Last Saturday we were up at silly o'clock in the morning, had three eight year olds crammed into the car and were on our merry way - having a little old-school Blue sing-a-long - and all by 7.30am.
Our destination?
Blackpool
Why?
To have some Birthday Fun at The Sandcastle Water Park for my son's ninth birthday
Our destination?
Blackpool
Why?
To have some Birthday Fun at The Sandcastle Water Park for my son's ninth birthday
And I really must say - it was blooming brilliant.
I've never, ever been before but I know we will 100% be going back again.
We spent six whole hours in the water and the boys still weren't ready to leave when we did...they may have also slightly resembled prunes at this six hour point too, but they really didn't care one little bit.
They genuinely loved every single second.
So - what did we get up to?
Well first, as a blogger I really rely on photographs to make a blog post works for me but even when I was only at the planning stages for this visit I knew straight away that this area would be a little problematic.
With The Sandcastle being a public pool I wanted to make sure I asked permission for any photography before we arrived, so I emailed staff and even asked about a possibility of being allowed into the area a few minutes before general opening (which wasn't allowed for Health and Safety reasons) just to get a few snaps without the risk of upsetting anyone.
With The Sandcastle being a public pool I wanted to make sure I asked permission for any photography before we arrived, so I emailed staff and even asked about a possibility of being allowed into the area a few minutes before general opening (which wasn't allowed for Health and Safety reasons) just to get a few snaps without the risk of upsetting anyone.
A post really needs pictures after all.
So taking the advice I was given, my first port of call once we were poolside was to speak to the first aid people, and after explaining myself thoroughly, I was given the OK, was asked to fill out a form and was then given a specifically coloured "photography allowed" wrist band.
Phew
However, even after all of this I was still pulled to one side as I took a few pictures - totally avoiding the few people in the pool - by the lifeguards and asked to explain myself again.
But I 110% did not mind in the slightest and after I had told my story again, I decided to forget the photographs and just go and have fun.
As a Mum, I feel that such rigorous checks and strict safety regulations are very necessary in such a public setting.
They are things that I want to see happening myself - allowing people to have peace of mind that theirs, and their children's, safety is being protected so rigorously and so vigilantly is paramount.
As a Mum, I feel that such rigorous checks and strict safety regulations are very necessary in such a public setting.
They are things that I want to see happening myself - allowing people to have peace of mind that theirs, and their children's, safety is being protected so rigorously and so vigilantly is paramount.
Huge well done Sandcastle
Anyway - the pool itself - well, it is huge and has a whole host of fast, crazy, scream-worthy slides on offer which are all included in one of the wrist band price options.
I'm not a swimmer - at all - so whilst I do love water slides, they make me a tad nervous, but lifeguards were at the top and bottom of each slide making sure everyone was OK and they were very friendly and chatty too.
They even made scaredy cat me feel at ease.
They even made scaredy cat me feel at ease.
The two slides that I went on (brave aren't I...!!) were a lot of fun.
And the boys...well...boys will be boys and they went on everything - a few times over.
- photograph kindly lent to me by The Sandcastle themselves -
Pool wise then, The Sandcastle has two on offer which are separated by a little walk way.
One pool is the equivalent of "the deep end" and features a fairly strong wave machine which begins at intervals...
- photograph kindly lent to me by The Sandcastle themselves -
...whilst at the other side, the pool is a lot shallower (it was chest high at it's deepest point on my 5ft 5in frame)...
- photograph kindly lent to me by The Sandcastle themselves -
One pool is the equivalent of "the deep end" and features a fairly strong wave machine which begins at intervals...
...whilst at the other side, the pool is a lot shallower (it was chest high at it's deepest point on my 5ft 5in frame)...
...and it is here that we spent the most of our time - literally hours - as it has a water current section to it that whizzes people around the little island in the middle.
It was so much fun and very popular.
And it was here that I left the four boys for a little while whilst I ventured off on my own to the little poolside Sea Breeze Spa for some relaxation.
The spa is just off to one side of the pool area and features separate rooms - an aromatherapy room, a sauna, a steam room, a salt hydration room - and you can just slip into each one, sit back and totally relax - for as long as you like.
There are lovely bubbly foot spas too...
...and a few "lay down and recharge" kind of beds...
~ Bliss ~
I found it a really nice touch too that it was only accessible to adults - don't get me wrong - I love my child lots, but a nice half an hour "away from it all" just can not be knocked.
And when it is time to recharge the batteries and fill empty tummies, the pool also has a little food court area and they offer a whole host of snack type food and drink.
OK - prices are slightly expensive, but nothing too extortionate or unreasonable.
OK - prices are slightly expensive, but nothing too extortionate or unreasonable.
Ooooh and very importantly - EVERYWHERE was spotlessly clean - the changing rooms (there are separate male and female ones and a family, mixed-sex one...very useful), the pool, the poolside, the corridors - all clean, clean, clean.
I was impressed with everything and thoroughly enjoyed my visit to The Sandcastle, but the real judges have to be the children, and apart from them not wanting to leave (which is a big indicator to how they felt about it), they talked non-stop about it ALL the way home.
Very happy customers.
Very happy customers.
An amazing day out and very highly recommended!
*Tickets provided free of charge for an honest review. All words, opinions and most of the pictures are my own
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