Our Haven Kent Coast/ Haven Allhallows Caravan Park Review – 2026 Update

I’ll be honest with you: when the invitation came to join Adam’s entire family for a week at a Haven park on the Kent coast, I had to take a deep breath. Fifteen of us. I’d heard mixed things about Haven over the years, and I’d packed a boot full of cleaning products just in case. My expectations were modest at best.

Reader, I needn’t have worried.

That first stay at Haven Kent Coast (formerly Allhallows Leisure Park, and still widely known as Haven Allhallows) turned into a trip we genuinely loved. So much so that we’ve been back since, most recently in August 2025 when we tried a Silver Caravan for the first time. And in the years between that first October half-term visit and now, the park has been almost unrecognisable in places, thanks to a major investment programme that’s transformed it into something considerably more impressive than the traditional British holiday camp I’d been half-picturing.

So this is the honest, multi-visit version of our Haven Kent Coast review: what it’s actually like, what’s genuinely good, what could still be better, and whether it’s worth it for South East London families who want a proper break without a four-hour drive.

Short answer: yes, and it keeps getting better. Longer answer: read on.

How far is Haven Kent Coast from London?

This is genuinely the first thing I’d tell any South East London family who’s been doing the Dorset-every-half-term trudge. Haven Kent Coast is roughly an hour from us, traffic depending. For a five-day break with children in tow, that difference is enormous, especially when you’re coordinating three households across two motorways. We’ve done both, and the proximity here wins hands down.

If you’re not driving, Strood train station is about 10 miles away with regular connections to London, including via the High Speed 1 line into St Pancras. Very doable.

Haven Allhallows Holiday Park was opened in 1936, and initially provided facilities for families seeking relatively inexpensive seaside holidays. The site has expanded over the decades to provide a wide range of facilities and entertainment for more modern holidaymakers. Haven Allhallows caravan park has evolved from the 1930s seaside destination through the 1950s and ’60s, becoming a family site, to a more recent development that you visit today.

The accommodation: Gold vs Silver and what to actually expect

On our first visit we stayed in a spotless Gold Caravan in the Lakeview area of the site, and I was genuinely delighted. Spacious, clean, properly homely, with a big living room, a decent TV, and a terrace overlooking the Thames Estuary. After chatting to one of the staff we found out that Lakeview was a fairly new area of the park, which probably explained the excellent condition.

On our 2025 return we tried a Silver Caravan for the first time, which made for an interesting comparison. A step down from Gold, but still perfectly comfortable for a family short break. If you’re weighing up which tier to go for, I’ve written a full breakdown of Haven accommodation options here.

One thing worth knowing: Haven now offers a “Choose Your Holiday Home” option, which lets you pick your specific caravan and its location on the park when booking. Given how much the views and walking distance to facilities can vary, it’s worth using if you care about getting a good spot. Check the Haven website for what’s available on your dates.

Practical things they don’t tell you: there are no towels, tea towels, or toilet paper provided. You’ll need a pound coin for the pool lockers. I have been caught out on all of the above. Pack accordingly.

What’s new at Kent Coast: the transformation

If you’ve read older reviews of this park, including my own, a lot has changed. Haven has invested heavily in Kent Coast over the last couple of years and the results are genuinely noticeable.

The biggest news for 2026 is the Lost Lagoon, a completely new water park complex built on the site of the previous pool. The Atlantis Falls waterslide is already open, with the full indoor splash area completing its launch in spring 2026. This is a significant upgrade, and it changes what the park offers for off-peak breaks quite dramatically. Having a proper water park attraction when the weather in October is doing its worst makes a real difference.

Beyond the pool, the last couple of years have also brought:

• The Adventure Village, a central activity hub with aerial adventures, climbing wall, The Jump, a Mini Aerial Adventure for younger kids, an outdoor stage, and more
• The Marina Bar and Stage, a 1,200-seater entertainment venue with big screens, a bar, and an outdoor terrace
• A brand new JD Wetherspoons, The London Stone, with estuary views
• A Creative Studio for pottery, Make a Bear, and other craft activities
• A Bark Yard dog obstacle course, plus dog-friendly beach access and dog-friendly dining
• An expanded and refurbished arcade
• The Yacht Club bar, dog-friendly, with outdoor terrace and estuary views

It’s a genuinely different park to the one we first visited, and mostly for the better. The construction disruption that some reviewers flagged in 2024 seems to have settled down now that most of the building work is complete.

Activities: what will actually keep the kids busy

This was what sold me on Haven in the first place, and it’s still where the park really earns its keep. Everything is a short walk from the caravans, which matters enormously with smaller children, or in our case a two-year-old on our first trip and a range of cousins from toddler to tween to manage across multiple families.

The Adventure Village packs in go-karting, archery, bungee trampolines, crazy golf, the aerial obstacle course (the highlight for our lot every single time), The Jump where you hurl yourself off a platform onto a giant airbag, and a Mini Aerial Adventure course for younger ones. Junior Segways are also brilliant and chaotic to watch. Most paid activities can be booked via the Haven app, either before you arrive or on the day, and we’ve always found the activity staff really helpful if you just turn up and ask.

