AD | Butlins provided us with a dining plan during our stay
When we go away Erin absolutely loves to go swimming. One of the reasons why we chose Butlins in Bognor Regis for a family holiday is because they’d just had a huge revamp of their swimming facilities and it looked amazing! We couldn’t wait to get in there in person.
Changing facilities
Firstly, I have to say how impressed we all were with the changing facilities. Immediately, as you enter the area you can see just how spacious and big it is. There’s a really spacious buggy park at the entrance to the changing rooms too so you don’t need to worry about where to store yours if you have one.
Inside the changing area, you’ll find colour-coded areas. There are different changing rooms for different sized families; 1 person, 2-3 or 4+ Along with the coloured changing rooms, you’ll find that the lockers match as well so you can easily find what area you need to be in.
In each of the changing cubicles there was a baby changing table as well as a sort of safety chair for young children. This was such a good idea and so nice to see and it means that parents can now make sure their child is safe while they get changed.
For after swimming there are plenty of showers, even with space to put your shampoo/ conditioner etc. When you’re with children the last thing you want after swimming is to be scrambling around the floor for these things so it was nice to have them in the right place. For wet swimming costumes and shorts etc. there are spin driers available to use which was really helpful for us. It meant that instead of having to use 2 sets of swimming clothes, we only needed 1.
Pools
There are a few different pool areas in Splash and something suited to everyone. You’ll find the tots’ pool for children aged 0-5 which is super shallow and also heated to ensure it’s the right temperature for small children. There’s also the lido which is a bigger area of a pool for older children and grown-ups. There’s also the wave pool which has both shallow and deeper ends so you can go to where you’re comfortable.
It was nice to have somewhere that Erin could actually swim properly rather than just a fun/ relaxing pool. Each time we visited Splash was pretty busy but we always had enough space to move around relatively comfortably without knocking into anyone else too much. Of course, this is bound to happen from time to time though.
I think Erin’s favourite was the wave pool. When we’re at the beach she loves to jump over the waves so this was something she could enjoy whilst being indoors.
Slides
Splash has so many fun rides to enjoy and really, something for everyone I thought. There are height restrictions on all of the slides and sometimes additional requirements as well. You can read more about those here.
Erin, aged 6 and just under 1.2m could go on nearly everything. We only found that Erin couldn’t go on the Adrenaline Flume (8+ and 1.2m) or the Seaside Garden Rapids due to either being a bit too small/ too young or not being strong enough a swimmer. However, there were plenty of other slides for her to go on and she really enjoyed trying each one.
In terms of waiting times, we didn’t find that Erin had to wait at all apart from for the Family Raft Ride, which at busy times, had over a half an hour wait. Instead of waiting, Erin decided to hold off until the next morning and went on it first thing when Splash opened.
Safety
On one of our visits to Splash I counted how many lifeguards I could see and I think it was 10 or 11, although there would have been another 1 at least on a slide that I couldn’t see. They were really good at making sure everyone was safe and telling people if they were doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
In the changing rooms, there was also someone always seeming to sweep away any excess water, making the floors less slippery. It was a nice feeling to know that there were so many staff members around looking after everyone.
Spectator areas
Unfortunately, there isn’t really a spectator area inside Splash for non-swimmers. There are seats, however, these are for people using the swimming area so must be in swimwear. There is a cafe just near the entrance to Splash though and you can see through a big window but that’s not quite the same.
PIN IT FOR LATER
The pool was so warm. Super for babies. I would go just to take them swimming!