Water Fiesta (Aqualandia Benidorm (Spain))

Member Name: DocDan3

Product:	Aqualandia Benidorm (Spain)
Date:	19/07/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Fun, Lots To Do, Services

Disadvantages: Not Always Clean, Food & Locker Prices, Food Quality

Aqualandia is a rather large water park on the Costa Blanca on the outskirts of the famous tourist destination - Benidorm. It has a whole host of attractions as well as places to eat, shops and more. It's open from around May throughout the summer, ideal for a day out when on holiday. It costs around 25 euros for an adult to get in for a day and children 12 and under as well as seniors will be charged around 18 euros - the prices do change over time.

You can rent lockers of two sizes and get some of the money back when you return the key. The key is on an elastic wrist band and shouldn't fall off whilst in the park. Once you've dumped your stuff, put on some all-important sun cream and got changed, you can head to the attractions.

The Laguna section contains a selection of deep pools for jumps and the very fun zip wire. There are two jumps into the deep pools - one is about 3 metres high and the other is about 1 metre. It's higher than you think once you're up the stairs and it can be quite fun to jump and dive into the 3 metre deep water. There are also two slides into the water, which are simply small slides off the rock face into the deep water. Lastly, there is a zip wire where two zips will take couples over the 3 metre water before you must drop into it and swim to the edge. This is really fun and quite stressing when your zip wire stops half way so you have a high drop. The usual drop is around 2 metres as you are hanging but it can be quite scary letting go and going off the edge, knowing the only way down is into the pool! There is also a Jacuzzi with the same water the rest of the park has - it's not heated.

There is a kids area with seats with loads of colourful things to play with and water everywhere. There is also a large wave machine, which goes on at intervals and produces some good waves. You can buy rubber rings (you must give them back after) to use here or you can swim. With the deep end being 1.8m, it can get quite dangerous when the waves come on! There are also two kamikaze slides, which are very fast but not too steep. There are four zig zag slides, which are medium paced and wind round tight corners to the bottom. They are of a good length and worth going on as the queues are never too bad. There is a black hole ride, which you go down in boats. It's not scary unless you don't like the dark and it is over very quickly, so not worth it if there is a long queue over 5 minutes.

Perhaps my favourite has to be the Pistas Blandas. This is a wide blue slide with a wavy appearance as it descends. There are 5 lanes and you are supposed to keep your arms crossed but it becomes impossible as you go down, spinning around, flying off the bumps and with water spraying in your face - it's a whole lot of fun! It's great fun trying to get some air off the bumps.

The big bang is a collection of slides with one tower that leads up to them all. I hate the tower as the floor is always wet, the steps have holes between them and it just doesn't feel very safe - especially if you don't like heights. There is a yellow slide, which is the highest and a straight down drop - it feel like you are free-falling. There is then a blue slide, which is arguably worse. It's got a closed top to start and is not steep, but then you suddenly drop out into the open with an open roof and have the heart attack of your life. There is a green and orange slide, which are not so high and quite good fun - the green one is closed in but the orange one has an open top. To the right of the big bang is a wide white slide with lanes. You can use foam mats to go down on your front on this slide, which is really fun too as you come crashing into the water and surf across it. There is also an attraction with rings where you go down slides into a series of small pools before reaching the bottom. It's quite fun to see who can stay up the longest.

That's about all there is, but it's more than enough to do for a first visit especially. There are several places to eat with fast food as well as a few stalls that serve crepes, waffles, pancakes, ice creams and other snacks. There are toilets near the entrance, which aren't in the best condition - I hope the wet floors are from the pools and not something else! There is also a souvenir shop by the entrance along with some arcade games. You can get your picture taken with a pirate on the way in and camera people around the park will take photos in the day. You can go to the entrance to see if there are any photos of you and then decide whether or not to make a purchase. One photo costs 3 euros and you can buy multiple copies and it works out cheaper, but still expensive!

Overall, it's a great water park and perhaps one of the most enjoyable attractions around Benidorm, besides Terra Mitica. There is plenty to do and it's not just for those daredevils out there - there are plenty of less scary rides as well as seats everywhere, but you must pay for a sun bed. It makes a great day out and I would recommend going there if you are nearby. You can find discount vouchers all over in the summer, including in the beauty shop, Druni, McDonalds and shopping centres down the coast.

Thanks for reading,

Dan ©

Summary: A really fun day out on the Costa Blanca