Padel has arrived on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
On 7 March 2026, Let’s Go Padel opened its seventh venue in Ballymoney – a town in County Antrim that sits at the gateway to the Causeway Coast. Until that day, anyone from Ballymoney, Coleraine, Portstewart or Portrush who wanted to play padel was looking at a 45-minute drive, minimum. That’s a lot of friction for a sport you’re just getting into.
The opening is a milestone for Let’s Go Padel, but the real story is bigger than one venue. Northern Ireland now has the country’s most ambitious regional padel rollout, and it’s moving fast.
What Let’s Go Padel is
Let’s Go Padel is Northern Ireland’s largest padel operator, founded by Pete Boyle – the entrepreneur behind Let’s Go Hydro, a popular inflatable water park at Carryduff Reservoir on the edge of Belfast. That reservoir site is also home to Let’s Go Padel’s first venue, and the brand has expanded rapidly since.
The network has been built with more than £3m of investment, with a stated ambition of reaching up to 50 courts across Northern Ireland in 2026. Head of the padel operation is Mateo Van de Merwe.
Padel, for anyone still getting familiar with it, is played on an enclosed court about a third the size of a tennis court. The walls are in play – glass at the back, solid at the sides – and the underarm serve keeps rallies accessible from the start. It’s doubles by default, which makes it inherently social. Most casual players describe picking it up faster than they expected, and that low barrier has driven explosive growth across the UK and Ireland.
What’s opened in Ballymoney
Phase 1 at 10A Riada Avenue has one doubles court and one singles court, with two more doubles courts planned for later in 2026.
The Ballymoney venue is at 10A Riada Avenue, BT51 7LY. Phase 1 gives players one doubles court and one singles court. Phase 2 is already planned for later in 2026, adding two more doubles courts.
Courts can be booked through the MatchPoint system – available online or via the iOS and Android app. Let’s Go Padel also runs Social Saturdays from 12pm to 2pm, which are open sessions designed for beginners and casual players who want to turn up without a fixed group. If you’re new to padel, that’s probably the easiest way in. You’ll find partners and get a feel for the game without committing to a full booking. This kind of structured open play is something most operators don’t advertise clearly – it’s worth knowing about. Read our guide to finding people to play with if you want more options.
Coaching is available at Ballymoney: individual sessions at £50, group sessions at £35 per person, and focused clinics at £25 per person.
An eight-venue network – and still expanding
Seven sites opened in quick succession, with an eighth following almost immediately. Here’s the full confirmed network as of mid-March 2026:
- Carryduff – Knockbracken Reservoir, 1 Mealough Road, BT8 8GB
- Ballyclare – The Green, 51 Green Road, BT39 9PH
- Crumlin Road Belfast – 3 Hillview Retail Park, BT14 6AA
- Newry – Unit 4 Greenbank Industrial Estate, BT34 2QU
- Omagh – 28 Gortrush Industrial Estate, BT78 5EJ
- Derry/Londonderry – Springtown Industrial Estate, 6 Springtown Drive, BT48 0LY
- Ballymoney – 10A Riada Avenue, BT51 7LY (opened 7 March 2026)
- Lurgan – 107 William Street, BT66 6JD (opened ~14 March 2026)
The Derry venue deserves a mention on its own terms. It opened in December 2025 with a £2m investment and ten courts – making it Ireland’s largest indoor padel venue. The scale of that project shows how seriously Let’s Go Padel is taking this rollout. This isn’t a single-court side project.
Several venues, including Ballymoney, are in converted industrial units. That’s the most common infrastructure model for padel in the UK right now – cheaper to build than purpose-built facilities, practical for the court footprint, and quicker to open. If you’re curious about the economics of how these venues get built, our piece on how UK padel courts are built covers the basics.
Why Ballymoney matters for north coast players
The point of a regional network is geographical coverage. Before Ballymoney opened, the nearest Let’s Go Padel venues for north coast residents were Ballyclare (south of Antrim town, roughly 45 minutes away) or Crumlin Road Belfast (similar distance in a different direction). Derry was an option for the west, but the journey wasn’t casual.
