 Back in April, my jaw dropped when I got my first glimpse of the Adrenaline Zone. It was a building site at the time, but you could still see the outline looming over the Robin Hill car park. I was particularly excited as the Isle of Wight was lacking in a high ropes course. I believe there’s one at PGL’s Little Canada but that is mostly used by school parties and you can’t wander up to try it out. I had also spent a few summers running tides that previously lived on the Adrenaline Zone site, so this was the equivalent of finding that someone had replaced your childhood cottage with a swanky town house. We finally got round to trying out the Adrenaline Zone last week – or at least enough of it to get the general idea. Your options at the Adrenaline ZoneThe first thing to make clear is that the Adrenaline Zone is a separate attraction to Robin Hill. It sits next to the park and there's a path linking the two but it isn’t included in the standard ticket price. You also don't need to pay to visit Robin Hill to get to the Adrenaline Zone so it's not really an add-on. Some keyboard warriors complained about this on social media, but these are the sort of people that would ask for a tenner if you were handing out fivers in the street. In reality, it couldn’t be included in the standard admission price of about £15 - £23. Center Parcs charges about £45 for its high ropes whilst Go Ape is about £37 - £40 when I checked. Expecting something similar to be included in Robin Hill admission is pie in the sky. Robin Hill season ticket holders currently get a 10% discount at the Adrenaline Zone. The second thing to explain is that there are four (or five) attractions in the Adrenaline Zone. You can buy a bundle for about £35 including everything if you want to fill several hours or just pick and choose what you want. The main event in my eyes is Ozone, which is a high ropes course that takes about an hour and costs about £20. This is the section we completed and is what I’ll waffle on about in a minute.  Ozone has three layers - one for children under 135cm and two for brave boys like me A separate set of steps lead to Zoom, which is a circular zip wire that will cost you about £7.  Zoom is the circular thing in the top right hand corner of this photo Your third option is a series of ‘Clip n Climb’ climbing walls, for about £15.  The climbing walls at the Adrenaline Zone cost about £15  Finally, there is Magma, which are three giant pillows that you can jump onto from a great height for £10. For that price, you get five jumps and can choose from three different platform heights.  Magma didn't appeal to me, but I might be feeling braver next time Our trip to the Adrenaline ZoneMrs Guru and I have established roles at this sort of thing. My role is to ‘supervise’ the children by enthusiastically joining in. I like to think that I am encouraging them to have an adventurous spirit. Mrs Guru knows that I am really refusing to grow up myself but she has the grace not to say this out loud. Mrs Guru’s role is to ‘watch the bags’ even when the bags don’t really need watching. I agree not to point this out. We decided to keep it simple on our first visit. Child one and I would do the high ropes (Ozone), whilst child two would do the junior ropes. The key height to check is 135cm as this determines which course you need to do. We opted out of Magma (due to cowardice on my part) and Clip n’ Climb (due to time limitations). Unfortunately, Zoom was out of action when we visited because of a technical issue. We had planned to do that, so we’ll need to return to give it a go. In hindsight, I probably should have given Magma a go for the purposes of research. Child one wasn't keen on it either though, so I felt able to opt out. We've done a very similar Clip n' Climb on the mainland and can thoroughly recommend that option. Harnessed UpWe presented our QR codes and were assisted into our harnesses by the staff before being sent over and clipped onto Ozone. The junior course is very tame and sits about one metre off the ground. Child two was happy doing this but is getting quite close to 135cm and will be keen to try the higher ropes when she can. The main course is over two levels, with a staircase linking the two. There isn’t a set route and it’s possible to skip any sections that you don’t like the look of. It’s also been designed so that other people can easily overtake you, rather than you feeling like a 10 year old is glaring at you because you’re hesitating to follow a tightrope across a significant drop. I (bravely) worked my way round everything on the course including wobbly boulders, two climbing walls, twisty netting, stepping stones, a see saw, walk-the-plank and so on.  The juddery seesaw can be found on the upper level at the Adrenaline Zone  These see-saw stepping stones offered a squeaky bum moment  The course uses a good mix of ropes and other things to clamber across The hairiest moment was when I briefly lost my footing on the high ropes climbing wall and dangled by my arms. Of course, I was attached by a harness and so the actual risk of death was minimal but it still gave me a good wobble.  This climbing wall gave me the heebie-jeebies Shortly after this, I told child one that I would be spending a little more time on the lower level. She asked why, to which I bellowed across the attraction that I was “feeling a bit scared”, since I couldn’t think of any other reason. A child who was about 30 years younger than me offered a sympathetic look.
