Seal's Cove adventure centre opens in Bridport

The long-awaited Seal’s Cove family indoor adventure centre, which has been several years in the making, opened at a site on Shoe Lane at St Andrew’s Trading Estate on Monday.

Mayor Ian Bark was invited along to officially open the attraction, below, and he wished the staff 'many exciting adventures' for the future.

He talked with management about his passions for value for money attractions for local families and was also keen to see if the venue would be aiming to be as plastic free as possible.

"I’m pleased to say we will be working hard to maintain both values," said General Manager Tess Frecknall.

The vision of local businessman Chris Seal, the complex includes a soft play centre with ‘tunnels, death slides and interactive zones over three-storeys’, a café, an indoor climbing centre which includes a 10-metre high ‘ridge’ wall, plus a party function room with exciting features including a Playstation game zone. Future additions to the business will include a four-lane shooting range, a 35-metre indoor caving system which is being constructed, plus a 180-seat restaurant which will open later in the year.

The investment will total more than £1 million once the project is completed.

The opening follows a number of hurdles which have delayed the launch including significant building repairs, the pandemic and then major supply chain issues for various materials.

The initial team will be made up of 30 local people - from full time positions to ‘junior crew’ who will work around school and holidays.

Tess said: “We have had so much support and well-wishing from local people, businesses and the Bridport News - thank you for each and every comment, card or review.”

She added: “We are hoping to be fully bookable online from this weekend, with our website fully launched over the next few days so our guests from near and far can book in advance with confidence. We have already listened to guest feedback and suggestions and are introducing new sessions for climbing and low sensory sessions for our soft play. We will launch our soft play summer loyalty cards for local residents this weekend, with our memberships available from September.”

Tess said the centre was talking to another local family activity venue and both sites were working “on how we can work together to enhance our local visitors’ experience”.

She added: “The whole team is really looking forward to a super summer of fun in this wonderful town of ours and we hope that we help to bring new visitors to Bridport for the benefit of our town.”