The Creative Studio is a more recent addition and a genuinely useful option for a quieter morning or a rainy afternoon. It does pottery, Make a Bear, and various craft sessions. On earlier visits there were half-term sessions where the kids made their own custom iron-on patches to take home, which went down an absolute storm. If that kind of hands-on souvenir activity is your children’s thing, the Creative Studio is well worth building into the day.

The adventure playground is built on artificial grass, so it works year-round without the kids coming back covered in mud, and the outlook over the water is genuinely lovely. The arcade is consistently the most anticipated part of the trip for our three: they treat those 2p machines with a reverence usually reserved for actual Vegas. The refurbished arcade is bigger and better than ever, and the ticket prizes are still gloriously pointless.

If you want to venture off site at all, I’ve put together a guide to things to do with kids near Haven Allhallows that’s worth reading before you go.

 

The pool: then and now

On our original visit the indoor pool was warm (genuinely rare at UK leisure pools), sensibly managed for numbers, and clean, but the changing rooms were a weak point. Consistently low on loo roll, a bit grim underfoot. Bring flip flops. I cannot stress this enough.

That setup has now been completely replaced by the Lost Lagoon complex. The Atlantis Falls outdoor waterslide is already open, with the full indoor splash area completing the picture in spring 2026. For families where the pool is a major draw, this is now a genuinely exciting offering. The outdoor pool is also back open in warmer months.

The locker situation: still bring a pound coin. Some things are eternal.

A huge draw for the children was the arcade as it’s something we don’t get to do often, and they were all hooked on the 2p machines and winning tat and sweets with their tickets! 

What I really liked about Haven Kent Coast/ Haven Allhallows for the children was a huge adventure playground which is set in artificial grass, meaning that it can be used at all times of year without the kids getting filthy dirty, plus the outlook overlooking the water is stunning. 

Food and drink

When I tell people there’s a Wetherspoons on site, I get one of two reactions. Personally, as someone who needed coffee at 8am with zero interest in cooking breakfast on day three of a family holiday, I am firmly in the camp of delight. The London Stone opened in 2025, does the full Wetherspoons menu, and has estuary views from its terrace. It’s become one of the most popular spots on the park, and rightly so.

The main park restaurant is still there and still good. On our first visit I was genuinely surprised by the quality given the scale: a katsu curry one evening, a chicken Caesar the next, both properly tasty. They handled our table of fifteen without much drama, which is no small feat. The kids’ menu is decent and there’s ice cream, which covers most bases at that age.

Beyond that: Burger King (in the UK’s first walk-through pod format, which the kids treat as a tourist attraction in itself), Papa Johns delivered straight to your caravan via the app, Cook’s Fish and Chips for proper seaside fare, and the Yacht Club bar for a more relaxed drink with an estuary view. There’s also a small shop on site for self-catering supplies, though it’s worth doing a proper supermarket run on arrival rather than relying on it for everything.

Food costs across the site aren’t cheap, which is standard for holiday parks. We tend to mix it up: a couple of evening meals out, a couple of nights cooking in, and at least one Papa Johns when no one can agree. It works out fine.

Entertainment

There’s a full programme running throughout the day and into the evenings. On our October trip the kids went to a magic show one morning (I was doing emails in the caravan and I’m not ashamed of it), and there was a circus show after lunch that genuinely held their attention. Bingo runs in the afternoons, which is Not For Me but seemed very popular. Evening entertainment in the Marina Bar and Stage covers singers, comedians, and the Seaside Squad character shows for the little ones.

We tend to dip in and out of the organised entertainment rather than following the schedule rigidly, and it works well that way. The daytime children’s programme is structured enough to give the days some shape without feeling like you’re on a schedule.

The beach, the location and the views

Allhallows Beach is a six-minute walk from the park, which I mention because some reviews make it sound like the sea is a distant aspiration. It’s not. It’s a sandy beach on the northern edge of the Hoo Peninsula overlooking the Thames Estuary, and it’s free to access and right there. Not a Cornish bucket-and-spade beach, but genuinely pretty, and the kind of place where a child will happily throw pebbles into the water for forty minutes while you drink tea in peace.

The estuary views from the Lakeview caravans and from the Yacht Club terrace are one of the things that genuinely surprised me about this park. There’s something quietly lovely about watching the ships come in over a morning coffee.

One unexpected bonus: Slough Fort, a Victorian artillery fortress from the 1860s, sits right on the edge of the park. You can book a tour, and if you’ve got older kids with any interest in history it’s a genuinely unusual thing to do during a half-term break.

The location itself is honest about what it is: remote. The Hoo Peninsula is quiet and a little desolate beyond the park, and if your idea of a good holiday involves popping out for cultural day trips, this probably isn’t the Haven for you. Rochester is fifteen minutes away and well worth a half-day out (lovely castle, nice riverside playground, good ice cream), and Chatham is nearby. But the park itself is really the destination. It’s activity-focused by design, and that’s fine if you go in knowing it.