As mentioned earlier, we couldn’t try the Zoom part of the Adrenaline Zone. These things often end with a zip wire or something similar but we’ll need to come back for that one. We thoroughly enjoyed our hour at The Adrenaline Zone, so that won't be a big burden.
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It was about ten years ago that I impressed my mother by showing her an Isle of Wight beach she hadn't ever visited. It was Gurnard's hidden beach, which she began calling Robert's Beach, in the same way that explorers have cities and countries named after them. I've never been sure of the official name but I've also heard it called Gurnard Cove and John's Beach. The previous main access point involved walking round the back of Gurnard's sailing club and in front of some seafront houses. I liked to point at these and tell everyone which one I would like to buy. There are now some rather wonderful new steps that lead through woodland to get there. They aren't necessarily easier than the old route but I love a wooden walkway to a beach, so this is a great thrill. You can access it here on Shore Road, where there is a little bit of free on-street parking.  This grand wooden walkway now leads to Gurnard's 'hidden' beach  A closer look at the steps, for the benefit of any joiners and wood enthusiasts When you get to the beach, you'll find that it is pretty rustic. There are great big boulders at low tide, as well as shingle and the occasional bit of rough sand. It's not the most idyllic beach but it gets great sunsets and it's nice for a bit of peace and quiet.  Gurnard's hidden beach, which isn't particularly hidden anymore  One of many curiosities about the Isle of Wight is that it still has a hovercraft providing a back-and-forth service. There are still hovercrafts used privately and by the military but Hovertravel has been able to say for a long time that it's the world's only commercial service. That means it gets a mention in our guide to 10 things you can only do on the Isle of Wight. We learnt from the pilot that an island in Japan has recently started a hovercraft service, so we may need to tweak the wording slightly to say that it's unique to Europe. Hovertravel - which runs the hovercraft - invited us along to one of their 'Experience Flights'. They take place on dates throughout the summer and cost about £60, with cheaper prices for children and occasional special offers. Tummy TroublesI am afflicted with a condition that is known by experts as having 'a bit of a wobbly tummy'. This frustrates me greatly, as my mind is desperate to ride rollercoasters etc, but my body rewards me with motion sickness. I discovered this condition whilst on a stag do at Europa Park. The day began with a ride on a rollercoaster that claimed to be the fastest in Europe and ended with me sitting under a tree for eight hours. Occasionally, I convince myself that I might have outgrown this, and soon regret it when it turns out I haven't. With this in mind, I was hesitant to sign up for something that involves a hovercraft driving sideways and doing donuts. However, my father in law's eyes lit up with excitement when I mentioned it to him and I figured it might not be too bumpy. I took preventative measures (i.e. I took a motion sickness pill) and turned up for the occasion. Luckily, the Solent was very calm on the day we had booked, so I also thanked the Blackgang Chine Weather Wizard for his help. Starting From RydeIf you're joining the hovercraft experience from Ryde then you end up getting a bit more for your money. You first get taken on a normal hovercraft journey to Southsea to pick up other thrill seekers. At the end, you get taken back to Ryde on a normal hovercraft journey. Sandwiched in between is the 'Experience' flight, where our pilot performed some tricks at sea and gave us some detail about what he was doing. The highlight was the donuts in the Solent where we appeared to be moving sideways at one point. Onlookers on dry land must have concluded that a wild animal had made its way into the cockpit and was playing havoc with the controls. The motion sickness pills did the trick and I was able to enjoy it rather than desperately hoping it would end. The downside of the pills I used is that they make you feel dizzy and thirsty, but I concluded that this was preferable to sea sickness.  Back on dry landWe returned to Southsea to be given a tour of the outside of the hovercraft by the pilot. He talked us through the technology and pointed at things whilst we admired the motors and asked questions. The crew then carried out a raffle, having handed out tickets earlier in the experience. Without Mrs Guru with me, I had managed to lose my raffle ticket within 25 seconds of being given it. I was relieved when someone else won the goody bag of Hovertravel souvenirs rather than there being an awkward moment of the crew saying "well, someone must have the winning ticket....". One of the younger visitors then asked if he could see the cockpit, and was given permission to stick his head through the tiny loft-hatch. There then followed a small queue of middle-aged men who tentatively asked to see the controls and formed a queue began sticking their head through the hole. Our time ran out before my turn arrived, but I noted that they do a separate 'Behind The Scenes' tour, which presumably includes this addition.   Happy BirthdayOur visit was in the same week as the 60th anniversary of Hovertravel. Let's hope this little curiosity of the Isle of Wight has many more years of happy sailing - sorry - flying.
