A Review of The Wave Waterpark, Coventry

Completed in 2019, The Wave in Coventry is a state of the art indoor water park with high speed water slides, a lazy river, splash park and wave pool. It won the World Waterpark Association’s Leading Edge award for 2019 but does it live up to the hype?

To find out I visited with my husband and 11 and 15 year old boys. We were accompanied by friends with a 3 and a 5 year old who tried out the kids splash park. We went at peak time during the school holidays in August.

I’ve reviewed every part of the Wave including the booking process, parking, lockers, the slides and more.

Booking

Booking online was straightforward. There are 2 hour time slots for Friday evenings, weekends and school holidays. Some reviewers say that 2 hours isn’t enough time, however, I found 2 hours was the right amount of time for us. Once you’ve booked, keep a copy of the confirmation booking email. You’ll need this to enter the waterpark

Cost

I have to admit, I did balk at the cost. For a family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 children it costs £50 for a 2 hour session during peak time. We had to pay more than this for the four of us as my eldest is 15. Children over 12 have to pay an adult rate.

However, I do get that an indoor water park is an expensive facility to build and run and they have to make a profit. If you want to pay less, try and go to an off peak session which has reduced prices. There are also discounts for people who live in Coventry and have a Go CV card, people with disabilities, carers and parents and toddlers.

The Wave is not a cheap activity but personally I think it was worth the price for a special day out.

Parking

When you visit the Wave you get a discounted rate on parking at The Salt Lane Car park.

Salt Lane car park is just around the corner from the Wave. To get the discounted rate you’ll need to enter your registration number on the wall before leaving The Wave and before you go through the turnstile.

Top Tip – Coventry isn’t the easiest city to drive around, so leave plenty of time for finding the car park if you haven’t been before.

On Arrival

We were greeted by a lovely member of staff. She checked the email booking confirmation on my phone and gave us wristbands to enter. As we’d never been before, she gave us a quick run down about how the changing rooms and lockers worked.

Changing Room

First the positives. The changing rooms were lovely and clean! I think they must clean them between sessions and it shows.

On the downside, the changing rooms were crowded at the beginning and end of the sessions as everybody is in there at once. We did have to wait a couple of minutes for a free changing room. However, we didn’t have to wait too long, it just about worked for us.

Lockers

You don’t need coins for the lockers. Hurrah!

I really like the locker system. No need for keys or money. The lockers work with the QR code on your wristband.
You just scan your QR code on one of the screens and put in the number of the locker you want to use. Then put your clothes in that locker, shut the door and it automatically locks.

To unlock your locker, you just need to rescan your QR code and put in your locker number into one of the screens.

There are staff on hand to help to deal with any problems should they arise.

The Waterpark

Overall the waterpark is great. We all loved it and had a blast! It felt very clean. We didn’t have to queue overly long for slides and I’m pretty sure all the tickets were sold out on the day we went.

The Reef Splash Park

When you enter the park, you arrive at The Reef first, a splash park for under 8s. My friends kid’s (aged 3 and 5) had a blast on the splash park. There’s lots of mini slides and things to do including tipping buckets, jets and fountains.

The Lazy River

Walk up the ramp to the right of the splash pool and arrive at the lazy river. All 4 of us loved going around the lazy river and we went around several times. It makes a nice break from some of the high adrenaline slides.

The Wave Pool

The Wave pool is right next to the lazy river. We didn’t have enough time to try out the wave pool but it looked like the people in there were having lots of fun. The deeper you go into the pool the bigger the waves become. You can also have lots of fun, splashing in the shallow end.

The Slides

Continue up the ramps for the main slides. There are six in total, of which we tried 5!

The Cascade

This is the slowest slide at the Wave and the only one we didn’t ride. However, my friend went on it with her 5 year old daughter and gave it a thumbs up! Children under 1.2 meters can ride the slide with an adult at their discretion. It’s a good choice for young kids and adults who like a more gentle water slide.

The Crestar

The Crestar is the next most gentle ride. You ride this one, sitting in an inflatable ring.

What I really liked about the Wave is that you have the option of riding many of rides with another rider in a double inflatable ring. This is great for enjoying the experience with kids and friends.

