Families heading to Blackpill Lido for the May half-term holidays have been turned away after Swansea Council was forced to drain the popular outdoor pool today following damage to its flooring.
It is the second disruption to hit the Swansea Bay seafront pool in less than four weeks — and the closure has landed on one of the warmest days of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30C across south-west Wales.
Second hit in less than a month
The council said its team had been forced to drain the pool on Tuesday morning after parts of the flooring came away.
“Sadly the Lido at Blackpill will be closed for a number of days due to a technical issue,” the council said in an early-morning statement. “Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this has caused and thank you for your understanding.”
In a follow-up update at lunchtime, the council confirmed the flooring damage and said an investigation into how it happened was now under way.
“Unfortunately, the lido’s flooring has come away in some areas and we’re looking into how it happened,” a spokesperson said. “We’re aiming to get it fixed as quickly as possible over the coming days and then we’ll refill the lido. In the meantime, we once again apologise for the inconvenience.”
Refilling takes days even once repaired
The council confirmed that even once the flooring repairs are complete, refilling the lido takes several days — meaning the pool will remain out of action even after the immediate damage is fixed.
No reopening date has been confirmed.
The closure is particularly painful timing for families. The school half-term holiday across Wales runs until Friday 30 May, with Blackpill Lido one of the most popular free-to-use family attractions on the Swansea seafront.
Second disruption of the season
The flooring failure comes just weeks after the lido’s opening was delayed by the theft of its distinctive sprinklers in the days before its bank holiday weekend launch on 2 May.
Thieves struck overnight, removing the sprinklers that form a central feature of the lido’s water play area. Council teams were forced to put temporary repairs in place before the pool could open to the public, with a delay of several days while replacements were sourced.
That incident was reported to South Wales Police at the time. The flooring damage now under investigation by the council is so far being treated as a technical issue rather than criminal damage.
Questions over the cause
The council has not yet said what caused the flooring to come away — whether it relates to the original installation, wear and tear, the recent heatwave, or another factor.
The Blackpill site underwent significant refurbishment in recent years as part of wider seafront investment, with the lido reopening with new water play features. The pool is one of the council’s most-used free outdoor leisure facilities, particularly during summer holidays and weekends.
Earlier this year, Swansea Council unveiled ambitious plans for the wider Swansea Bay foreshore — including padel courts, a zip wire and proposals for a year-round lido as part of a longer-term transformation of the three-mile stretch between the marina and Blackpill.
Other half-term options
With the lido out of action, the council has signposted families to its main parks information page at swansea.gov.uk/parks, which lists other free-to-use outdoor activities across the city for half-term.
The council said it would issue further updates on the lido as soon as a reopening date can be confirmed.
