Among other attractions, Dubai has two absolutely amazing open-air water parks: Wild Wadi and Aquaventure. Both are located near the Persian Gulf coast.
My wife and I weighed all the pros and cons for a long time before choosing one of the two, but in the end, we opted for Aquaventure.
Why? Firstly, we wanted a real beach to swim in the waters of the Persian Gulf. Wild Wadi couldn’t offer that. Secondly, Aquaventure is newer, so we hoped it would be more reliable and modern. Thirdly, the location of the water park is a separate attraction in Dubai. It is an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree, built on a man-made sandbar in the Gulf. It is called Palm Jumeirah. At its tip, the furthest point of the palm and the most prominent feature in the Persian Gulf, stands one of Dubai’s landmarks, the luxurious Atlantis hotel. The water park is located right next to it. Overall, the reviews of Aquaventure were better. We even drove up to both water parks to get a personal impression, at least from the outside. And again, Aquaventure impressed us more.
The decision was made: we bought tickets (we knew from reviews that it was better to go on weekdays, which in the Emirates are from Sunday to Thursday, as it is very crowded on weekends), grabbed some hotel towels (as you had to pay 30 dirhams for them at the water park) and set off. From the Bur Dubai area, where our hotel was located, the journey took quite a long time, as there is no direct route. It makes sense to take a taxi to the terminal in front of Palm Jumeirah (although you can go to the water park itself, but the other option is more interesting).
The route there is via a monorail that crosses the entire Palm. This is the view of Atlantis.
We arrived at 10 a.m., just before opening time. We had no problem choosing lockers (rental cost 40 dirhams). They are small, so take clothes that you don’t mind getting wet.
We paid for food right away (45 dirhams per person, one meal at any time during the day), which turned out to be disappointing (bland and not very tasty fast food), but you can’t bring your own food, and you’ll definitely want to eat during the day.
View of the water park from the monorail platform.
We took a photo of the price list. The price for an adult was 250 dirhams, for a child 205, and for children under 2 years old it was free, but I suspect that they would not let them on most of the slides. Although there is a special children’s corner.
The water park operates on the ‘Lazy River’ concept. This is when a river with a decent current flows through most of the territory, along which inflatable rings or doughnuts are launched. As a result, you can climb into such a ring and just float along with the current, watching the life of the water park. It took us about 50 minutes to complete a full circle, and that’s not even the whole water park.
The water park can be divided into two zones connected by two pyramid towers full of slides and water attractions, known as ‘ziggurats’. The lazy river mainly flows around the pyramid closest to the entrance: Neptune’s ziggurat. This is where the water park began, and the second ziggurat was built later. This pyramid has the most popular slides in the water park. Everyone who comes here should definitely try the slide that runs through a special transparent chute laid directly in the pool, where various fish, stingrays and sharks swim. This slide was originally the main attraction of Aquaventure, and there is nothing like it at Wild Wadi. The slide is not scary or fast at all and is even recommended for children.
If you climb to the top of Neptune’s ziggurat, thrill seekers will find a rather extreme slide: the Leap of Faith. You fold your arms across your chest and jump down from the mouth of a stylised head, where you fly at a fairly steep angle and at a decent speed into the same pool with sharks, although in a separate channel. You won’t have time to see much, as you rush through this channel quickly and are thrown into a small pool. It’s an interesting attraction, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the impressionable. It’s quite an adrenaline rush.
There are other slides in Neptune’s Ziggurat, and apart from the ‘Leap of Destiny’, they are all simple and fun, suitable for children and the impressionable.
Here is the Persian Gulf beach, located on the inside of the ‘palm leaf’, offering an excellent view of Dubai.
It’s a good thing we arrived in the morning, because after a while people started arriving and there were queues for every slide, and every sun lounger on the beach was taken. But we managed to swim in the salt water and try all the slides.
This is what the road between the ziggurats looks like. Free electric cars also run along it.
And here is the second tower: Poseidon’s ziggurat. There are fewer slides here, but they are perhaps more active. This is also where the most extreme attraction in the entire water park is located: Poseidon’s Revenge. People also call it ‘Kamikaze’. Not everyone dares to try this ‘pleasure’ for themselves, and not everyone should. I really recommend thinking twice before deciding to take this leap, because there is nothing here but pure extreme. The idea is as follows: you climb to the very top of the ziggurat, where there are two transparent coffins installed almost vertically. Next to each coffin stands a person who briefly explains what to do. You get into one of the coffins, fold your arms across your chest and do not change their position until the end of the attraction. The door behind you closes and a countdown from 3 to 1 begins, after which the floor beneath you collapses and you fall 30 metres at a speed of 60 km/h into a dark abyss in the bowels of the pyramid. Next, you are carried into a pipe-shaped chute, which begins to spin and twist (for example, you do a ‘dead loop’ with your legs forward) and eventually spits you out somewhere below. You will swallow a lot of water, and your swimming trunks will bunch up uncomfortably at the top, where the elastic is.
The adrenaline rush after this will last for a long time.
There is a queue for this creepy slide right on the stairs, and as you climb up, you have to periodically let people with frightened faces pass you, including some brutal-looking tattooed men.
Even just watching people climb into a glass coffin and then fall somewhere with a scream (it’s hard to hold back, it happens so unexpectedly) terrifies many people 🙂
But there are also slides for the little ones at the water park, such as this children’s corner.
In general, I am not a big fan or connoisseur of water parks, but Aquaventure is the best one I have been to. Of course, I recommend spending a day there if you’re in Dubai. At the same time, it’s a great opportunity to drive through Palm Jumeirah, see the fabulous Atlantis hotel up close, and swim in the Persian Gulf away from the coast of the metropolis.
Before leaving, we climbed Neptune’s Ziggurat once again and were greeted by this sunset over the bay.