This Jimi Hendrix statue can be found at Dimbola in Freshwater Bay
We all know that the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was the biggest ever.
It also had a remarkable lineup including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. You can see an exhibition about it at Dimbola in Freshwater Bay - and a statue of Jimi Hendrix. But how many people were at the 1970 festival?
The number I've heard most often is the 600,000 figure, but there's a risk that everyone is quoting each other and that the original source got it wrong. Of course, there's no definitive number because lots of people watched it without paying - but which number is most likely to be accurate? 
Some estimates say that the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 attracted 12 times as many people as 2025 (pictured)
Creating a map of the Isle of WIght 1970 site
I wanted to come up with own estimate with the data available, so I started by mapping the 1970 site on Google Maps. I used a diagram of the site that I found in an Evening Standard newspaper article from 1970 and a selection of aerial photographs from Getty Images.
Here’s my rough map:
The majority of people watching were in the orange area, according to aerial photographs. The next thing we need to figure out is how dense the crowd was. The aerial photos show the arena with a vast crowd, but you can see some thinner areas at the edges. We don't know what time this image was taken though, so it might have got busier. So, how big a crowd typically fits into 11 hectares?
This BBC news article about a Lady Gaga concert demonstrates what five people in a square metre looks like. This makes for a pretty cosy crowd and is similar to my experiences of being towards the front of a modern-day festival.
With that density across the whole arena, you could theoretically fit in 517,000 people. If everyone was stood up and it was a real crush, then the numbers could be even higher. That would take us close to the 600,000 quoted earlier. However, the crowd at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 doesn’t look anywhere near as uncomfortable and condensed as that to me. In fact, most of the photos and videos from the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 show people sitting down whilst the acts are performing. You can see this during Joni Mitchell's set at about 1 minute 30 seconds and in this Free performance.
I’ve heard John Giddings talk about this quirk before. Back then, people tended to sit down at festivals during the music (at this point, I will point out that we’ve gone full circle and half of the people at modern day Isle of Wight festivals turn up with a camping chair).
People do appear to be standing up on this video, but it looks to me as if they stood up for a quick boogie and then sat back down. What's the capacity in the arena if everyone is sat down?
Let's assume that the arena is 100% full and that everyone is sitting down.
Most information I've found online suggests that in a dense crowd, each person would use up about 0.5 m2 if they sat down. In other words, two people use up a space that is 100cm x 100cm between them. More comfortable spacing would be more like 0.6 m2. It might be cosier at the front, but we also need to allow for people towards the back who are lounging around a bit and stretching their legs out. Take a look at this image, which appears to be inside the arena. People aren't crammed in with their knees up around their chins. The photo in this Guardian article gives a good image of how the crowd were packed towards the front. So, we don't know exactly how densely packed the crowd was, but I'd welcome memories on this of anyone who was there. If we take the figure of 0.5 - 06 m2 per person, then that works out as 183,000 to 220,000 people across an 11-hectare site. Of course, we don’t know for sure that people weren’t in the campsites during the performances, but it seems a fair guess that most of them were watching the artists. And what about people watching from outside the arena?
The layout of the 1970 site is such that you get a great view from Afton Down and it's certainly true that lots of people watched from there.
It's tricky to estimate numbers, but here's the information we've got.
If we take a density of one person for every two square metres (that’s just a guess, this is a hard one to estimate) then that would add another 70,000 people to the number of spectators. The BBC report mentioned earlier said 15,000, with people still arriving, so my best guess is that it would be between these two figures. As I said, this is hard to calculate. My conclusion and best guess
My conclusion is that there were somewhere around 200,000 – 300,000 people watching the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, from inside the arena and on the hillside.
