About the Park

Welcome to Adventure Island, the UK’s number 1 free entry theme park and one of Southend’s best and longest running shoreside attractions!

Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about the park, along with a few pointers on how to make the most of your time with us.

Who are we?

Adventure Island is part of the Stockvale Group of Companies, which also includes the Sealife Adventure Zooquarium, along with a series of local restaurants and commercial radio stations.

Why visit us?

With some of the country’s best facilities and most exhilarating rides, the real question is, why WOULDN’T you want to check out our park?!

Adventure Island is something of an icon in Southend. In fact, we’re the most recognisable attraction on the seafront. You’ll find us right next to the pier, dominating the skyline day and night with our eclectic selection of over 40 rides and attractions (and that’s not including our Prize Arcades, cafes, restaurants, sideshows and games. Ooft!).

You might have even seen us on the telly! Adventure Island has been featured in EastEnders, Britain’s Got Talent and many more TV programmes and films. We’re only 40 miles away from London, which means we’re the ideal fun shoot destination for city-based studios.

Daytrippers and holidaymakers have been flooding through our doors for over 100 years. We have a long tradition of providing good old whole-hearted family entertainment – but we don’t just rely on our great reputation to keep us front of mind. We’re always upgrading our facilities and adding new things to the park; our most recent attraction, City Wheel was installed in 2022.

Our free entry policy ensures we’re one of the best value parks around. If you’re not a fan of rides and rollercoasters, and just want to visit the site with friends for a bite to eat or a wander around the arcades, you don’t need to pay to enter. Purchase one of our Day Bands, and you’ll be able to go on any ride you like, as often as you like (as long as you meet the ride’s minimum height and age restrictions). And by running plenty of offers and discounts throughout the year – along with providing our famous Annual Passes – we’ve made sure groups and families of all sizes, ages and budgets get to return to Adventure Island time and time again, without breaking the bank. Plus – adults with small children go free!

Need more convincing?

We’ll happily sing our own praises – and so will our visitors! Check out our reviews online for tonnes of insights from our guests, past and present.
We have been awarded Trip Advisor’s Travellers’ Choice status every year between 2015 and 2021, which is something we’re immensely proud of, as ratings are pulled together using genuine reviews and feedback from customers. We also won the Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Award seven years in a row between 2013 and 2020. We have also had the honour of receiving a Queens awards for Promotion Opportunity through Social Mobility,  one of the highest accolades a business can receive. 

Park Rules

Before we get stuck in to all the amazing facilities on offer, we need to make you aware of a few do’s and don’ts. Stick to these rules, and you’ll be helping to make sure everybody’s visit is memorable for all the right reasons.

No alcohol

Trust us, you won’t need booze to have a fabulous time at Adventure Island!

No smoking

Let’s keep our park smoke-free. E-cigarettes are allowed (but not in Adventure Inside, restaurants or gift shop).

Tops and shoes must be worn at all times

Not everyone has your abs, you know!

No Electric Scooters

The use of electric scooters is not allowed in any area of Adventure Island.

No bikes

Bicycles are also not allowed to be used in any area of Adventure Island and will be removed if used.

Trained assistance dogs only

Dogs without intense training may find the loud noises, flashing lights and fast nature of Adventure Island too overwhelming. Any dogs entering the park must be registered assistance dogs, through their association (we may ask you for an owners ID book or training log to confirm this). Animals must wear a recognisable harness and identifying coat. All assistance dog owners must be present with the dog at the time of visit. Under no circumstances are they allowed to roam freely around the grounds and must stay with the owner at all times.

Customer services

Our team want to make sure your Adventure Island experience is second to none. If you have any questions or need any kind of in-park assistance, head over to our Customer Services desk, which is located on the corner of our main office building on the west side of the arena, close to Sk8borda and American Whip. We’ll always be on hand to help!

First Aid

Our biggest priority is making sure our guests stay safe and sound during their visit – and this is why we always have plenty of trained First Aid staff onsite. Multiple First Aid centres are dotted around the park, but our main medical HQ is next to Sands by the Sea.

Top Tip

If you need help, flag down any member of staff and we’ll get one of our first-aiders to you straightaway.

Lost property

It’s easy to lose something when you’re having this much fun. If you have mislaid something in the park, drop into Customer Services – this is where we store all our lost property.

Lost children!

Customer Services is also one of the places to go if you can’t find one of your little ones; once we’ve got wind of your missing child, we’ll get our security team on the case so we can reunite you as soon as possible. But of course, you can find any member of staff who will call security.

Accessibility

We want EVERYONE to be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Adventure Island, so we’ve installed dedicated wheelchair and pushchair access points via the entrance to Adventure Inside. Also, all entrances to the park are step-free, as are the entrances to most rides.

You can download our Accessibility Policy here.

Hearing loops

Guests who are hard of hearing will be pleased to know we operate a hearing loop system onsite. Please contact Customer Services for more details.

Customer lockers

To keep your belongings super safe, ask a member of the Funtopia Arcades team at Adventure Inside for access to our customer lockers, which can be opened and closed at any time using the contactless card system.

Top Tip

Stash away your valuables at the start of your visit to make sure nothing goes missing.

Queue times

There are SO many rides to choose from, so you’ll never be waiting in line for long. We’re pleased to say our queues are short and fast-moving, even on the busiest days. Our rides are close together, too, so you won’t need to walk for miles to reach your next adventure.

Want to take a break?

There are plenty of places to rest and recharge. We have provided various seating throughout the park, close to our food outlets and in designated picnic areas.

Toilet facilities

Don’t worry about being caught short – there are plenty of loos and baby changing units around the park. We have also installed wheelchair accessible facilities at the far west end of the park, under the Sands by the Sea building; under the entrance slope on the east side of the park; under the Play Stack in Adventure Island; and at the far east end of the site, underneath Adventure Golf.

Got a question?

For more information on anything we’ve mentioned here, please give our friendly Customer Services team a call.