North Yorkshire Water Park: Splash, play and have a family adventure with your dog

North Yorkshire Water Park, at Wykeham Lakes near Scarborough, is home to one of the largest natural watersport lakes in North Yorkshire.

Our reporter Sophie Mei Lan went along with her children and puppy to try it out.

With the promise of an outdoor splash park, paddle areas for my pup, a zipline, climbing and plenty of other activities on land and in the water, even a novice camper like me felt inclined to spend a night camping in North Yorkshire to experience as many of the activities on offer as possible.

I have a few friends with children and dogs to call on when I want a fun-filled impromptu adventure, so off three mums, three tents, four daughters and just two of our dogs went to the water park which is just a 20-30 minute drive from Scarborough’s seafront.

When we arrived in the lush green space even with the clouds tinged grey - it felt like a real holiday escape as the vast water lay ahead of us.

While there was a hubbub of busy activity near reception where you check-in, alongside a newly refurbished cafe and car park, the rest of the park felt totally tranquil.

Better still, you can tailor make your own adventure.

At the park you can come walk or play for free or you can book on activities.

As a dog-lover, I spotted straight away all the dog-friendly touches from doggy ice-creams on offer, to free treats and doggy splash areas. Plus with a noisy young puppy and children in tow and me who is equally as loud, I felt at home with so many other dogs around.

We first tried stand-up Paddle Boarding where you can go as a large group, in pairs or on your own - and they even offered paddle boarding with your dog during one of the heatwaves.

Most activities are suitable for children over the age of seven - although there is a park and mini splash park for little ones.

We hit the water around golden hour so it was a beautiful way to end a long car journey and it was fun checking out how well we could balance without falling in.

We had hired the boards, paddles and life jackets so minimal equipment was needed.

The children loved the freedom and pace of it and after the fog horn sounded when our hour was up, they were begging to return to the boards which for four city-living girls who love their screens was pretty impressive.

While we had a quick coffee, chat and ice-cream in the cafe we decided it was time to pitch the tents rather than putting it off.

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Camping

As the cost of living crisis tightens its grip, more people are looking at ways to save costs on holidays and are trying camping for the first time - with landowners also starting to open up green spaces to boost revenue.

We saved money on doggy care as well as saving money on expensive hotel catering too. We had prepared lots of our own food for camping, although the cafe is affordable with meal deals but there is no convenience store on site so best to come prepared if self-catering. Granted, we all borrowed our camping gear from friends and family because for the odd trip it’s not worth the storage or cost.

There’s three compact sites to pitch tents in and one with electric ports. Plus, much to my delight as the sites are small, there are plenty of toilets and showers just a stone's throw away.

There’s no hot tub unfortunately but this isn’t glamping just cheap, clean and a fun place to stay for the night. There is one lodge too if you need a shelter to stay or you can bring a campervan.

Splash park

After a good night’s sleep, games in the outdoors and packing up our camping gear we were off for our next activity.

This was the one we had been waiting for, the AquaPark.

It’s made up of three inflatable areas so we tried the newest addition to the trio- the Warrior Park which includes a nine metre jump, climbing walls, slides, rope swings and a trampoline. It felt like Ninja Warrior on water.

I’ve not been wild swimming for years so once the wetsuit, life jackets and helmets were on it was a bit of a shock to the system but swimming to the inflatable was part of the fun and made us swim faster.

Staff did offer our fair weather children a paddle board ride to the inflatable but with the three mums swimming ahead they eventually followed.

After an inelegant clamber onto the inflatable we were off with the promise of a cold splash if we fell in.

We should have given ourselves more time to get ready to swim there than the one hour allotted slot so we only had 45 minutes but we split into pairs to jump, slide and bounce.

It was slightly scary, cold, definitely a mini challenge and a great way to get the whole family active.

However, one of my ring fingers didn’t like the rope swing at the start and I discovered after that I had broken it.

From stunning lakes, greenery and adventures to boardwalks, fresh sea air and slot machines all within 24 hours - it was a fun-filled family staycation and we really did feel refreshed from our mini break.