The best water parks near London for a sunny day out — with giant slides, wave pools and floating obstacle courses

First up on this roundup of the best water parks near London is The Pavilion in Bromley, which on top of a leisure pool also has a bowling alley, a state-of-the-art gym, a soft play area, table tennis and a bar-come-restaurant. There are a couple of water slides here, as well as a wave pool that run regularly over the weekends. Of course, if you’d prefer to just go for a dip, then they’ve got ample space for that here too.

Staying south of the river you’ll find the Waterfront Leisure Centre in Woolwich: a vast spot with a fully kitted-out gym, a multi-use sports hall, five-a-side football pitches, a studio with plenty of fitness classes, a 25-metre-pool and a leisure pool with slides and a wave machine, too. For thrills and spills, don’t miss taking a ride on the ‘Anaconda’ – an extensive slide which takes you all the way from the building’s ceiling to the pool below. It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted!

Next up on this roundup of the best water parks near London is Thorpe Lakes Aqua Park, a leading watersports facility that is right in the shadow of Thorpe Park. Home to ‘London’s ultimate floating obstacle course’, it also offers the chance to go wakeboarding, water skiing, wake surfing and cable skiing, too. Of course, you’re also just a stone’s throw from the hair-raising roller coasters and drop rides of Thorpe Park, one of the country’s best theme parks. Double dose of adrenaline perhaps?

Next up on this roundup of water parks in London is Leyton Leisure Centre in East London. There’s really something for everyone here: including two swimming pools with a water slide; an aqua play area for kids; a teaching pool for swimming lessons; fitness classes; group cycle studios; plus a sauna and steam room. Another one run by Better, they’ve also got a fantastic gym with 70 different work stations – great if you’re looking to make a day of it. Reward a gym session with a slide down a water slide!

St Andrews Lakes in Halling, Kent, is home to the county’s largest inflatable aqua park, set on a stunning 70-acre spring-fed lake with dazzling blue water just 40 minutes from London. The park features a private sandy beach, floating obstacle course, multiple slides, and the brand-new La Jefa slide, which has quickly become a favourite for high-speed thrills. Visitors can also enjoy paddleboarding, kayaking, zip lines, axe throwing, wall climbing, archery, a dedicated kids’ aqua park, open water swimming, and a lakeside wellness centre with saunas and hot tubs, making it a top destination for both adventure and relaxation this summer.

Bracknell’s Coral Reef Waterworld is arguably one of the UK’s best water parks, boasting everything from thrilling water slides to an erupting volcano. In terms of slides, there’s the gentler ‘Aqua Splash’, which is perfect for younger children and families. But there’s also the more extreme ‘Cannon’, ‘Storm Chaser’ and ‘Maelstrom’ slides which are great for adrenaline junkies. 

Ok, so this one isn’t exactly London per se, but you can easily hop on a train there for a day trip, so we figured it was worth including. Based in Poole in Dorset, Splashdown has thirteen exhilarating rides and slides, including ‘Infinity’, which has funky lights and music playing throughout the course of its run. On top of waterslides, they’ve also got an outdoor splash pool, an interactive play area complete with canons and a starter flume, and a cafe to boot. A fun day out for the whole family. 

The perfect activity for a kid’s party, team-building or even a stag do, Aqua Splash has two outdoor inflatable assault courses based just outside of London. Open weekends, bank holidays and school holidays between April and September, it’s a great one for dare devils and competitive types, whatever the occasion. Both courses are based in open water lakes and supervised by RLSS fully-qualified lifeguards. Out of the water, there’s a snack bar for pre or post-splash fuel.

Next up on our list of the best water parks in London is another one perched on the eastern edge of the capital. Aqua Action is located in an idyllic east London lake and opens for the season on April 5. There’s a gigantic inflatable obstacle course, and is the perfect sunny day, action-packed activity for older children (aged 6 and over) and big (adult) kids. Visitors can expect to tackle the 3.5 metre climbing tower and the two metre high balance beam, squeal in delight as they’re blasted into the air on the blast bag, channel their inner Olympic diver on the jumping platforms, and their inner adrenaline junkies on the drop slides.

Our penultimate entry to this roundup of the best water parks near London is Splash Park in Barking – an outdoor water park with a whole host of fountains, walk-on-water balls, little pedal boats and even a dance-loving mascot named Splashy. Though there are no water slides to speak of here, there’s ample space to enjoy yourself in the water here; especially when the sun is shining.

Rounding off this list of the best water parks near London is Cascades: a combined fitness centre and swimming pool with the ‘Typhoon’ and ‘Twister’ water slides, a wave pool, a mushroom water fountain, water jets, a waterfall and a baby pool with an elephant slide.  The water here is heated to a balmy 30 degrees, and there’s also a fitness pool, a gym, tai chi lessons, and even a beauty salon so you can pamper yourself silly.