Despite feeling a bit more like the first day of school weather-wise, a popular waterfront attraction in Barrie has officially opened to the public on what marks the first official day of summer break for most Simcoe County students.
SplashON is back for its ninth season at Centennial Beach along the Barrie lakeshore with its Wibit water park — a giant floating playground that provides a wide range of obstacles on Kempenfelt Bay.
“We are super excited and we’ve really been looking forward to it,” Barrie manager Camryn Malo told BarrieToday. “We’ve got lots of new staff and lots of returning staff, and the whole team is really pumped to get started today.”
Anne-Marie Lambert brought her son and a few of his friends out to celebrate his upcoming birthday.
“He just loves the water and loves to play on an obstacle course, and it brings all of those things together,” she said. “It’s just a blast to do that for a couple of hours with his friends."
The park is significantly bigger this year, Malo pointed out, adding that new this summer are the wrecking ball, monkey bars and swing — while popular features like the trampoline, action tower and rock have returned.
“Our capacity is now 400, so we’ve got lots of new space for new customers," she said.
The floating water park opened Friday with its first booking of 2025 at 10:30 a.m., with three more time slots available throughout the rest of the day.
“Because of the weather, we have about 20 people out there right now. Lots of little kids with their families,” she said this afternoon. “Usually, our first swim of the day and our last swim of the day tend to be less busy. The two in the middle are definitely busier.”
In order to ensure your space, Malo recommends booking in advance through their website.
“You can just show up sometimes if it’s not busy, but we always ask people to go and book on the site. All of the information you’d need is on there,” Malo said.
“I think this park is one of the best things you can do in Barrie. It’s the biggest in Canada,” added Malo, who's back for her fourth year working for the park. “It’s just a blast. It’s for all ages five and up. Anybody can have a good time and there is so much to do.”
Orillia’s water park is scheduled to open on Saturday, June 28 at Tudhope Park.