Padel in Torquay: four courts and counting on the seafront

Most English seaside towns have one padel court, if they have any at all. Torquay has six, split across two venues that arrived by completely different routes, and one of them has now finished expanding for the second time in eighteen months.

Padel United Torquay’s court count keeps moving

Padel United Torquay, at the Riviera International Centre, now runs four outdoor courts – a third arrived in early 2025 and a fourth has since opened, up from the two the venue launched with.

Padel United Torquay sits at the Riviera International Centre on Chestnut Avenue (TQ2 5LZ), a stone’s throw from the seafront. It opened with two panoramic outdoor courts. A third followed in early 2025, on the site of tennis courts that had fallen out of use, and Torbay’s planning committee approved a fourth soon after. That fourth court – listed on the booking system as “Padel 4,” alongside “Wollens” (Padel 1), Padel 2, and “Devon Tarmasters” (Padel 3) – is now open and taking bookings.

Two of the courts carry local business names, which is a small but telling sign of a venue with actual roots in the town rather than a chain outpost dropped in from elsewhere. There’s no membership requirement: everything runs pay-and-play, booked through Playtomic, with racket hire and a pro shop available at the Riviera International Centre reception. Off-peak weekday sessions (8am-4pm) run around £12 for doubles; peak and weekend slots step up to roughly £15.

Torquay Tennis Club added padel to its courts

Torquay Tennis Club runs two panoramic padel courts alongside eight outdoor and three indoor tennis courts, plus pickleball – one of the first Devon clubs to add padel to an existing tennis setup.

A mile or so inland, Torquay Tennis Club took a different path into the sport. It’s a long-established multi-court tennis venue – eight outdoor courts, three indoor, a hitting wall, now also home to two pickleball courts – that added two panoramic padel courts during what the club itself describes as a “quiet winter revolution.” The club states it was one of the first in Devon to offer padel at all.

That’s the more common UK story than Padel United’s purpose-built approach: an existing tennis club bolting padel onto facilities it already runs, rather than building a dedicated site from scratch. It’s worth knowing both models exist side by side in the same small town, because they suit different players. Non-members pay £30/hour; the club’s discounted “Batz” membership rate brings that down to £24/hour with £16/hour for full members. Bookings go through Playtomic or by calling reception directly. The club also runs a beginners social on Tuesday afternoons and an intermediate session on Saturday mornings, both bookable the same way, alongside a competitive pro and open padel league drawing around 36 pairs.

Two venues, two different kinds of player

If you want the widest availability and the most courts under one roof, Padel United Torquay’s four courts and pay-and-play-only setup make it the simpler booking. If you’re already part of a tennis or pickleball club and want padel folded into a membership you’re paying for anyway, Torquay Tennis Club’s discounted rates and social sessions are built for exactly that.

Either way, you’re not choosing between “padel or nothing” the way you might in a smaller coastal town. Torquay’s court count has roughly tripled since Padel United opened its doors, and that’s before counting the two courts that were already running at the tennis club throughout.

Why a resort town has this much padel

Torbay’s economy runs on visitors, and visitor-facing leisure operators tend to move fast once a sport proves it can fill off-season slots. Padel’s short rally length and low injury risk compared with squash make it an easy sell to a holiday crowd who might play once a week rather than daily, and Torquay’s flat, walkable seafront means both venues sit within easy reach of the town centre and its hotels. That combination – a resident base plus a rotating holiday population – is a large part of why a town this size supports six courts rather than the one or two you’d expect.

It also puts Torquay in an unusual position for Devon’s wider padel map. Exeter has the county’s biggest dedicated indoor venue, and Cornwall’s courts are spread thin across a much larger area with Newquay as the main hub. Torquay, by contrast, packs six courts into a compact seafront footprint – closer in feel to a small city’s provision than a typical resort town’s.

Booking and getting there

Both venues use Playtomic, so if you already have an account from playing elsewhere in the UK, nothing new to set up. Padel United Torquay has on-site parking at the Riviera International Centre; Torquay Tennis Club sits a short drive or bus ride from the seafront, with reception bookable by phone for anyone who’d rather not use the app.

If you’re planning a trip around Devon’s coast rather than just Torquay, Exeter is under 30 minutes up the A380, and Cornwall’s Newquay hub is roughly 90 minutes further west – a workable circuit for anyone building a padel-and-coast weekend rather than a single-town visit.

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