Liverpool opens the UK's first floating padel courts at Princes Dock

Padel in Liverpool has taken to the water. Vibora Liverpool Waters opened to the public on Saturday 26 September at Princes Dock, on the city's historic waterfront, with two floating courts and a clubhouse. Its backers bill it as the first venue of its kind in the UK, and the Liver Building looms over the courts.

The club is a partnership between Peel Waters, the developer behind Liverpool Waters, a regeneration scheme for the old northern docks with more than £5bn of investment, and the Vibora club co-founded by Gareth Evans. It is open every day from 7am to 10pm, courts cost £55 an hour and bookings go through Playtomic. Seventy-five founding memberships were released ahead of launch, and individual and corporate memberships are also on offer.

Approved in 2025, built in phases

Liverpool City Council approved the scheme in July 2025. The plans at the time were for three Spanish-made courts on a floating platform from Finland, with an opening that autumn. The venue has arrived almost a year later and with two courts: the third is due before the end of 2026, according to the club and Peel Waters, which also talks of a larger clubhouse.

More than a court booking

The pitch is as much about the setting as the sport. The clubhouse is meant as a place to meet before and after a game, and the club offers private hire for companies and events. Evans said the response had shown them "just how much appetite there is for padel in the city". Back in 2025, Peel Waters pointed to Dubai, Miami and Helsinki as the places that had already put padel on the waterfront.

Getting more out of every court is exactly what we cover in our guide to making a padel club more profitable.

Sources: Liverpool Waters, Liverpool Business News and Place North West.

Photo: OathOn via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (CC0).