Ballymoney changes that. It puts a court within reach of a stretch of coastline that runs from Portrush to Ballycastle – an area that has no shortage of active, outdoorsy people who’d take to padel quickly. Being first in a region matters for a sport that grows primarily through word of mouth and social circles. Once a group of friends starts playing together locally, they tend to keep playing.
This is the same dynamic we’ve written about in padel outside London – the sport’s growth increasingly happens in places where it simply wasn’t accessible before.
Padel spreading across Northern Ireland
The pipeline beyond the current eight venues is substantial. Planning has been submitted for a venue on Holywood Road in east Belfast (8 courts), and for a site near the Castledawson Roundabout in Magherafelt (5 courts). Armagh is listed as coming soon. There are also plans to extend into the Republic of Ireland – Sligo and Ballyshannon are named as future locations.
Perhaps most striking: Let’s Go Padel has plans for Northern Ireland’s first professional padel arena at the Carryduff site, with seating for around 300 spectators. It’s an ambitious vision, but the investment to date makes it credible rather than speculative.
Compare the trajectory here to what’s happening in Glasgow – another city building a padel network at speed, with a series of major venues opening through 2026. The Glasgow padel story follows a similar pattern: concentrated investment, rapid rollout, geographic spread. Northern Ireland may be moving faster.
Other places to play padel in Northern Ireland
Several operators are running courts across NI: Padel 54 near Lisburn, Belfast Boat Club, Eddie Irvine Sports Bangor, Galgorm Castle Ballymena, and Padel Society Muckamore.
Let’s Go Padel isn’t the only option. The NI padel scene has several other operators worth knowing about:
- Padel 54 – based in the Lisburn/Maghaberry area, with seven or more indoor courts. One of the longer-established NI padel venues.
- Belfast Boat Club – three courts in the city.
- Eddie Irvine Sports Bangor – two indoor courts on the north Down coast.
- Galgorm Castle, Ballymena – two courts at the hotel and spa complex. Ballymena is also the closest established venue to the Ballymoney area, so worth knowing if you’re on the north coast and Let’s Go Padel is fully booked.
- Padel Society, Muckamore – four courts near Antrim town.
- Killyhevlin, Fermanagh – hotel-based courts in Enniskillen for players in the west.
The padel map in Northern Ireland is getting denser quickly. That’s a good thing for players – more venues means more sessions, more competition for bookings, and eventually better pricing.
What to expect if you book a court
Padel courts in converted industrial venues can feel no-frills compared to a hotel spa or a premium city club – but that’s rarely a complaint. Good lighting, a solid court surface, and reliable booking are what matter, and Let’s Go Padel’s venues generally deliver on those basics. Their industrial estate locations also tend to have easier parking than city-centre sites.
Booking via MatchPoint is straightforward. The app is available on both platforms and lets you manage bookings, find open sessions, and track your history. Social Saturdays (12–2pm) are worth bookmarking if you’re starting out and don’t yet have a regular group.
For context on how padel compares to other racket sports – and whether it’s worth trying if you’ve never played – our padel vs tennis guide covers the main differences without overstating them.
The sport’s growth in football club settings and now regional network buildouts like Let’s Go Padel shows the same thing from different directions: padel is no longer a London and home counties story. It’s spreading, and it’s spreading fast. The north coast of Northern Ireland just became part of that.
Frequently asked questions
Where exactly is Let’s Go Padel Ballymoney?
10A Riada Avenue, Ballymoney, BT51 7LY. It’s on an industrial estate on the southern edge of town, with parking on site.
How do I book a court at Let’s Go Padel?
Through the MatchPoint app (iOS and Android) or via the Let’s Go Padel website. Social Saturdays (12–2pm) are open sessions that don’t require a fixed group – turn up and play.
Is Let’s Go Padel for beginners?
Yes. The Social Saturdays format is designed for exactly that – you don’t need your own group or prior experience. Coaching is also available, with group sessions at £35 per person and focused clinics at £25 per person.
Are there other padel courts near the north coast of Northern Ireland?
Galgorm Castle in Ballymena is the closest alternative (two courts). Eddie Irvine Sports in Bangor covers the north Down coast. Padel Society in Muckamore (near Antrim) is another option further south.