Over the summer the kids get a break from training with Anaconda swimming club - our usual 4 sessions a week turns into a weekly tour of the best leisure pools in reach of London with an emphasis on fun. We are big fans of slides and flumes and each year seek out the new and return to old favourites. And this pool is an old favourite - perhaps the all time favourite.
39 minutes on the train from Blackfriars and you emerge at Swanley and then a 10/15 minute walk through the grim shopping centre (not a single coffee shop - what is that about?) and some residential greenery and you find the rather uninspiring (at first sight) Whiteoak Leisure Centre.
Two floors down in the basement is a rather lovely L shaped 33m pool with a dedicated diving area (1m, 3m and 5m boards). No slides or water jets or bubbles or waves on offer. However, through a door to the back of the pool was the flume area - 3 great slides Shark - a superfast straight slide that belongs at Thorpe Park, Dolphin a more leisurely and longer slide and the Whale - a giant sit on inflatable ring slide. Minimal queues and great fun. On our last visit we spent nearly 3 hours sampling the delights, doing some training lengths and jumping from the 3m boards.
Honestly if your kids love to swim then this is a journey you really should make. The changing rooms are a bit tatty and the showers are only ok - skip the cafe plenty of green spots for a picnic - none of that matters as these flumes are really the best in reach of London (that we have discovered so far). We probably make the trek here 4 times a year - best on a really hot day as the flume area can get chilly if not warmed up by sunshine. read more