Barnsley Metrodome Waterpark (Calypso Cove) — Attraction in Barnsley

Kids age 6/8 absolutely loved it!

However our 1year old and us hated it and this is why:

Baby area: isn’t really monitored or manned by any staff, so a lot of older kids popping in and acting up. The baby area is nice and shallow but the water is barely warm. Plus- there are hardly any areas in the baby area to sit without water being sprayed in your face, or head, or water dumped on you. For age 3 and under this is actually a bit scary. A lot of adults weirdly swimming from one spot to another in this area as well.

Main pool: I’m guessing this is the wave pool? We never saw any waves from any pool during our session. The entire place was so over crowded you couldn’t enjoy anywhere without constantly being battered by young pre-teen lads from all directions( all not being watched by parents) again, water barely warm! And weirdly as well they actually have two lanes blocked off for lane swimming.., who on earth willingly lane swims in this environment is purely psychopathic 🤣

Slides: our two boys were only able to go on 3 main slides and weren’t big enough for one which is totally fair. Waits not too long for slides.

Food and swimming gear sold: insanely over priced, 6-12£ for a pool noodle is extortion. Food highly priced for basic mediocre food.

Changing area: is completely communal and not safe at all! The floor is soaked and filthy. There’s zero hair dryers to use( only hand dryers and what 1-2 year old is going to not be scared of that?) People barrel past you with zero manners! Bins are very hard to find for soiled nappies! Showers are filthy, and there are so few of them compared to the amount of people they pack into the park!

Noise: there is ZERO acoustics in this place so expect the noise level to be a 100! If you are neurodivergent it’s the worst place on earth! The sound will make your ears bleed, and the notification of time slots ending is a joke! You can’t hear it hardly let alone understand what they are shouting over the intercom! How the lifeguards can hear a call for help is concerning!

Staff: staff were pleasant enough, to be fair the fact they were pleasant at all working in those conditions says a lot about them as humans! I couldn’t do it so applause for them that do!

As someone who has grown up with water parks, and busy water parks this is the worst I have ever been too.

We were all healthy and fine before arriving to the park and a few hours later after we’ve been home after swimming at the park, we are all sick with sour tummy’s and diarrhoea… you do the math!

I’d give it negative stars if possible, and I rarely make time to write reviews such as this. Save your money and go to a proper outdoor one abroad,...

Went for a nice day out with my children or what I thought was going to be a nice day out. First of all I stubbed a cig out on the floor in the car park and yes before anyone starts I know it’s littering, but £100 fine is beyond a joke, especially in this economy where I along with millions of others are struggling to pay for food and utilities. Also they’re clearly not using the money raised from this racket to clean the cigarette butts up because the floor was littered with them absolutely everywhere, so where is this money going. Secondly I was in the water for 5 minutes and the lifeguards told me and my party of 18 others to get out as our wrist band colour was showing up on the board. We disputed this and ended up going to the manager and he decided to say we’ve been in since 12:30 and it was Infact time to get out. The young lad on reception rather than admitting his mistake decided to double down and said yeah they did come in at 12:30 so they need to get out. Well thank god for the fine in the car park. It was almost worth the £100 fine just to see the managers face after I had to get out soaking wet and go all the way to my locker and get the ticket and bring it back with my phone to prove we’ve only just got in. Then the manager rudely said we’ll just go away and enjoy yourself then instead of standing arguing with me. We wouldn’t have to stand and argue with you if you hadn’t given us the wrong wristbands and as for enjoying ourselves we tried but the queues along with the over crowded pools and the fact we’d wasted over 20 minutes proving that a group of 19 hadn’t come in when you decided we had and had Infact only just got in the pool made the enjoyment rather… well unenjoyable. Also I was constantly having to take women’s hair off my body and hands because it was either over crowded or your filters don’t work very well. Also when we was on the way out my sister complained and you made me prove that we was Infact supposed to be in the pool at 1:30 by asking me to show the ticket on my phone 4 times !!!! You gave us 25% off our next visit…. erm no thanks ill stick closer to home next time. Other than that what a lovely place...

Omg!! What can i say Buzz&Woody party was amazing. I haven't been here since i was about 19 an nearly drown in the deep end of the wave machine lol. The changing rooms were clean and well managed And the lockers are huge for 1pound. Once in the kids absolutely loved every minute of it. It took my youngest around 10 mins to adjust due to the noise, energy and sheer overwhelm on her senses but we sat in the little pool that is directly adjacent to the entrance. There is loads to do in there was great for the little one even my 6yr old was happily swimming about for a good 15 min theres a slide and spash features that pour down on your head. I loved the shower bit was lovely on my back. Took me 20 mins to blow up the gigantic floating ring i had brought (not my best idea) anyway. We went into the next part and had a photo taken with the characters I also believe they had ariel on a different date. I thought in house pics were a great idea. However I was disappointed to discover that you have to purchase there and then as you exit the building (the kiosk is upstairs nr reception) not online as I had no money with me. The kids party 🥳 was a blast we had a little boogie (well i did) felt like we were on holiday. The kids loved the wave machine dispite my eldests apprehensions and the deeper pool. I'd definitely recommend bringing armbands floats etc if u have independent kids that cant swim as its a good work out for your arms otherwise. It did start too get a little too busy for my liking nearing the end of the session as new ones were allowed in before we got out they announce and display band colours so you know when to vacate. The pirate ship slide and others are fab! The diving boards are pretty daunting to look at but great for the older kids and adults who dare. 😆 all in all we had such fun a fantastic day for all the family if you can go with two parents might be less stress but definitely do-able as a singleton...