Waltham Swimming Pool

Waltham Swimming Pool is a summer-only outdoor pool on Waltham Road, right next to Waltham Park. There's a nine-lane 33-metre pool with a beach-style leisure area, a separate toddler pool, and a hydroslide for kids over five (they need to be at least 102cm tall to go down it).

It suits the whole family really, toddlers can potter in their own shallow pool while older kids queue for the slide and adults get a few laps in. Free BBQs are on site if you want to make an afternoon of it, and the park next door has a playground and grassy spots for a picnic. Parking is on the street and there are bike stands by the entrance.

Like the other summer pools around Christchurch, it only opens over the warmer months from mid-November to late March, so it's not a wet-weather option and is closed the rest of the year.