AirJumpX at Sir David English, Bournemouth Review

Reviewed by Helen O

We couldn’t have been more excited to have been given the opportunity to review AirJumpX at BH Live, Sir David English Centre in Bournemouth, what an amazing opportunity to have some fun as a family.

AirJumpX is a super-sized inflatable indoor obstacle course, located in the main hall at Sir David English Centre, East Way, Bournemouth. The 50 minute sessions are bookable online, from 7 days in advance for 10am, 11.15am, 12.45pm, 2pm and 4pm daily, with 50 spaces available per session. There is a 5 minute briefing at the start of the session, leaving you with 45 minutes of bouncing fun!

AirJumpX is suitable for all ages from 5 years +, although children between 5 and 8 years must be accompanied by a paying adult (16 years +) on a 2:1 ratio.

We arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare. There is free parking available in the car park of the Centre which is filled on a first come, first served basis, but if the car park is full, there is plenty of free parking on the road outside. There are other activities taking place at the centre alongside AirJumpX, so it’s best to leave some extra time to ensure you make the most of your session.

We were directed to the main hall and greeted at the door, by one of the staff who told us we were allowed to take photos (but only of our own party, which was fine by me); I was really pleased to be able to have the opportunity to take photos and videos, which so often you can’t (and since we’ve got home I have had a good chuckle to myself, watching the videos again!) They then simply told us to get stuck in! There was a semi-circle of seats around the entrance to the inflatable, where we could leave our belongings; drinks, shoes etc. Before we could even get our shoes off, the two 5 year olds were off and all we could hear were shrieks of excitement!

First stop was the giant slide at the back of the course. There was a vertical ladder, leading to a giant orange slide and my goodness was it excellent fun! We whizzed down the slide, crashing into the inflatable bumper at the bottom, landing in a heap of laughter. The kids were able to easily climb the ladder, without any assistance, which meant more fun for the adults.

Next we tried what looked like the wall from Ninja Warrior, so we had to take a run up and see if we could pull ourselves up on the top – there were 3 different height increments for this. Personally I struggled to get up even on the shortest one (age and fitness are not on my side), but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for giving it a few attempts and it may have been easier, if I wasn’t laughing while attempting it! We managed to push the boys up onto the platform, where they proceeded to climb up over the different stepped platforms and onto another slide. I was happy to watch them do this (and give myself a breather).

There was another slide, which was through an obstacle course of inflatable cones and then using a ladder to climb up, similar to a climbing wall. All of the slides were fantastic fun.

The only issue we encountered with the slides was that as we were wearing t-shirts, a couple of us suffered with some minor friction burns to the elbow as we zipped down the slide. This could be overcome by wearing a long-sleeved top. However, it was quite warm in the room, so t-shirts are more comfortable.

In addition to the slides, other activities included:

• Dodgeballs dotted around the course, which could be used to slam dunk the inflatable basketball rings or throw at each other
• Different sized giant fixed balls, similar to the ones on the old TV programme Wipe-Out, which you could use to launch yourself onto the next sized ball
• A reaction wall – to test reactions to hitting the lights when they turn on
• An assault course to test yourself against another competitor

Another issue I encountered was that I wore trainer socks, which slipped off on a few occasions – I would recommend wearing proper ankle socks, to avoid having to readjust.

What I really liked was the fact that there was no set order to the course, so you could do whatever obstacle you wanted, when you wanted to and as many times as you wanted too. Which is always helpful, when you’ve got strong-willed children with you!

The course was immaculately clean and well-maintained, it looked pristine.

The session we attended was relatively quiet, which meant that there was plenty of space and it was easy to avoid crashing into other people. Given that it’s a giant inflatable structure, it’s easy to topple over if you’re going too quickly, but at least it’s a soft landing.

The sessions are 50 minutes long and a whistle is blown at the end signalling that it’s time to get off. 50 minutes was ample time, as by the end we were all exhausted and ready for a sit down.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at AirJumpX – it’s absolutely perfect for a school holidays activity with the children (of any age) and we would highly recommend it. We all had an absolute blast; it’s the perfect opportunity to just kick back and have some fun, whilst doing a bit of exercise too!

I think the price-point for members is reasonable at £8 each per session, but the non-members price at £12 may be cost prohibitive for some people, if they want to do a family activity together, given that it’s less than 1 hour’s entertainment.

Rating: 4.5/5

Price of Tickets: BH Live Active Members pay £8 per session, but pay as you go is also available for non-members at £12 per session. There aren’t lower prices for children, all participants pay the same price.

Book tickets here: https://bhliveactive.org.uk/find-an-activity/junior-activities-timetable?siteId=sde&tag=airjumpx

Full Address: Sir David English, East Way, Bournemouth, BH8 9PZ