Aqua Park (Didim Aqua Park (Turkey))

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	Didim Aqua Park (Turkey)
Date:	19/09/06 (3542 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of activities

Disadvantages: not for the faint hearted

On a recent visit to Didim, a resort close to Bodrum in Turkey, eldest son, who had been there for a couple of months, insisted that we HAD to go to the water park.

Not being a great fan, I agreed reluctantly, imagining all kinds of horrors...huge queues to get on any of the slides, cramped areas, and dirty pools.

However, who am I to refuse? himself, being a fan of them wanted to go along as well, so the two of them eventually dragged me away from the pool, and off we went.

Getting there...

This was really simple, in that there is a courtesy coach which takes you from the centre of the town, passes Apollo and after 15 minutes, deposits you at the park.

One thing to remember, though, whilst they are keen to get you to the park, at the end of the day, the coaches are VERY infrequent and have to be paid for, if you can actually find one.

Cost...

To get in costs 30 Turkish lira, which translated at today's exchange rate is about £12.

It's quite good because when you pay your entrance you are given a credit card type card, onto which you put money to spend during your time in the park. This is handy as it means you don't have to carry cash around with you, but can add to your spending money at any time. No worries at the end of the day, any money left on your card will be reimbursed.

The Park...

When I first saw it, being an excitable type, I was actaully pleasantly surprised. Ok, so it's tacky, but tacky in the kind of way which makes me giggle!

The whole place looks like some kind of Moorish town. there is a large wall round the whole park complete with turrets, look out points, and citadel roofs. Even the slides are integrated into this theme which gives the place a kind of Disneyland feel.

When you get into the park you are encouraged to put your belongings into the lockers, provided at a nominal cost. great idea so you just have to carry your little card (for snacks), book and sun cream.

The park is huge, complete with 3 swimming pools, a rafting area, trampolines, dolphin park, table tennis, bars, restaurants, and a rather nifty children's area. One of the swimming pools appeared to just have people bobbing about on rubber rings, so this quickly became my firm favourite (no exertion required).

There are a selection of slides, the blanket slide being the most terrifying, and the one I was tricked onto. That said, there is plenty for everyone. Some of the favourite slides for the three of us were the ones next to each other, where you can race each other (the heaviest always winning!) but the Devil's Cauldron was a hit as long as you don't mind looking ridiculous when you fall out of the bottom.

I didn't actually count how many slides there are but we were there for the whole day and there must be alot because at no point did we have to queue although I know there were alot of people there.

One of the best things is the bubble party when they set loose lots and lots of bubbles from a large machine. Everyone rushes to get into this and if you can bear the fact that you can't see anything for about 5 minutes, it's great fun. straight after this, there is sudden loud dance music and there follows a dance party in the water fountains which suddenyl spray from a circular area. There is a real party atmoshere and everyone dances amongst the spray! Strange but true.

What I thought...

For someone not keen to go to the water park, i had a great day. the park is clean and well set out with plenty of places to get drinks and food, and ebnough activities to keep everyone happy. Whilst they had a captive audience, the drinks weren't over priced, nor was the food.

I like the idea of the lockers and the water proof card with money on, so there is no chance of losing things, or having things taken.

If you're ever near here, give this place a go, but go for the whole day!!

Thans for reading.

Daniela xx

Summary: A well set out water park