The minimum height for The Crestar is 1.2 metres.

As you ride down there are lighting effects and other surprises to delight sliders.

The Rapids

The Rapids was my favourite slide. It’s similar to the Crestar as you ride down in a single or double inflatable. However it’s a lot quicker.

The Wave describes the Rapids as a “big dipper on water. Powerful jets hurl riders uphill before dropping them down through tight corners and tunnels.”

I loved it as it was adrenaline pumping without being scary. It’s great to ride this one in a double inflatable and share the experience with somebody else.

The Torrent

The Torrent is reserved for high speed adrenaline seekers!

When I first saw the Torrent in action, I said out loud “there’s no way, I’m going on that!” However, about 20 minutes later I was standing in the queue. My 11 year old can be very persuasive.

I was certainly scared as I stood in the capsule and waited for the floor to disappear beneath my feet and plunge me into the slide below. The worst thing is you stand in the capsule and there is no countdown as to when the floor will disappear! You don’t know when you’ll go.

The Torrent is definitely a slide for those who love thrills, are brave or maybe just trying to prove something to their 11 year old son!

I went on the Torrent another time, so I must have enjoyed the ride.

The Riptide

The Riptide is another high speed slide, another one that’s ideal for adrenaline seekers.

Sliders grab a single or double tyre and are launched at an almost a 90 degree angled slope.

The Riptide is fast and quick. It’s also a great slide for spectators to watch.

We went on this one quite a few times. It had the shortest and quickest queue. The fear never reduced as I was sitting in the inflatable ring at the top of the slope. I actually found it scarier than The Torrent. However my kids and husband loved this one, they couldn’t get enough of this slide!

The Cyclone

The Cyclone was closed the first time we went to The Wave. However, we returned later that month and had a go (the return visit is a testament to how good the Wave is).

You ride this one without an inflatable. The slide was the longest we had to queue for (probably about 20 to 25 minutes) However, we went on the Cyclone twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of our 2nd visit so this was definitely a favourite.

You slide down the Cyclone like a normal water slide. As you approach the huge bowl at the bottom you gather speed.

At the end of the flume, you whirl around the bowl until eventually you are plunged into the big bowl of water. I ended up going in backward and head first!

It was fun, I liked the Cyclone a lot.

Did we Like The Wave, Coventry?

Yes!

All the kids and adults in our party had a fab time at The Wave.

I think it’s particularly good for older kids and teenagers. Both my 11 year and 15 year old boys raved about it.

It’s worth bearing in mind that riders need to be more than 1.2 meters for most of the big slides apart from The Cascade, where smaller riders can slide with an adult.

If you have small kids there are dedicated parent and toddler sessions for the under 5s where you can just use The Reef and The Lazy River. My friends had a great time with their 3 and 5 year old in the Reef, so it’s worth doing an under 5 session if you are going with little ones.

As a side note, the Wave also offers quiet time sessions which are ideal for families and individuals who have complex needs and disabilities. Quiet sessions are fun-filled and calm in a relaxing environment with no music. Find sensory toys in the lazy river as well as accessible changing facilities. All slides are available.

If I was to be critical, the wave pool could be a bit bigger and it would be nice if there was a swimming pool to actually swim in. There’s not. It’s not like you can send your kids off on the slides and go off and have a swim.

If you like swimming, there is a separate 25m swimming pool on site (in the same building). If you have older kids, you could send them to The Wave while you have a gentle swim.

Another plus point that’s worth mentioning, The Wave is warm. I’ve spent many years in the past feeling cold while queuing for water slides with my kids. I never once felt cold while queuing or in the water at the Wave which is a big plus in my opinion.

Overall I think The Wave it’s a fantastic indoor water park. I feel lucky that it’s under an hour drive for us and It will probably be something we do with the kids as an annual event during the summer holidays.

I dare you to book a slot at the Wave, take your kids and have a blast!

Discount for Coventry Residents

If you live in Coventry you can apply for a Go CV card that gives holders great discounts at some of the city’s biggest and best attractions including The Wave. This discount is quite substantial especially if you are paying for a family so it’s well worth applying for.

When booking your tickets, you’ll need your membership number in order to to unlock the discount.

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