Let's play! An EPIC playground experience, challenging and meaningful fun for everyone.

Set inside the stunning, sandy and shallow Caroline Bay in Timaru District you'll find a special playground designed to tap into childrens adventurous fantasies.

This playground embraces a range of ages, stages, abilities, and sizes to foster inclusive play. Come and explore the shipwreck, lighthouse slide tower, mahika kai-themed play area's, the floor-is-lava obstacle course, and soar through the air on a 50 m tandem flying fox and under the eye of the taniwha. Let  your imagination run wild and draw inspiration from the stories and history of the area's people and place while you play at the bay.

This award winning playground is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Bring along your bikes, skateboards, balls, and picnic's to make the most of the surrounding amenities, including a paddling pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, bike polo, skate park, and a bike skills park. Come and play at the Bay.

The new playground,  surrounded by existing tennis courts, paddling pool, skate park and bike skills park, with view out to Caroline Bay, Timaru. - Photo South Canterbury Drone Photography

Come play at Caroline Bay playground

• A fun and free experience for residents, visitors and tourists.
• More sensory and accessible equipment and landscaping to suit a range of abilities, body sizes, and ages.
• More challenging and open ended and imaginative play equipment to stimulate physical and mental activity. 
• Safer, stronger and more durable play equipment and surfacing.
• Year-round comfort with improved drainage, seating, tables and shade.
• A space to connect to our Māori and European stories, history and heritage, themed to Caroline Bay environment, and history. 
• A place to learn through moving, communicating, noticing, interacting, wondering and experimenting.
• Over 40 play pieces including mahika kai areas with a mound in the shape of a tuna eel and a whare play house, 14.5m long shipwreck, 10m high lighthouse, floor is lava challenge, slides, trampolines swings, mouse wheel, 50m double flying fox, and the Timaru District's nostelgic yellow horse from the 1960s!
• The entire playground area is now one of the largest in New Zealand, 16,288.86 m2 (the largest at the time it was built), including the paddling pool, courts, bike skills park, and skatepark.

There's lots of play to be had at the bay!

Thank you to everyone who has supported the CPlay volunteers. Your contributions through support, donations, supply and work, has helped create a playground where everyone can have fun, grow stronger, smarter, and happier together. Let's play!