Changes have been made to the way in which Haven holidays work now, thanks to Covid. You are now able to choose between just a ‘stay’ break or a ‘stay and play’ break where you get things like swimming and activities included. However, this doesn’t mean that all of the activities are free; a lot of them need paying for. Holidays are already expensive so I wanted to share the free activities that were available to us on a Haven holiday in 2022.
Free bookable activities
Four weeks before our break we were able to begin to book daily activities, which was part of having a ‘stay and play’ holiday booked. At this time you are able to book things for the second day of your break onwards, with the first day being bookable from 7 days before your holiday.
It’s worth noting that the free activities can be booked up quickly, especially in the summer months so it’s important to keep an eye on what’s available.
These are the free activities that were available to us during our break:
Beach Explorer
We head to the beach for this coastal activity and explore the sea shore to see what wildlife we can discover. We’ll also see how much plastic we can spot as our Ranger explains how plastic waste can damage the environment and what you can do to help.
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
Pre-booked Indoor Swim 60 min
Have a splashing good time in our indoor swimming pool. The waters warm and ready for you to take the plunge. Book your session and get ready to get wet.
Duration: 60 mins
Age: All ages
Limit: One session = one person. You can pre-book online 14 Pre-booked Indoor Swim 60 min sessions max. per holiday booking. There are further slots available to book when you arrive on park.
Bug Hunt
You’ll learn all about the bugs that live on the coast during this Discover activity. As you explore, our passionate Ranger will give you a wonderful understanding of the small inhabitants of our parks and show you how to spot them. You’ll then have chance to use all you’ve learnt to find your own.
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
Mini Sports
We’ve carefully mixed archery and fencing with fun games and nursery rhymes in our Mini Sports session. Your little ones could try their hands at archery and/or fencing, and some days, we like to turn the energy levels up a notch and it’s ball games galore with crab football, hand hockey or floor dodgeball.
Duration: 30 mins
Age: Min. age 3 – Max. age 5
Nature Trail
In this Discover activity, you’ll enjoy a guided tour of the park’s natural environment and learn all about the history, heritage and wildlife that lives on our part of the coast. Expect fresh air, fitness and a bucket load of facts!
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
RNLI Water Safety
We think this coastal activity is a must do for all. Together with the RNLI, we’ve created a fun, family focussed activity to help you and your family enjoy our beautiful coast safely. The session is led by one of our friendly park Rangers and there’s a variety of games to take part in as we learn how to keep safe by the water and find out more about the RNLI.
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
Sand Sculptures
In this coastal activity, create your very own sand sculptures and decorate them with the best pebbles or shells you can find. As you sculpt, our Ranger will fill you in on a few interesting facts about the coastline too.
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
Treasure Trail
Join our friendly Ranger for a natural treasure trail, where you will discover the hidden beauty of the park using clues to navigate your way and learn about nature along the way.
Duration: 45 mins
Age: All ages
Daytime Entertainment
Haven holidays have two different sets of daytime entertainment. Tots entertainment on our break ran from 9:30 to 10:30 and the Junior entertainment ran from 11:15 to 12:15. These sessions are free and do not need to be booked.
The Tots entertainment is aimed at a younger audience however, children of all ages can attend if they want to. This is ideal if you have children of different ages but still want to go to something fun. You can expect things like potions, creative activities and shows where the children can get involved.
We didn’t go to the Tots entertainment on our most recent break in 2022 but have done so on previous trips which you can read about here:
Now that Erin is older we now take her to the Junior entertainment which is on just before lunchtime. These sessions ran on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during our 4 night break and we managed to go to each one. Themes included ‘coastal detectives’, a dinosaur show and science experiments. I imagine these shows change depending on which Haven park you’re visiting so be sure to check out your own entertainment options before you go.
Family evening entertainment
Just like with the daytime entertainment, there was also evening family entertainment from 6pm until 7:45. This was just about the right time for us as we were able to have an early dinner, and then get Erin back to the caravan at a decent time for bed.
The evening entertainment is really varied and there was something different on every evening. We saw everything from singers to gameshows to bingo and Erin absolutely loved finding out what was happening each evening.
If you’re looking for even more to do with your children for free then there’s always the soft play, swimming and various parks to choose from.
This was a really useful read, we have a Haven holiday booked for October half term and I’ve not been before so it’s good to know how it all works.