Inside Seal Bay Resort in West Sussex: What to expect from a family stay, what there is to do, how much it costs, how to book – pictures and video

Seal Bay Resort in Selsey is a multi-award-winning holiday park where you can take a family beach holiday, a self-catering break or even own your own holiday home.

My family and I were invited to spend a weekend soaking up all the fun that can be had in this huge seaside village.

You can book stays of three, four, seven or more nights in a range of caravans, lodges and holiday homes.

We were booked from Friday to Monday in a platinum three-bedroom van. Getting there was easy, and as we left the A27 and drove towards the coast I could already feel myself relaxing. The resort is easy to find, and checking in was a breeze in the spacious reception building.

Our van was in the new Hollyhocks area of the park. With views of Medmerry Nature Reserve, it feels really relaxed and peaceful there.

Already impressed, we walked inside and we were wowed. These platinum vans look big from the outside with their wrap-around balcony with seating area, but they feel huge on the inside. I had to keep reminding myself I was in a caravan.

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It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms (one en suite) and a large open-plan kitchen/living room area. The furnishings felt plush and homely, with grey and neutral tones. It was a really nice space to be in and we all loved having down time there throughout the weekend.

But with so much to do in the resort, even though I’d happily have spent a weekend just chilling in my van, we made the most of the activities and entertainment on offer.

Included in a stay is a ‘fun pass’ that lets you access the swimming pool and entertainment on offer at various locations, including live music, shows and activities like bingo and karaoke.

You can also pay for a wide range of other activities, from axe-throwing to body zorbing to bowling.

People could fill every hour with activities if time and budget allowed – there’s such a wide choice for all ages.

My children, ages 5 and 10, adored the swimming pool and had great fun going on the two slides and whizzing round, and round, and round the lazy river with us.

There’s also buckets to tip water on the more adventurous and a large pool for swimming with jacuzzi jets round the outside.

For those wanting to work out, there’s a gym you can use in the same complex, and for those wanting to wind down, there’s a spa.

We got up and into the pool when it opened at 10am both days and we didn’t find it too busy. That being said, it was a fairly quiet weekend at the resort, but I was pleasantly surprised at the crowd levels.

Later on both days, we’d kindly had activities lined-up for us from the extensive list of pursuits you can try.

The children did an archery session outdoors, and could also have tried laser tag or combat archery.

Inside, they loved The Dockyard – a purpose-built adventure play area with climbing walls, adventure golf and elevated bouncy nets in the new White Horse entertainment complex.

It opened last summer, and is a perfect spot to let the kids burn off some energy. And the adults too, in fact, as I had great fun running around the bouncy nets with my children and my husband scaled the climbing walls with them.

It also has a pottery painting café and to slow the pace a little, we all sat down to paint something to take home. Not only was it great to have some down-time, it was really therapeutic to be creative.

Seal Bay, previously known as Bunn Leisure, is situated on a stunning one-mile stretch of Selsey beach which you can directly access from the resort.

We enjoyed a lovely walk on the beachfront, as well as taking part in activities there including the outdoor mini golf and renting a family ‘dino kart’, a pedal kart which allowed us to explore the West Sands area.

There are also two large arcades on site, and throughout the weekend the children enjoyed playing a host of games and winning tickets to spend in the shop.

We felt like we had two very full days, but there were dozens of activities we didn’t even get the chance to try. There is also a fairly large funfair on site (a day pass costs £15 per person) which we saw but didn’t have time to try. There’s always next time…

The outdoor Lido pool and splash pad, along with a big screen entertainment area, doesn’t open until the end of May. So that’s another area to put on the list for our next visit.

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While it’s easy to eat in your van, with their well-appointed kitchens, we had a meal out on Saturday night at Smugglers family restaurant.

It overlooks the sea and we had gorgeous views towards Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight as the sun set. It was a delicious, relaxed meal and almost made us feel like we were abroad.

Every night there is entertainment throughout the resort, including a tots rave, bingo, karaoke, guest bands, discos, cast productions and more.

With such a lot going on, we can’t wait to go back!

This stay was gifted, but Cove UK's 'A Holiday's Worth Writing Home About' campaign has spring breaks for the whole family from £199* More information at www.cove.co.uk/sealbayresort/specialoffers/early-summer/