Fraser Coast pools to open longer over school holidays

The Hervey Bay and Maryborough Aquatic Centres will be open for longer on weekends and WetSide Water Park will be open seven days a week during the upcoming Queensland state school holidays.

Fraser Coast Regional Council Director Development and Community Gerard Carlyon said more staff would be available to work at Council’s aquatic facilities over the summer school holidays.

“A shortage of lifeguards has meant our two pools have been closing at noon on weekends, and the water slides and Aqua Ninja course have been operating half a day each day on the weekends,” he said.

“With the Learn to Swim classes pausing over the school holidays, we will have more staff available, while we also have new lifeguards coming on board following our successful ‘Try Then Apply Day’ recruitment drive.

“The new recruits all require training though and it will be some time before they can move up from being entry level lifeguards to supervisors, which means we may need to revert to reduced hours again after the school holidays.”

Mr Carlyon said Aqua Ninja had proven popular since opening at the start of the month, and Council was looking forward to the new attraction opening longer over the school holidays.

“The Aqua Ninja course is the first of its kind in Australia and it’s fantastic to see how it has been embraced in its first month of operation with 726 rides taken so far, which will only increase as we open for more hours,” he said.

“WetSide is a fantastic place to keep cool and have some fun with something for everyone, which is why it is regularly voted by TripAdvisor reviewers as one of the best waterparks both in Australia and throughout the world.”

On weekends from the 10 December 2022 to 22 January 2023, the Maryborough and Hervey Bay Aquatic Centre will open from 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and 9am to 6pm on Sundays, excluding public holidays. WetSide will be open from 10am to 5pm seven days a week during the school holidays (excluding Christmas Day).

The SplashSide water play and all-abilities playground in Maryborough’s Anzac Park is also open seven days a week. More details about Council’s two aquatic centres and two water play parks is available here - https://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/aquatic-centres