Brighton’s padel courts have been full since the day they opened. Hove Beach Park’s four seafront courts – part of a larger West Hove regeneration project and operated by Game4Padel in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council – have been running at 97% occupancy on average every week since March 2025. That is not a lucky opening month. That is consistent, sustained demand that the city simply didn’t have court time to meet.
Seven courts are now live in Brighton and Hove. More are being added. Here’s the full picture.
| Venue | Location | Courts | Covered | Hours | Cost/player |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hove Beach Park | Adelaide Crescent, Hove BN3 2JJ | 4 outdoor | No | 8am–10pm daily | £6 off-peak / £7 peak (non-member) |
| Withdean Sports Complex | Withdean, BN1 5JD | 3 covered | Yes | 8am–10pm daily | £8–£12/player (member/non-member) |
Hove Beach Park – padel by the sea
Hove Beach Park sits on the seafront between Hove Lagoon and the King Alfred Leisure Centre. The four padel courts opened in December 2024 as part of the broader West Hove regeneration project – a public-private partnership between Brighton & Hove City Council and Game4Padel that gives the venue a different feel to a commercial club. It is council land with a professional operator, and that combination tends to keep prices accessible and booking systems transparent.
The courts are open daily from 8am to 10pm. Booking goes through MATCHi – you can search for Game4Padel Hove to find available slots. There is a pavilion on site with an equipment counter and café, so you can hire rackets if you are new to the sport or just forgot yours.
Pricing at Hove Beach Park:
- Weekdays 8am–5pm (off-peak): £4/player (member), £6/player (non-member)
- Weekdays 5pm–10pm and weekends (peak): £5/player (member), £7/player (non-member)
- Membership from £5/month
- Racket hire: £5/racket
- Balls: £7.50/tube
The seafront location is part of the appeal. Padel outdoors on the coast is rare in the UK, and the setting makes even a routine social session feel like a reason to be outside. The obvious trade-off is the weather – a November evening in Brighton can make you wish for a roof. That is where Withdean comes in.
If you want to book courts and are newer to the sport, our guide to social padel in the UK explains how booking platforms work and what to expect from a pay-and-play session.
Withdean Sports Complex – the covered option
Withdean Sports Complex sits a few miles north of the seafront, up into the residential part of the city. Game4Padel operates here too, in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and Freedom Leisure, the council-contracted leisure operator that runs the wider facility. Three permanent covered courts opened on 13 April 2026, replacing an earlier temporary court that had been running at 90% occupancy – a clear enough signal that the demand was there before the investment followed.
The three courts sit under a permanent canopy and are floodlit, so evening sessions run whatever the weather is doing outside. Reception is staffed, with rackets and balls available on site. The covered format is the practical choice for anyone who wants a year-round padel habit – a grey February evening doesn’t rule out a game the way it would on an open court.
Pricing at Withdean:
- Weekdays 8am–5pm (off-peak): £8/player (member), £10/player (non-member)
- Weekdays 5pm–10pm and weekends: £10/player (member), £12/player (non-member)
- Membership from £6.50/month, which knocks £2/hour off court fees
- Racket hire: £4/hour
Booking runs through MATCHi, the same platform as Hove Beach Park – search Game4Padel Withdean. Members can book up to 10 days ahead, non-members up to 7, so if you’re not signed up and you want a specific evening slot, get in early. Courts are open 8am to 10pm daily, matching Hove Beach Park’s hours.
Withdean is the better pick over Hove Beach Park if you’re playing regularly through autumn and winter, or if you just don’t want the outcome of your evening decided by a forecast. Hove Beach Park still wins on setting for a one-off social game – there’s no substitute for the sea air – but for consistency, Withdean is the more dependable court in the city.
How much does padel cost in Brighton?
Non-members pay £6/player off-peak or £7 peak at Hove Beach Park. Membership from £5/month brings that to £4–£5/player per session.
A court fits four players, so a social game costs £24–£28/hour total – well within casual territory for most players.
The membership tier at Game4Padel is worth considering if you are playing weekly or more. From £5/month, it drops your per-session cost to £4–£5/player. Even one regular game a week makes that arithmetic work in your favour.
Padel costs in Brighton are broadly in line with what you would pay at other well-run public-private venues around the UK. They are meaningfully below the London club rates that many players in the south-east had previously used as their reference point, which may be part of why demand here has been so strong.
For a fuller breakdown of what padel costs around the UK and how different venue models affect pricing, see our guide to what it costs to play padel in the UK.
What’s coming next – the Withdean expansion
The council’s own coverage from September 2025 confirmed that Game4Padel was beginning work on three additional outdoor courts with a canopy at Withdean Sports Complex. When complete, that takes Withdean to six courts and brings Brighton’s total venue count to ten courts across two sites.
Brighton & Hove Council has also committed to developing a city-wide padel strategy in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association. The context there is the scale of unmet demand: the city’s own survey found that 36% of players report increased activity levels since taking up padel, with court availability consistently cited as the main barrier to playing more. The expansion is a direct response to that data.
The Padel Club Brighton – a private operator at Albourne, around ten miles north of the city – is also listed as opening in 2026, with four covered courts and two outdoor. For those in the Hassocks/mid-Sussex area, that extends the options further.
For players on the west side of the south coast, Portsmouth has Padel4all Fareham four miles outside the city – the closest option while Portsmouth’s own courts remain under planning.
Getting started with padel in Brighton
Both Hove Beach Park and Withdean run coaching and introductory sessions through Game4Padel. The seafront venue held a free open day in January 2025 and has continued to offer beginner programmes since. If you are new to the sport, booking an intro session before your first pay-and-play booking is worth it – it shortens the learning curve considerably and makes your first social game more enjoyable for everyone on court.
For booking, use the MATCHi app. Search for Game4Padel Hove or Game4Padel Withdean to see available slots. Peak times book up quickly – weekday evenings and weekend mornings disappear within minutes of opening. If you want a specific slot, book as far ahead as the system allows.
If you are visiting Brighton for a weekend and want to fit in a game, Hove Beach Park is the obvious choice – the seafront location adds something to a padel trip that an indoor court can’t match. For a regular player based in the city, having covered courts at Withdean available through winter makes the year-round commitment to the sport much more practical.
Want to get more out of your sessions once you’ve found your court? Our guide to your first month of padel covers what to focus on as a newer player, and padel etiquette has everything you need to know about court conduct before you book. And if you’re still building a regular group, how to find people to play padel with covers every route from Playtomic open matches to WhatsApp groups.
See how this compares elsewhere with the full directory of UK padel court guides, organised by region.