leisure

THE UK is getting hot again, and with the sunny weather what better way to keep yourself cool than by heading to a leisure centre.

And gone are the days where leisure centres just have big pools – there are now many across the UK that boast flumes, water coasters and sunken pirate ships.

What makes them even better? They don’t cost as much to visit as a waterpark.

Here are some of the best leisure centres across the UK:

Coral Reef Waterworld, Berkshire

Coral Reef Waterworld in Bracknell is home to a giant indoor pool with a pirate ship and flumes.

Unlike your usual leisure centre, Coral Reef Waterworld is one of the largest “interactive water worlds in England“.

Read more on travel inspo

TRAVEL TIP

The £2.99 SIM hack that can save Brits HUNDREDS abroad

ALL IN

I found the best value all inclusive London hotel… just £55pp with free food & booze

Slides include Aqua Splash, which is ideal for smaller children thanks to its gentler water.

Though if you do fancy something that is a little more thrilling, then head to Storm Chaser, which haschoppiery water and rocks riders from side to side.

Then there’s also Poseidon’s Peril, themed around the Greek God of the sea, where you hop into an inflatable, two-person raft and head down into a “super crater” with lots of flashing lights.

Adult tickets cost from £20.55 per person, kids’ tickets cost from £14.55.

LC Swansea

Over in Wales, you could head to the LC Swansea, which is a large indoor pool with a surf simulator and even a water coaster.

In addition to a large pool, families can relax on the lazy river or have a go on the slides.

Or if you want to have a go at something new, there is the Boardrider – a wave machine ideal for those wanting to learn to surf or bodyboard.

There’s also the MasterBlaster water coaster, where you ride on a rubber ring before being splashed into the pool.

There’s also a water-themed Climb and Play area with four storeys of obstacles.

Tickets start at £5.31 per adult or child for a General Splash session, with infant tickets for ages one to three starting at £2.97 each.

Water Meadows Complex, Nottinghamshire

Water Meadows Complex in Mansfield has its own pirate pool, alongside splash pads and flumes.

For little ones, there is the Clock Fun Pool, which is specifically designed for those aged under five.

The Pirate Pool is then suitable for all ages, but if you want more of a thrill there are a few different flumes to enjoy, including the Twister Flume, which stretches 50 metre, s and the Fast Drop Flume, which has a plunging drop.

Twice per hour you can also enjoy waves in the pool.

Tickets cost from £9.95 per person – but you’ll need to sign up to a pay as you go membership to book a session, which is free to do.

Guildford Spectrum, Surrey

In Guildford, you could head to the Guildford Spectrum, which reopens tomorrow after a refurb.

For adrenaline junkies, there are water slides as well as a wave machine.

The slides include Surf, which boasts three lanes and is ideal for competitive families or even siblings.

But little ones can enjoy the splash area with tipping buckets, spinning wheels and water sprayers.

One of the newer features at the attraction is a new inflatable obstacle course.

Tickets cost from £13.13 per adult and £10.50 per child.

Waterfront Leisure Centre, London

If you are in the capital, make sure to visit Waterfront Leisure Centre in Woolwich.

Inside you’ll find a 65 metre snake slide, lazy river and can enjoy ‘Wet and Wild’ sessions.

Toddlers can enjoy the training pool and splash zone as well.

Or for adults who want to chill out, there is also a hot tub.

Tickets cost from £9.70 per adult and £7.05 per child.

The Pavilion, London

Also in London, but this time in Bromley, you could drop into The Pavilion, which boasts a wave machine with a gradual entry pool, ideal for all age groups.

In addition to the large wave pool, there is a toddler splash area with shallow water, ideal for those getting confident in the water.

On some days, there is also a large inflatable obstacle course on the water.

Adult tickets cost from £9.55 per person and kids’ tickets cost from £6.85 per person.

Lagoon Leisure Centre, Scotland

If you are based in Scotland, you can visit the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley.

For small kids, there is even a beach-style walk-in teaching pool.

As for the main pool, every so often a wave machine will be turned on.

You’ll also find a flume at the leisure centre.

Tickets cost from £5.65 per adult and £2.80 per child.

Waves Leisure Pool, Devon

Down in the southern county of Devon, you could drop by Waves Leisure Pool in Torquay, with a wave machine, flume and inflatable obstacle course.

Having grown up nearby, Travel Reporter Cyann Fielding said: “Growing up, my parents would often take me to the Waves Leisure Pool on the English Riviera.

“Set not too far from the beach, it was the ideal day out.

“Every half-an-hour the waves will run and depending where you are in the pool, they range from a gentle bob to waves that throw you up in the air.

“It is heated to 29C year-round and has a sloped entry floor so is ideal for little ones too.

“The waterslide adds some fun, with many twists and turns and for toddlers, there is a splash area with enough to keep them occupied for hours on end.”

Tickets cost from £7.40 per adult and £6.10 per child.

London Aquatics Centre

In Stratford you could head to the London Aquatics Centre and while the venue doesn’t boast flumes, it does have an inflatable course with climbing walls and slides.

You can even opt to do an inflatable disco session with giant floats on the water as well.

These sessions cost from £10.50 per adult and £7.35 per child.

A BRAND new lido could be coming to one of the UK’s most beautiful cities under new plans.

A formal bid has been made to transform an old leisure centre into a prime swim spot in the city of Winchester.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

Winchester’s River Park Leisure Centre, which closed in 2021, would instead have an outdoor swimming pool, as well as lido a splash pad and food and drink stands.

