Ponty Lido is an outdoor swimming pool in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd.
It was originally built in 1927 in a style that was typical of its time. Often frequented by Welsh singing legend, Sir Tom Jones, the Lido was certainly a popular destination for those seeking a Mediterranean vibe in the South Wales Valleys.
Like many things in life, I had great intentions of taking our twin girls to the Lido numerous times throughout the summer holidays. Sadly in between work and illness I never got round to it.
However, one weekend, whilst my husband was away in London, I checked online to see if there was any availability and low and behold there was! I booked the 10.30am session and excitedly told our girls!
Children under 16 are free and adults are £2. I also paid £2.50 per child for them to do the activities which on the day were pedalo boats and an inflatable style obstacle across the water.
The Lido does not have a car park. As such I parked in Sardis Road car park which is situated behind the main train station. It was just £1 on the Saturday to park all day.
The Lido was a short 10 minute walk through the town centre and was very easy to find. We were a bit early so we wandered around to the park which is fantastic!
There’s something there for all ages. From small slides to big ones, a zip wire, sandy area which our girls loved, swings, things to climb, tunnels and lots more!
After a quick play we made our way round to the Lido entrance and were allowed in around 10.15am.
There are changing rooms and lockers available outside, along with sunbeds. We quickly changed and headed to the pool!
There are three pools in total. One is a shallow splash style pool with a water fountain that’s perfect for toddlers.
Then you have the main pool which starts shallow and goes deeper. Then there’s another smaller side pool which has the inflatable obstacle course on.
At seven years old our girls took no interest in the splash pool so we spent most of our time in the main pool which they absolutely loved. It was also great to see so many life guards on duty.
As mentioned above my girls went on the pedalo boats which didn’t appear to have any time limit on and then on the inflatable obstacle course. As they were under 8 years old I had to go in the water alongside the obstacle course in case they fell in.
Our session was 90 minutes and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! After drying off we then headed back into the park for a picnic and play.
It was pretty busy. No surprise really as the sun was shining, so all the picnic benches were in use, but it didn’t matter because there’s also a large grassy area which we sat on for our picnic. The girls took great fun in rolling down the big grassy hill in this area!
After we’d eaten, the girls spent most of their time in the sandy play area. We then bought an ice cream in the cafe and headed back to the car.
Overall we had a fantastic time and would definitely go again. The Lido was clean, well manned and lots of fun for all ages!
Disclaimer: I paid for this trip myself. All views and opinions are 100% my own.
