New era for Butlin’s as its Bognor Regis resort’s new £40million swimming pool opens

New era for Butlin’s as its Bognor Regis resort’s new £40million swimming pool opens for business, boasting a 24ft-tall helter skelter, a wave machine and beach huts

  • The pool, called Splash, has been filled with over 600,000 litres of water and has space for 1,000 guests 
  • Stand out feature is the world’s first helter-skelter water ride, which is as high as two double decker buses   
  • Butlin’s said: ‘Our aim was to create an experience that takes our Bognor resort to a whole new level’ 

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Butlin’s has officially opened a new £40million swimming pool at its Bognor Regis resort, which boasts a 24ft-tall helter-skelter ride, a wave pool and multi-coloured beach huts.

The 6,300-square-metre (68,000 square feet) pool, called Splash, can accommodate up to 1,000 guests and has been filled with over 600,000 litres of water and decorated with more than two million tiles. 

The pool complex also has slides that look like sticks of candy rock and side-by-side racer slides, plus a colourful 328ft-long ‘Seaside Garden Rapids’ ride that starts inside then goes outside, an ‘adrenaline flume’ and a family-fun raft ride.

The new £40million swimming pool at Butlin’s in Bognor Regis, which has just been officially opened to guests and measures 6,300 square metres

The pool's stand-out feature is perhaps the helter skelter water ride, though, which Butlin's says is a 'world first' and almost as high as two double-decker buses

The pool’s stand-out feature is perhaps the helter skelter water ride, though, which Butlin’s says is a ‘world first’ and almost as high as two double-decker buses 

Butlin's says that the wave pool is family friendly and that 'when the music blasts out, it comes alive accompanied by a suitably water-based soundtrack'

Butlin’s says that the wave pool is family friendly and that ‘when the music blasts out, it comes alive accompanied by a suitably water-based soundtrack’ 

The pool’s stand-out feature is perhaps the helter-skelter water ride, though, which Butlin’s says is a ‘world first’ and almost as high as two double-decker buses. 

Butlin’s says that the wave pool is family friendly and that ‘when the music blasts out, it comes alive accompanied by a suitably water-based soundtrack’.

It added that there are also quieter areas, which include a sun lounger zone.

Flume-ing marvellous: The pool complex has slides that look like sticks of candy rock and the Seaside Garden rapids, pictured, that's outside

Flume-ing marvellous: The pool complex has slides that look like sticks of candy rock and the Seaside Garden rapids, pictured, that’s outside

The pool can accommodate up to 1,000 guests and has been filled with over 600,000 litres of water and decorated with more than two million tiles

The pool can accommodate up to 1,000 guests and has been filled with over 600,000 litres of water and decorated with more than two million tiles

A 900-square-metre (9,700 square feet) changing village has been built, too, complete with state-of-the-art underfloor heating and a range of changing rooms for smaller and larger families as a result of research carried out with online parenting forum Mumsnet.

Jon Hendry-Pickup, Butlin’s managing director, said: ‘The pool has been open for a couple of weeks, and already thousands of our guests have been able to combine fun, thrills, waves and flumes.

‘Feedback so far has been glowing and justifies the time spent listening to our guests so that we delivered what they want and need.

‘Our aim was to create an experience that takes our Bognor resort to a whole new level and ensures we continue to be at the forefront of British family breaks. We believe we’ve done exactly that.’

While Jacquie Butlin, daughter of the brand’s founder Sir Billy Butlin, added: ‘It has been so exciting for me and the Butlin family to see and hear about this amazing new addition to our Bognor Regis resort.

To celebrate the official launch of Splash at the West Sussex camp, guests were treated to a themed light show

To celebrate the official launch of Splash at the West Sussex camp, guests were treated to a themed light show

‘I know my father would be immensely proud of the new pool and the Butlin’s of 2019 because all his values, dreams and ambitions for the brand are still very much at the heart of everything they do. I’m sure families will love all the wonderful features Splash offers.’

To celebrate the official launch of Splash at the West Sussex camp on Tuesday, guests were treated to a themed light show.

Through ‘light projection mapping’, totalling 66 million pixels, the pool’s indoor features were brought outdoors and displayed on the Art Deco exterior of the building.

It was produced using cables the equivalent in length of 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools and the show saw a kaleidoscope of colours, aquatic-themed imagery and music transform the building.