usual, the wave pool is on a timer. I believe it comes on every twenty minutes for about five minutes. In the morning it was very busy but in the afternoon it was more pleasant.

There's also an outdoor splash park, but this was closed during our visit as it was winter. 

Over the top of one of the pools is a netted tube that you could once walk through. This is no longer open. A lifeguard told me it was broken, but I don't have more specific details. I got the impression that it is a permanent closure as it's being used to store inflatables for the pool parties.

There are three of these small slides in 'Rockpool Cove'

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Activities at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness for older children and confident swimmers

The large, central swimming pool is 1.2m deep so I spent a lot of time in here with our 12 year old. There's a central section you can climb on with water guns but these weren't working when we visited.

This pool is your best chance of doing some actual swimming. We visited during a busy time and found we still had a fair amount of space. It's officially called the Whirlpool but I found that to be a confusing name as it makes me think of hot tubs.

The wave pool and the lazy river - mentioned earlier - also provided some entertainment with our 12 year old.

Much of our time was spent on the outdoor rapids. These have the advantage over the other flumes and slides that you don't tend to queue for more than a few seconds. The flow of people just keeps going and people tend to decide how much of a gap to leave.

The outdoor rapids closed twice during our visit - apparently because someone was sick on both occasions. 

Anyway, unpleasantness aside, we enjoyed the rapids. 

For comparison, we found the outdoor rapids at Butlins Skegness Splash Waterworld to be much slower and tamer than the rapids at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest and at Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium. For me, it was a little too slow and I found that I was having to pull myself a lot more than I did at the others. When we visited the rapids at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest and at Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium we had figured out the water flow after the first couple of rides. We never really got to that point at at the Splash Waterworld Rapids. 

Anyway, my 12 year old preferred the slightly tamer Butlins rapids to those at Center Parcs Sherwood, so we went round about 10 times.

There are signs saying that you need to go feet first, but 90% of people were going head first as it's very hard to pull yourself along feet first. The lifeguards were more concerned with people wearing goggles.

One definite plus point is that the exit pool is quite large at Butlins Skegness' rapids. The Center Parcs Sherwood Forest rapids have quite a small exit pool, which is quite intense!

The Whirlpool is this large central pool

​There are then three rides called Vortex, Jetstream and Riptide. I didn't get to try these as my daughter wasn't keen. I did start queueing for Jetstream, which is the red flume, but it was quite a long queue so I gave up.

However, I did speak to a friend who was at the pool at the same time. Her advice was:

• Jetstream is the fastest and has the joint highest height limit of 1.2m and a minimum age of 10. 

• Vortex is another fast one but not quite as fast as Jetstream. You end up in a giant bowl. You have to be 1.2m tall and at least 8 years old.

• Riptide is a raft ride where you carry a raft up the steps and can travel with family members. You have to be 1m tall but can ride with others if you are at least three years old. You can travel alone if you are 8+.

Vortex ends up in this bowl

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Riptide is suitable for younger children

Jetstream is considered the most intense waterslide

The outdoor rapids aren't as fast as those at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

What time of day to visit Splash Waterworld at Butlins

On one day, I spent almost the entire day in the pool (well, 11am to 4.30pm). Mrs Guru didn't want to swim and we wanted to give the children some one-on-one time so she spent the day at the pottery painting whilst I spent the day in the pool (we swapped children at lunchtime).

We found that Splash Waterworld was very busy at 11am. We queued for 15 minutes to get in, and were only allowed in when someone else left. By 2pm it was much less busy. There were still plenty of people around but there was no queue to get in. When we visited, it was closing at 5pm.

In other words, visit in the afternoon if you'd prefer it to be a bit quieter.

We found there were queues in the morning but not in the afternoon for Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness

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How does Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness compare to Center Parcs Subtropical Paradise?

I prefer the Center Parcs Subtropical Paradise at Sherwood Forest to Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness - but both are excellent.

The water temperature was warmer than I expected at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness. The lifeguards were helpful and the changing rooms were pretty good. 

If I'm being picky I would say that:

• most of the lockers are too small at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness. I needed to use two, mostly because we had winter coats. There are some larger ones but not many. This is not a problem as the lockers are a refundable £1. At Center Parcs, the lockers are a similar size but you use your property wristbands for lockers so it's a bit less faff.
• Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness could do with an in-between slide or flume that is bigger than the small slides but is small enough that it doesn't require staffing. I think my daughter would have gone on the bigger slides if she had built up to them.
• I am a big fan of the palm trees and other indoor plants at Center Parcs. There are a couple at Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness but not as many.
• Splash Waterworld at Butlins Skegness doesn't have an outdoor pool, just outdoor rapids. The outdoor pool at Center Parcs is very nice, although I'm sure it costs a fortune to keep warm.

Anyway, they are both great swimming pools and we enjoyed our visits to both.

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Related guides

• Which is the best Butlins? A comparison of all three resorts
• Butlins v Haven - Which is the best holiday park brand?
• Best holiday parks in Skegness - other places to stay if you want to visit the East Lincolnshire town