Ocean Beach Pleasure Park: Complete Family Guide
Free to enter and pay-as-you-ride on the South Shields seafront: here's everything you need to plan a flexible family day.
Ocean Beach Pleasure Park is the largest amusement park in the north east, sitting right on the South Shields seafront on Sea Road. For families, the best part is that entry is free and you pay per ride, so you decide how much you do, at what pace, and how long you stay.
The basics, sorted
- Entry: free. You only pay for the rides you go on.
- Paying: a Tap & Play Fun Card, a contactless smartcard you top up and keep for future visits. Small children's rides start at 2 credits; bigger rides run to around 3.5 to 4.5 credits. Unused credit doesn't expire, so you can save it for your next visit.
- Rides open: Fridays, weekends and school holidays, with closing times depending on the weather. Half-price Friday nights run from 5pm in the outdoor season.
- Arcades & Quasar laser tag: open daily, from 11am on weekdays and 10am at weekends and in the holidays.
- Where: Sea Road, South Shields, NE33 2LD. Questions? Call 0191 456 1617.
Is it right for you?
Ocean Beach suits you if you want a seaside attraction with rides, you are visiting with a mixed-age group, and you would rather pick individual rides than buy an all-day theme-park ticket. It is ideal for a shorter, flexible outing you can build around the beach.
The rides
The line-up runs from gentle children's rides (a carousel, teacups, the Toy Express and Thomas train, mini swings) to family and thrill rides like the Waltzer, Break Dance, Matterhorn, Miami Surf, the Pirate Ship, the Apple Rollercoaster and the Dodgems. The Bungee Trampolines carry height and weight limits and are for under-14s.
Ocean Beach lists a minimum height for every ride that has one, on each ride's own page, so you can plan ahead. They run from 0.8m for the gentlest rides up to 1.4m for the biggest (Space and Super Trooper), and many rides let a shorter child ride with a paying adult. The toddler rides, like the carousel and teacups, have no height limit at all. Our ride-by-ride height guide below has every figure.
Money Saver Decide your spending limit before you arrive and load credit a little at a time. A clear budget is far easier to manage than agreeing to one more ride several times over.
How long should you allow?
You may only need an hour or two if you are there for the rides alone. Add the beach, food and a seafront walk and it easily becomes a half-day or full-day out.
Getting there and parking
Ocean Beach is on Sea Road on the South Shields seafront (NE33 2LD). There is council seafront parking along Sea Road within easy walking distance, including South Promenade and the car park by Bents Park. Charges are around £1.20 an hour from 8am to 8pm and roughly £6 for an all-day ticket, with parking free outside those hours. You can pay by coin, card or the council's pay-by-phone service. Tariffs change, so check South Tyneside Council's seafront car parks page for the current rate, and ignore any QR-code stickers on the machines, as the council does not take payment that way.
Food, dogs and the seafront
You can bring your own food and drink or buy from the kiosks on site (no alcohol in the park). Dogs are welcome on leads, as long as you clean up after them. The wider South Shields seafront is a big part of the appeal: the beach, seafront walks and low-cost activities sit right alongside the park.
Frisk Find You will get the best value by making Ocean Beach the paid centrepiece of a day that also takes in the free seafront around it.
Our verdict
Ocean Beach offers genuinely good value when you want choice and can pace your spending. Free entry, a keep-and-reuse credit card and a seafront setting make it work best as the heart of a South Shields day out rather than a dawn-to-dusk theme park.
FAQs
Is Ocean Beach free to enter?
Yes. Entry is free and you only pay for the rides you go on, using credit on a Tap & Play Fun Card.
Is it suitable for toddlers?
Yes, there is a dedicated children's area with gentle rides like the carousel, teacups and Toy Express. Height and age limits are signed at each ride, so check them on the day.
When is it open?
Rides run Fridays, weekends and school holidays (weather permitting). The arcades and Quasar laser tag open daily, from 11am on weekdays and 10am at weekends and in the holidays.