The lido designs have been created by Design Engine Architects, with previous projects including university campuses and private homes across the UK.

The bid has been put to Winchester City Council by Sea Lanes which runs the lido in nearby Brighton and Hilsea Lido in Portsmouth.

GRUBS UP

Best pubs, fish and chip shops and cafes in Sussex – by Sun readers & locals

GO SEA IT

£9.50 holiday spot with shipwrecks, seals offshore & horseshoe-shaped waterfalls

Harry Smith, director of Sea Lanes, said: “We submitted our bid as part of the consultation for the site. We worked with the (Winchester Lido) community group, which really supported the bid.

“We’re really excited to bring a lido to Winchester. I think the decision will be soon, if it’s still on track, and then we will be working with the city if we get the opportunity to pursue the project.

“There’s huge community support for the lido. We have worked with the community group, which contacted us about the site. It is something that has been bubbling around for a while.”

The plan has been met with positivity from locals.

On a Facebook post announcing the news, one said: “Absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to hear more about it!”

Another wrote: “Hard to imagine how this would not be good for everyone in Winchester. Wonderful first visual.”

A third added: “I swam in Hilsea Lido the other day – fantastic. This would be great.”

There was previously an open-air swimming lido in Winchester on Worthy Lane, which opened in the 1930s and closed in the late 1970s – since then, Winchester hasn’t had a lido.

Nearby Hilsea Lido had been closed since 2022 but reopened on May 2 after a £7.6million revamp.

New showers and toilets, including a Changing Places toilet, and a sauna were added as part of the upgrades.

Formerly a saltwater pool, the 220-foot lido now uses unheated chlorinated fresh water.

The lido served as a training centre for the Team GB diving team ahead of the 1936 and 1952 Olympics, and it also featured as a filming location for The Who’s 1975 film Tommy.

Holiday companies have predicted a surge in bookings for UK summer breaks after a jump in interest from Britons fearful of flight cancellations linked to the Iran war.

Summer bookings are expected to rise in the coming weeks amid warnings of possible jet fuel shortages and resulting cancellations by airlines across Europe.

Raoul Fraser, the chief executive of Lovat, a holiday park operator with sites across south-west England, said traffic to its website had increased after reports of jet fuel warnings last week. “It is definitely having a positive impact for us,” he said.

“Our holidays bookings are up over 30% this year. It is a little bit like Covid, when people couldn’t get away and now they just want the certainty of a nice holiday in the UK.”

The holiday resort company Butlin’s, which has sites at Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, said it was seeing “strong growth for the summer school holidays”.

However, its chief executive, Jon Hendry Pickup, said many families were still booking their holidays closer to the time, due to travel uncertainty and cost pressures.

“Normally we get somewhere in the region of 15% to 20% of people booking a holiday in the last four weeks before they come. Now it is roughly double that,” he said.

Jeremy Hipkiss, the managing director of the holiday parks company Landal UK, said: “Increasingly guests are choosing destinations closer to home that are easy to reach by car or public transport, giving them greater control over their plans.”

Hipkiss said that Landal’s parks in Cornwall, Scotland and Lincolnshire were “particularly popular”.

Peter Munk, the chief executive of Willerby, a specialist caravan manufacturer based in Hull, added that the cost of living pressure was also putting people off overseas travel. Inflation, which was steady at 3% in February, is expected to increase after the Iran war drove up global energy costs.

“It’s about the reality of inflation kicking off again,” he said. “Most people still want a holiday, so it might be that they have fewer days or move closer to home and not have that dream holiday.”

Travel spending fell in March for the first time since the pandemic travel restrictions lifted in 2021, dropping by 3.3%, according to data from Barclays. Spending on travel agents fell by 4.6%, airlines by 4.1%, and public transport by 2.9%.

However, Sinead O’Connor, a travel analyst at the research company Mintel, said even with the cost of living pressures, appetite for holidays remained strong.

She said its research showed 52% of Britons surveyed planned to holiday in the UK, with 49% heading overseas.

“We expect the value of the domestic holiday market to grow by about 7% this year, reaching close to £14bn and to outpace growth in overseas travel,” she said.

The overseas travel market is forecast to grow by 4.8% this year to £64.3bn, Mintel said.

Fears are rising that the oil crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East could lead to fuel shortages in Europe this summer.

This week, the head of the global energy body warned that Europe only has six weeks’ worth of jet fuel supplies before shortages will hit.

Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said there would be flight cancellations if oil supplies were not restored within the coming weeks.

On Friday, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, Willie Walsh, said flights in Europe could be cancelled because of a lack of jet fuel starting from the end of May.

“Along with doing everything possible to secure alternative supply lines, it’s important that authorities have well-communicated and well-coordinated plans in place in case rationing becomes necessary, including for slot relief,” he added.

This month, Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, warned that Britain would be the most exposed to jet fuel shortages because it relies on Kuwait for about 25% of its supply.

Airlines around the world have already been forced to cancel some flights.

Last week, jet fuel averaged at $197.83 a barrel, according to the International Airport Transport Association, more than double the average last year.

Munk added that reports of delays at European border crossings, triggered by the EU’s new entry-exit system (EES), was also putting people off from booking overseas holidays this summer.

The airport industry has told the European Commission that the system, which requires people from the UK and other non-EU countries to submit biometric data before entering the bloc, was causing delays of up to three hours for passengers.

Last week, more than 100 passengers missed an easyJet flight from Milan to Manchester because of delays triggered by EES checks.