This higher figure is based on:
I can't see where figures of 600,000 - 800,000 have come from, based on the information I've found. It’s possible that I’ve completely missed something here. Did the crowd overflow into camping areas during performances? Did a huge number turn up on Afton Down later? Did the number perhaps come from counting the crowds from Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then adding them together? Is there some data that we've excluded, such as ferry tickets? If you were there and want to add your thoughts, please leave us a (polite) comment. We recently stayed at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, thanks to an invitation from Away Resorts. The beach is one of our favourites so we jumped at the offer. We visit the beach quite regularly but the last time I'd actually stayed at the site was 19 years earlier on the day I bought my first car, so I was keen to see how it has changed.  Whitecliff Bay is a stunner of a beach Our Caravan At Whitecliff Bay Holiday ParkPerhaps I'm getting carried away, but I think we had one of the five best located caravans at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park. Ours was in a section known as Solent View, which you can see on this map. These five caravans and lodges have an uninterrupted view of the sea. They are also very close to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools, which saved us having to walk very far whilst wearing nothing but towels. When we arrived, we found that they offered a view of the park's big screen so we unpacked and then watched England's women win the Euros 2025. We considered this a good start to the holiday.  Our caravan was Solent View 3 Site layout at Whitecliff Bay Holiday ParkWhitecliff Bay Holiday Park is split into two by a public road. Child one and I took a wander on a warm evening to get a feel for different parts of the site. I think she was hoping I would take her into the amusement arcade whilst on the walk, but I (genuinely) forgot my wallet so she had to settle for a few minutes on the playground. The beach side of Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park has the main entertainment whilst the far side of the park has some nice views of the rolling hills of the East Wight and is a bit quieter. From memory (and according to some old road signs) this quieter section - known as The Crosswinds - used to have lots of camping and touring. It is now mostly static caravans and lodges with a small section reserved for no-frills camping in July and August. The Crosswinds is further from the beach than the part of the resort that we stayed on but it has some of the newest and most interesting accommodation, including the TriBeCa Village and Itchycoo Park. These lodges have trendy designs and hot tubs, whereas our caravan was the more conventional sort.  There are two halves to Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park - the far end is called Crosswinds  The view from Crosswinds is the hills of the East Wight  Newer properties, including TriBeCa are in The Crosswinds part of the resort  This playground can be found in the Crosswinds half of the resort  Shane Ritchie fans may remember him staying in Itchycoo Park at Whitecliff Bay for a Channel 5 series  This no-frills campsite operates during peak season at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park the beach and onsite entertainment at Whitecliff Bay Holiday ParkWe didn't quite get down to the beach on the first night, thanks to the penalty excitement but we made the most of it on our first morning. Whitecliff Bay was looking stunning as it was both a) sunny and b) low tide. We built a sandcastle and moat for the incoming tide and paddled up to our knees before heading back up the hill. Neither of the beach cafes at Whitecliff Bay are open at the time of writing, so we went to the Nab Bar for a cappuccino before walking a few metres back to our caravan for lunch in the sunshine. The afternoon plan was a swim in either the indoor pool or the outdoor pool. Of course, this turned into an argument between the children. It was one of those arguments where one of them kept changing their mind and was clearly arguing for the thrill of having an argument rather than because they actually had a strong opinion. Anyway, we headed off to the outdoor pool for a splash around. It has been re-lined since we last walked past it on the way to the beach a couple of years ago, and was looking pretty smart. The pool is heated but I would recommend it for a hot day, unless you are particularly well insulated. We then went to the indoor pool, which is smaller but is good fun and has a waterslide that sent me whooshing down at twice the speed I was expecting. I emerged from the water with a shocked look on my face, much to the amusement of Mrs Guru.  We used the outdoor pool four times during our week at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park  The main part of Whitecliff Bay has this more modern playground and the entertainment centre  The park has its own amusement arcade that hands out yellow tickets  We popped our heads into the entertainment, which runs nightly at the park  We had a couple of drinks at The Nab bar after a swimming session  The Culver is the entertainment venue at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park Days Out From Whitecliff BayYou could theoretically spend all of your time at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park and not actually leave the site. The beach is gorgeous and we had the choice of several activities including a custard pie fight, archery and axe throwing. There is also a busy schedule of entertainment, including bingo, kids' discos and films on the outdoor screen. During our week there was also a Robbie Williams tribute, a wrestling match and a magic show, amongst other things. I was secretly gutted to miss the wrestling match. We did bits and bobs on the site but we like to get out and about and made the most of our time in the East Wight (we are usually in the West Wight, so this was a novelty for us). I headed out on my mountain bike on a few early morning trips and found some truly glorious rides. I cycled up to Ventnor Down and Luccombe Down, along Shanklin and Sandown seafront, through woodland near Brading Down and did a beach tour around St Helens and Bembridge. We also had several family days out to:
 One of my early morning bike rides took me to St Helens Beach  Robin Hill provided one of our best days out of the week Many thanks to Away Resorts for inviting us to stay. As always with this site, the words are 100% our own.
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Isle of Wight Guru's BlogTales of Isle of Wight days out, attractions and ferry discounts from a Wightophile. This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it. Archives
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