Now I love a ‘repurposing’ of a car park (think of the wonderful Lost Format Society from a few year’s back), so I was dead excited to hear about Centrale & Whitgift’s rooftop beach that opened at the beginning of the month.

Head up to level 3 of the multi-storey car park in Centrale and you will now find a seaside experience on the roof, wittily named Costa Del Croydon. Yes there’s a lot of sand, but there’s also a splash zone, giant games, food and drink stalls as well as a few fairground-esque rides and games (hook-a-duck, trampolines and bumper cars), which gives a feel of Brighton Pier, but without the train journey.

Shocking I know, but we’re venturing away from Croydon’s shores with the kids at the end of the summer holidays to Costa Del Sol. However our 1-year-old had yet to experience sand. That is until we had a great afternoon this week at Costa Del Croydon, introducing her to the delights of building sand castles and burying each other – with more than a bit of sand happily consumed on her part (let’s hope she enjoys Spain as much). Whilst Audrey ate sand, our 6-year-old, Beth, had fun with the splash zone, and the other amusements there. The beach is flanked by beach huts, food stalls and a bar (with some seaside themed cocktails) – the latter being a welcome addition for parents to unwind whilst they watch the kids play.

Costa Del Croydon is open 7 days a week until 28 August, with two sessions daily: 11:30am – 3:00pm and 3:30pm – 7:30pm. You can book your session in advance or just head on up (which we did), as they have a number of walk-in slots each day. We hadn’t thought to do so, but there were plenty of visitors picnicking on the brightly coloured benches whilst we were there.

We’re planning to visit again before the month is out, as there are a variety of quirky activities planned in the space, including 90s bingo (9 and 21 August), Pop n paint (11 August), Tunes for Tots (12 August), Yoga (14 and 28 August), Knitting (15 August), Salsa (17 and 25 August), Street art (18 August), Sports day (19 August), and Belly dancing (26 August). And don’t worry, if it rains the activities will move to a pop-up space in The Whitgift.

Check out the full list of activities at Costa Del Croydon on the Centrale & Whitgift website here. Book your free tickets to enter here. Kids trampolining is £3 (don’t forget socks), bumper cars are £4, and hook a duck is £5 (but you get a prize even time). Follow Centrale & Whitgift on Instagram for further updates.

Photos 1 to 4 courtesy of Centrale & Whitgift, photos5 to 9 by the Croydonist.

Posted by Julia