Bank holiday weekends are a great time to visit a Haven holiday park. You get all of the fun of the weekend and kids will be back in time for school on the Tuesday after a bank holiday Monday! We visited Haven Wild Duck over a bank holiday weekend and here’s what we got up to.
Day 1 – Friday – Arriving at Haven Wild Duck
Unpacking!
After paying a little bit extra, we were able to check in between 2pm and 3pm, which meant we got a little bit more of our holiday. There is car parking next to the caravan so we could get everything straight out of the car. The first hour or so is always spent unpacking and sorting out the caravan, making sure most things are put away. As this was only a 3 night stay, we didn’t have too much to unpack. We stayed in a silver model of caravan this time, which had 3 bedrooms and plenty of space for the 5 of us.
Time to explore
After the caravan was all set, we went out exploring Haven Wild Duck. As this was a new Haven park to us, we didn’t know where anything was. Luckily, it’s quite a small park and it was easy to find our way around. Most of the park facilities are in the middle of the site, such as the Sitting Duck restaurant, Papa Johns and Cook’s Fish and Chips. The Live Lounge and and arcade are located in the middle of the site too. Everything is really easy to find and in a great location so there’s not too much walking around.
Cashless arcade
We all wanted to play bingo and watch the children’s entertainment but the Live Lounge didn’t open until 5pm so we spent some time in the cashless arcade. This was a new concept for us but we really liked it. All you need to do is get a card and top it up with cash, and you then use on whichever game you want to play. You can also use the card to get 2p coins for those kinds of machines. Any tokens you win are loaded on to the card too so they’re all in one place.
Bingo and children’s entertainment
Haven are great at putting on a jam-packed entertainment schedule. Evenings in the Live Lounge start with cash bingo which is for over 18s only. Children are still welcome to sit with you but they just can’t play. My sister was lucky and won the full house! Afterwards, it’s time for the children’s entertainment which Erin loves. There’s a real mix from singing and dancing to games and activities with the Seaside Squad. You will need your fun passes to get into the Live Lounge. We forgot ours a few time and had to nip back to the caravan to get them.
While the entertainment was going on, we were able to order dinner from Papa Johns via the Haven Serve app. It’s great that you can get food delivered to your table in the Live Lounge as it means Erin doesn’t have to miss the live entertainment. Papa Johns have some good offers on too so it meant we were able to get 2 large pizzas, 2 sides and 4 drinks for around £40. Even better that we didn’t have to go anywhere to get it.
The rest of our evening was spent in our own caravan winding down and playing some games together as a family.
Day 2 – Saturday
Exploring the woodland setting
The difference between this Haven holiday park and others is that it’s in a woodland setting, rather than being right at the coast. As a woodland park, you are able to go on walks so that’s how we started our day. The woodland walk is quite short and won’t take you more than an hour or so. It was nice to see the surrounding areas, and more of the Haven Wild Duck holiday park. We kept our eyes out for wildlife too as we walked around.
Wild Wizards
Haven is great for having a wide range of activities for children to do. We booked Erin onto the Wild Wizards session and it only cost £6 for 45 minutes. This session is held at the Ranger Station, which was only a couple of minutes away from our caravan.
The ranger took everyone around the park to gather ingredients ready to make a wand and a potion. Erin loved finding different things to use and learning about the flowers from the ranger. This was a cute session that let Erin be creative and also take something home with her.
Swimming
One of the great things about this Haven park is that it has both an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. You need to book swimming slots online ahead of your visit or ask on the day to see if there’s any spaces available. At Haven Wild Duck there is a standard swimming pool along with a small area for younger children and a couple of slides. You only get 1 hour at a time to ensure the pool isn’t too full. This amount of time was perfect for us really, as we were able to go back to our own caravan and get ready for the evening.
Evening
For dinner we decided to go to the chip shop and bring the food back to our caravan to eat. There’s a dining table in the living room area of the kitchen so there’s plenty of space to eat at the table. These holiday homes come with near enough everything you need too such as plates and cutlery so you don’t have to bring anything like this from home. You will need things like condiments but you can buy ketchup etc. from Cook’s if you want some.
After an early dinner we spent time in the cashless arcade again, before watching the children’s entertainment with Erin. This part of the evening entertainment is suitable for the whole family and lasts a couple of hours. While Erin dances and takes part in the games we can chill with a drink. It’s a nice way to spend the evening.
Day 3 – Sunday
Swimming
Our Sunday morning started with a swim at 9:15 am, one of the first slots of the day. This session was much quieter than the day before and we much preferred it. Swimming slots are released after the activities though so I had to work around pre-booked activities.
Target shooting
In the morning some of us took part in target shooting. This was an activity we had booked ahead of time on the Haven app. It was nice to do something with just adults as Erin wasn’t old enough for this one. This activity is held in the sports area and lasts for 45 minutes. It was a good introduction to target shooting and although I wasn’t very good at it, I really enjoyed it.
Plant pot art
In the afternoon Erin had another activity booked which was Plant Pot Art. This was another 45 minute session at the Ranger Station and it also cost £6. Erin was able to pick between 2 different plant pots and then decorate it with paint pens. Although a really simple activity, it really kept the children occupied for a while and again, they got something to take home with them. The ranger had also put together some bags of soil and seeds to take away!
Dinner at the Sitting Duck
For our last dinner we chose to go to the Sitting Duck restaurant. You can book this from the Haven website or the app. The menu has a special offer or two to choose from, differing depending on what day you eat there. As this was a Sunday, there was an offer on roast dinners as well as children being able to eat for only £1.
The food at Haven is fairly good but don’t expect more here than standard pub food. The restaurant gets busy after 5pm for dinner so if you can eat a little bit earlier like we did, it will be a bit quiet and less of a wait for food.
Day 4 – Monday
Sadly, Monday was the day we had to go home. You have to be checked out of your caravan by 10am but you don’t need to leave the caravan park until later in the day. I had booked in one last swimming slot for John and Erin for 10am, which was the first session available that day. It meant that we got to prolong going home after a wonderful holiday.
Although this was our first time at the Haven Wild Duck site, it won’t be our last. We were able to spend some real quality time together as a family. Everything is within a short distance of each other and you could walk to everything easily. With a mix of activities, meals out and time together at the caravan, this was a wonderful place for a holiday.
Find out more about Haven holidays
- Activities at Haven
- What to expect from a bronze caravan
- What to expect from a silver caravan
- Is choosing your holiday home worth it?
