Pervious pavements are efficient in the mitigation of urban heat island effects. Many studies have revealed the water availability of pervious paving materials dominates the evaporative cooling effect. However, the water retention capacity of these materials is affected by the water absorption capability, which has scarcely been investigated in relation to evaporation. Therefore, this study investigates the water absorption capability of pervious paving materials and its influence on evaporative cooling performance. We examine the water absorption capability of three similar-coloured materials, including sintered ceramic pervious brick (CB), pervious concrete brick (PB), and open-graded pervious concrete (PC), as well as their evaporative cooling performance under a steady-state hot-humid environment in a climatic wind tunnel. The results indicate that: (1) CB had the highest water absorption coefficient of 2.04 kg/m2·s0.5, which is approximately about 30 and 200 times higher than that of PB and PC, respectively; however, these materials had similar water retention capabilities, with a capillary moisture content of 110 ± 10 kg/m3, revealing that CB could hold more water in a very short time; and (2) CB and PB could effectively reduce the surface temperature by up to 20 °C and 12 °C with a cooling period of 16 h and 12 h, respectively. In comparison, PC demonstrated a weak cooling effect of 2 °C, which only lasted for 4 h. Overall, materials with a high water absorption capability can maintain hydraulic continuity balance for a long time, which is beneficial to enhancing evaporation and further lowering the surface temperature. •High water absorption of pervious materials helps to retain enough water in a shorter time.•Water absorption capacity of pervious pavement affects the first stage of evaporation.•Materials with higher water absorption rates were more effective at cooling.