The SHAC - The Surrey Hills Adventure Company at The SHAC Lagoon Reigate, Betchworth RH3 7BG

"The SHAC - The Surrey Hills Adventure Company at The SHAC Lagoon The SHAC is an outdoor adventure organisation that does everything it can to get you outside to take some risks, have some fun and enjoy the beauty of the Surrey Hills and all it has to offer. You can find The Shac at Buckland Park Lake near Reigate, which is just off Reigate Road. The swim course at The Lagoon is a 400m loop and is ideal for experienced open water swimmers and beginners alike. The swimming course is set out so that swimmers are no further than 15m away from the safety of the bank at any point; all swimmers are watched over by their team of lifeguards, making it one of the safest open water swim venues in the country. I've swum at The Shac a few times; I particularly like swimming there during the Christmas break; Boxing Day is always busy, so booking your swim before turning up is worth it. They have plenty of parking with a roped-off area for disabled visitors; it can get hectic trying to park; maybe consider car sharing if swimming with a group or arrive with enough time before your swim. After your swim, there is on-site catering; you can grab a hot drink and some food before heading off. I love swimming at The Shac; it's the perfect place to meet up with other swimmers for a well-deserved dip."

"Had a first go at efoil here. Great fun to try something new with expert coaching from Skip! Progressed from lying down on the board to standing up and zipping around the lake by the end of the session. The lake was perfect for trying this out. Great experience and highly recommended!"

"Fantastic place. Highly recommended, lovely staff, excellent communication, amazing atmosphere, beautiful location. I have been here for paddle board intro, one to one lessons and paddle boarding on the lake. Grant was our instructor, he was informative, helpful and humorous! I feel like we learned a lot and had a really enjoyable time. Thank you to all at SHAC, I will keep coming back!"

"Went for a SUP training course and it was a fun experience. It was great to learn a couple new tips and tricks to use when paddleboarding. Grant and John were very kind and good instructors. Will definitely be back to paddleboard again!"

"I visited Buckland Park to participate in an outdoor swimming session with SHAC. Easy to get to and there appeared to be sufficient carparking for a warm and sunny Sunday. The swimming Lagoon itself is beautiful! Very clean considering wildlife also enjoy the beauty of the Lagoon! It is comforting to see plenty of qualified lifeguards on hand, which made me feel safe swimming in the water. The staff were friendly too. I didn't use all the facilities onsite so unable to comment on them specifically. However, I could see a van offering refreshments, a small playground for kids, toilets and a small area of water for kids to play in. I believe there are showers available to use but overheard a member of staff say there were out of order. I noticed in the corner of the carpark they had Segway available and walking tracks around the Lagoon and larger lake (which I also didn't see) Regarding the outdoor swimming lesson I had - the instructor Linda was very friendly and informative, taking the group through the key things to consider when looking to swim in an open body of water, paying particular attention to the different types of open water places you may find, what important things to consider before jumping into the water and the right equipment to use to keep safe. Whilst I found the session useful, I did feel this information could have been squeezed into an hour to give us more time to experience being in the water, swim and enjoy the beauty of the Lagoon - particularly given the weather was warm and sunny! Also, upon reflection, I felt the price for the 2 hour session did seem quite high considering we didn't really walk away with any resources to read in our own time nor did we receive a keepsake (like a swimmers cap or tow bag) as part of the session price (£72) - I feel this would be a great touch to the session. All-in-all, I will definitely come back to enjoy more of Buckland Park and the Lagoon."