Family visit to Aquadventure Waterpark, Atlantis the Palm
Aquadventure Waterpark at Atlantic, The Palm is set on 17 hectacres of land and is the World’s biggest waterpark with the most amount of slides in any park. It was so good we visited twice during our eight night stay in Dubai…and we still didn’t get to do everything. Aquadventure features vertical drops, dual water slides, a huge lazy river which takes you all around the park on single or double inflatables and the raging rapids.
Just like most landmarks in Dubai, Aquadventure was on steroids. The thing that stood out to me first was how clean and safe everything was – not a floating verucca plaster in sight!
The park as a whole is divided into six separate sections:
- Neptune Tower
Neptune Tower houses Shark Attack, Leap of Faith and Water Coasters within it. There are dual rides, as well as solos, but the height limit is 1.2m so we did have to divide and conquer here as Arlo was a little too short. - Poseidon Tower
Poseidon Tower houses Aquaconda, Poseidons Revenge, Slitherine and Zoomerango. The one thing you’ll find from the top, as you wait, are amazing views of the Palm and prime viewing of the latest hotel on the block, The Palm Royal. - Splashers Lagoon and Cove
Splashers Island and Mountain is a child family area only, complete with free loungers for use and a clear view of the waterslides within the area. The kids felt really grown up as we let them go in this area alone, as long as they stayed together, whilst we enjoyed some un-umbrella’d sunshine and a minutes peace. - Trident Tower
Trident Tower is the fast and thrill seeking riders paradise. Home to; Hydra Racers, Medusa’s Lair, Thrill Seeker, Shock wave and Vortex. I would have loved to go on more of these rides but the height limit didn’t allow Arlo to go on any of them and Sofia didn’t want to go on any alone – so we were a bit halted on these. - Atlas Village
Atlas Village is home to the sea life experiences – here you can swim and play with dolphins, sea lions and penguins. This is all at an additonal cost (though if yoou book an experience you do get the day at the park included). - Lost Chambers Aquarium
Lost Chambers Aquarium is priced seperately and is located within the mall. As aquarium’s go, it’s pretty impressive! - The beach!
Yes, there is even a beach at Aquadventure so if you fancy getting some sand between your toes whilst you admire the Dubai skyline, then this is worth a visit.
Our favourite rides at Aquadventure:
– Shark Attack – Sofia and I went on this one together in a double inflatable ring; it was brilliant. A quick dark slide that then slows right down as you bob through the clear perspex slide and cruise through the shark infested waters.
– Leap of Faith – this was a bit of a blink and you miss it ride. Stu went on this one as we watched from the bridge and I’m sure when he reached the end of the speedy ride he felt like he’d had a colonic the way he shot out of the bottom. No pun intended.
– All four of us went on Aquaconda and Zoomerango which were round inflatables, seating up to six people. You sit around the edges and cling on tight as you get rocketed down the flumes with a big rise up the wall and a speedy drop back down again.
– Wave rider – all I can say about Wave Rider is LOL. It is a lot harder than it looks! The queues for this ride were a little longer than most as the experience is a one on one. You hop on to the body board and an instructor guides you on what to do as the waves come flooding out in front of you. I managed about one minute before I decided to hold on to my dignity and hop off…before I got flung off. Stu went on and was as stiff as the board that he went on and Sofia stayed on longer than us both, styling out the on the knee surf and the face the wave style.
– Sofia and I went on the worlds fastest dual slide, Medusa’s Lair, it was like a water-coaster with just the right amount of twists and turns.
– Raging rapids, we loved this we went around the 1.6km course three times on one day. You get given heavy duty life vests and off you bob, getting sent around by the currents.
Outside of the waterpark:
The way into the waterpark is through a mall (of course…we’re in Dubai, there’s one on every corner) and within this glitzy one is a number of eateries, shops and a pharmacy. Which, by the way was well needed as we had to request a plaster twice during our one trip, and they send over a First Aider with full gear ready to save a life, you feel slightly disappointed when you’ve only got a graze. So I decided to buy some plasters of my own to save the embarrassment of another first aider blue lighting it to us.
We ate at the Wavehouse as Sofia has seen it on YouTube and there was no way we were getting away with out a visit! Food was standard and good value, with a live band. But the real crux was the arcade upstairs which the kids went absoluteld wild for!
The Bread kitchen is Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant; there is both an a la carte restaurant and to the other side is an unlimited pizza restaurant. We opted for the pizza as y’know, kids. But we were pleasantly surprised! Pizza is served by the slice and is in constant supply as the waiter/esses deliver it every few minutes. We found it really reasonable 50AED for adults and 25AED for kids. We definitely got our moneys worth!
This was such a brilliant little find, at the entrance of the mall is . You choose what flavour icecream you would like and in what vessel (cone or cup), choose the topper/mixer which then gets all chopped up and mixed in. The server then gets pretty theatrical as they lob the scoop into the cup and then ask you to stand back whlst they litwrally launch the finished tub across the restaurant for you to (hopefully) catch. It was hilarious!
Top tips:
– There are pool shoes for sale at the various kiosks but the guest service boxes also give out free pool shoes which are massively needed on the scorching floors!
– Towels and lockers are chargeable, but if you don’t have many valuables with you then it is well worth investing in a phone pouch that you can keep a phone and card in.
– There are free shuttles to Aquadventure from many of the hotels along The Palm, but if you do hire a car (like we did) then there’s also free parking at Atlantis. From there you can walk to the waterpark in about ten minutes – or hop on to one of the free shuttle buses.
– There’s heaps of kiosks and restaurants dotted around the park. We had a chicken wrap and chips one day and the next time we went I opted for a chicken pad thai – which was absolutely delicious. I was seriously impressed with it, it was restaurant style quality! The kids had chicken strips and chips and to be honest they could have probably shared one as there were 5 big strippers per box.
– The days in Dubai are short, so the park closes at 6pm but the sun goes down about 5pm and (in February) it gets cold and dark quite quickly, so getting there at 10am is definitely advised.
