Bubbles World of Play
Billed as the UK's biggest soft play. A long drive for soft play, but it's the one that turns a rainy day into an actual event, and the seafront is right there.
Europa Pools
Wirral, Merseyside
For twenty-odd years Europa Pools meant the fun pool. Flumes, a wave machine, the lot. That closed after the pandemic and the decision to convert the space into a fitness area was signed off by committee in June 2022.
It has not reopened. A change.org petition has been running since 2024, and the Active Wirral page now simply lists the leisure pool as closed. Anyone going on memory will have a bad afternoon.
What remains is still worth the trip. There is a 25 metre competition pool held at 28 degrees, which is warmer than most club pools, and all public swimming now happens in it. Junior swims are £3.95 and adults £6.45, with a family of four at £17.20. There is a hoist and graduated steps for anyone who needs them.
The quiet win is the soft play, three floors of it for nought to sixes, and it is a flat £4.20 a child whenever you turn up. No booking, no peak rate, no holiday surcharge. A wet Tuesday morning with a toddler costs four pounds twenty and buys you a coffee sat down.
Know before you go
- The flumes and the wave machine are not coming back. The committee signed off converting the fun pool to fitness space in June 2022, and a residents' petition has changed nothing. If your children remember it, warn them in the car.
- Soft play is £4.20 a child, ages nought to six, and you walk in. All swimming now happens in the competition pool, so it is lanes and depth, not shallows. Under-eights need an adult in the water with them.
Worth knowing: The old fun pool with the flumes and wave machine is gone for good. Do not promise it.
Looking for more water & swimming near Wirral?
Also in Wirral
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New Brighton Seafront
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Church Farm
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