Updated 21 March 2026

The Big Splash!, Cambridgeshire’s mega water activities event, is returning hosted by Cambridgeshire Scouts’ Water Activities Team. The emerging details are below:

Dates: 8 & 9 August 2026 and 15 & 16 August 2026  

• Two weekends of watersports for most Sections
• Two hours sessions for Cubs, Scouts & Explorers with the choices being:
  • Dinghy sailing,
  • Rafting,
  • Paddlesports (open canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboards)
• One hour sessions of Beavers in Boats (on the MegaSUP)
• Adults are very welcome (and positively encouraged!) to have a go on the water as well, subject to capacity.  There will be no charge to adults for this. 
•  Age and activity supervision restrictions, and instructor capacity, mean that we are not able to offer spaces at the Big Splash! to Squirrels.

Venue: 

Paxton Lakes Sailing Club (PLSC), near St Neots

Costs: unchanged from 2023

• £6 per Beaver for a 1 hour session
• £12 per Cub, Scout or Explorer for a 2 hour session

Session times

• One hour Sessions (Beavers): will start at 09.30am, 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2.00pm or 3.30pm
• Two hour sessions (Cubs, Scouts & Explorers) will start at 10am, 1pm and 3:30pm.

Ratios and disclosures

• All young people will need to be accompanied by leaders and/or parents with valid Scouting DBS checks.  
• All Lead Volunteers, Team leaders and Team members attending must, at the date of the event:
  • be up to date with their Safety and Safeguarding learning, and
  • have a valid Scouting disclosure
• Groups and Units are responsible for ensuring that section-appropriate ratios of adults : young people are met.  
• Young Leaders are more than welcome to attend but cannot be used to make the ratio.

Beavers in Boats

• Beavers will have a session of up to an hour on a Mega SUP to take them out to work as a team to paddle the board, sing some songs and play some games on the water.
• There will be a maximum of 10 Beavers per session across 2 Mega SUPs.
• Non-swimmers (as defined in POR 9.13.12.2) will need to be accompanied by a water confident adult on a 1 to 1 basis and that adult will need to go on the water.
• If the weather makes it unwise to take Beavers out on the Mega SUP we will instead give them the chance to go out in a canoe and/or in a sailing dinghy with an instructor on board.

Beavers in Boats bookings open 9am on 1 May 2026

Cubs, Scouts and Explorer Scouts water sports

(Booking buttons will be activated nearer the launch date)

Rafting bookings open 9am on 1 May 2026

Paddlesport bookings open 9am on 1 May 2026

Dinghy sailing bookings open 9am on 1 May 2026

Bookings and Payment

• Bookings will be taken via Eventbrite on a first-come-first-served basis.  
• Sessions must be paid for in full and will be cancelled if not fully paid within five days.  This will be strictly applied because of unfortunate experiences in previous years; block bookings to “hold” spaces with payments to follow will not be accepted as this has resulted in often large numbers of spaces not being paid for or released and other young people missing out on the opportunity to take part.  
• Voluntary cancellations may be considered at the organisers’ discretion but refunds are only likely to be made where the unused spaces can be used by someone else.
• Groups and Units should therefore discuss with their young people and parents and book only the spaces needed – early bookings are recommended to avoid disappointment.  
• Groups and Units are welcome to book combinations of activities for their young people, either a single session or multiple sessions per day. 

Can I volunteer to help?

Absolutely!   There will be tasks to be done on or off the water where your help would be invaluable on one or more of the days. This is also a great opportunity in particular for anyone working towards a water activities adventurous activity permit to build their experience, working as part of a team with experienced permit holders and assessors.  Please get in touch with the organisers, see contact details below:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)