The staff

Across multiple visits, everyone we’ve come across has been warm and genuinely helpful. Particular mention for a staff member called Neil on our first trip, who was calm and kind when Arlo split his head open in the playground on day two and we were in full panic mode. That visit ended with a seven-hour trip to Medway Hospital and a glued head. Neil was brilliant. The hospital was less brilliant, but that’s not Haven’s fault.

Is it good for older kids and teenagers?

More than people expect. On our 2025 return, our three were 14, 13 and 8, and all of them had a genuinely good time. The aerial adventure course, go-karts, arcade, and the freedom to wander the site independently suited the older two well. It’s not a resort with a dedicated teen programme, but if your teenagers are self-sufficient and will happily kick about with cousins or make their own fun, they’ll find plenty to keep them busy. The site is safe, walkable and well laid out, which made us comfortable letting them head off on their own, which is the kind of freedom that changes the atmosphere of a holiday for the whole family.

Honest verdict: pros and cons

Before you book: a few practical things

Pack towels, tea towels and toilet paper. None are provided and it’s an easy thing to forget until you’re standing in a caravan kitchen on the first morning with nothing to dry your hands on. A pound coin for the pool lockers. Flip flops for the changing rooms.

Download the Haven app before you go. It’s genuinely useful for booking activities, checking the entertainment schedule, and ordering pizza delivery to your caravan, which becomes a non-negotiable by day three.

It’s also worth running a quick search for Haven Holidays voucher codes before you confirm your booking. Off-peak deals in particular can be good, and booking slightly outside the school holiday peak often makes a meaningful difference. We’ve booked both ways and it’s worth checking.

For first-time Haven visitors, my guide to enjoying your first Haven caravan holiday covers a lot of what I wish someone had told me before we rocked up with fifteen people and a boot full of Dettol.

One slightly silly tradition we’ve started: getting custom enamel pins or custom pin badges made up after each family holiday as a little memento. The kids have a small collection of them now. It sounds naff until you’re standing in the kitchen three years later pointing at one and saying “remember when Arlo glued his head back together at Medway Hospital.” Then it’s priceless.

It’s a firm yes from us. We keep going back, and the park keeps getting better.

FAQs about Haven Kent Coast / Haven Allhallows

Is Haven Kent Coast the same as Haven Allhallows? Yes, it’s the same park. It was originally called Allhallows Leisure Park, later became Haven Allhallows, and has since been rebranded as Haven Kent Coast Holiday Park. A lot of people still search for it as Allhallows, which is also the name of the nearby village.

How long does it take to drive from London to Haven Kent Coast? About an hour from South East London in normal traffic. It’s on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, which sounds remote but is genuinely not a long drive. Strood train station is around 10 miles away with fast links to London St Pancras via High Speed 1 if you’re travelling without a car.

What’s the new pool like at Haven Kent Coast? The park has replaced its previous pool setup with the Lost Lagoon, a new water park complex that includes the Atlantis Falls waterslide (already open) and a new indoor splash area completing in spring 2026. It’s a significant upgrade and now one of the main reasons to book, especially for an off-peak break.

Is Haven Kent Coast good for families with teenagers? Yes, more than you might expect. The aerial adventure course, go-karts, arcade, and the freedom to roam the site independently all work well for older kids. It doesn’t have a dedicated teen club, but self-sufficient teenagers find plenty to do. Our 14 and 13-year-old on the 2025 trip had a genuinely good time.

Is Haven Kent Coast dog-friendly? Very. There’s Allhallows Beach a short walk from the park, a Bark Yard dog obstacle course on site, dog-friendly accommodation, and dog-friendly dining at the Yacht Club terrace. It’s one of the better Haven parks if you’re travelling with a dog.

What food options are there at Haven Kent Coast? More than before. There’s now a JD Wetherspoons (The London Stone), the main park restaurant, Burger King, Papa Johns (delivered to your caravan via the app), Cook’s Fish and Chips, Bertie’s ice cream, and the Yacht Club bar. There’s a small shop on site but it’s worth doing a supermarket shop on arrival if you’re planning to self-cater at all.

What does Haven Kent Coast not provide that you need to bring? Towels, tea towels and toilet paper are not included. Bring a pound coin for the pool lockers and flip flops for the changing rooms. Bed linen is provided in most accommodation tiers, but always worth double-checking when you book.

When is the best time to visit Haven Kent Coast? We’ve done October half-term and August, and both work well for different reasons. Half-term is quieter, cheaper, and the new indoor facilities mean weather matters less. Summer is busier and the outdoor pool and beach come into their own. Personally, if you’re going with younger children for the first time, an off-peak break is a lower-stakes way to try it.

See some more of my UK Travel posts here!

Thinking of booking a Haven holiday? Read my Tips for Enjoying Your First Haven Caravan Holiday!

Looking for another children-friendly adventure, this time in Ireland? Check out this great post by Thimble and Twig here!