Pistas Blandas

Aqualandia

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Water Park:Aqualandia (since 1985)
Address:Sierra Helada
03503 Benidorm
https://www.aqualandia.net/en/
Operated by:Aqualandia-Mundomar

Aqualandia is one of the largest water parks in Spain. The park high above Benidorm opened its gates in 1985. As the first park of its kind in the country, Aqualandia has acted as a reference for all Spanish water parks ever since. The water park features a high number of top notch water slides.

 
 
 

Highlights of the Water Park

 



Aqualandia

 

Big Bang

The Kamikaze conglomerate

 


Aqualandia

 

Cyclon

A very large funnel slide

 


Aqualandia

 

Zig-Zag

A large selection of family body slides

 


Aqualandia

Aqualandia (2020)

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Preface

I have been on vacation on the Spanish Costa Blanca for ages. I spent many vacations in my childhood in Torrevieja, after all my family had a small vacation apartment there. Almost always we drove 2400km down there by car and of course our car didn’t have air conditioning. These were exciting road trips including Uriah Heep and CCR, which became quite lively in the Pyrenees. Thereupon we had two weeks of vacation before the game repeated itself. It was a great time, but I didn’t visit many parks during my childhood spent in Spain.

Meanwhile I usually spend my vacations somewhere else. My family has exchanged the vacation apartment in Torrevieja for a nice house near Dénia and I have only been there once for Christmas. Actually I had planned to spend my vacations in Canada this year, but then came Corona. I hadn’t booked anything yet – it was supposed to be a road trip anyway. The stock markets collapsed and all countries were closed down temporarily. After a few months of lock-down some states opened their doors again and just in time for the summer vacations we were able to travel comfortably in Europe. Spontaneously, I joined my father, who, following the old tradition, drove to Spain by car with a colleague – only that I first flew to Madrid and later on I would join them by train.

So the vacation was spontaneous and the cost was quite human. Thanks to the vacation house we stayed mostly among ourselves. Moreover, we did not have to worry about Covid-19; because the Spanish is exemplary in this respect: everywhere, people wear masks and keep their distance from each other. Beaches are empty, cities are deserted and even the amusement and water parks are moderately visited at most. An unparalleled disaster, which even led the Mundomar-Aqualandia Group to decide not to open its Terra Mítica theme park in the first place.

However, Mundomar and the neighboring Aqualandia started into the season.

Aqualandia

Just like the Parque Warner theme park, the Aqualandia water park followed a strict hygiene concept. To be honest, I do not know to what extent it makes sense to disinfect swimming tires, which are in constant contact with chlorine anyway. It is also strange to disinfect your hands before each slide under observation of the staff, when the stuff is already washed down completely a few seconds later anyway. Well, at least here in the waterpark your hands don’t necessarily dry out – so it doesn’t bother me that much.

Since the water park was hardly visited even on weekends, there were no significant waiting times with few exceptions. Due to capacity constraints, the longest waiting times were due to the grouped admission at the multi-lane slide Pistas Blandas. The two tire slides Black Hole and Rápidos, which are located close to the entrance, were also relatively well attended. On the big Tornado slide Cyclon, on the other hand, the hurdle was mostly due to the fact that you were only allowed to slide in groups of four.

In addition to the classic body slides Zig-Zag, the water park convinces above all with its Splash and Big Bang slide towers. The mat slides, like all kamikaze slides, are incredibly fun, but also demand a lot from you. But if you like it even a bit more extreme, you can throw yourself to the ground in VertiGo 28 or 33m with the best view of the city of Benidorm.

Pictures Aqualandia

 

What is your opinion about the Aqualandia water park in Benidorm? Just write it here below the report in the comment field or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Aqualandia

Sliding & Splashing in the Morning

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Preface

When I planned my Something with Portugal tour I knew from the start that it would not be dominated by theme parks or even roller coasters. A little bit of culture and the one or other water park was allowed. As so often in Portugal, the number of such destinations is manageable, but a look at Parkscout helped to find out at least the names of these parks. A little research later the water park Slide & Splash near Lagoa turned out to be especially interesting to start the day there.

Slide & Splash

Banzai

Shortly after the opening I went into the park, changed my clothes and together with some English people I searched for an already opened waterslide. Whilst the other slides were being prepared, I grabbed a mat and climbed up the rather impressive hill for the first time, only to slide down the rather steep section of the Banzai slide on my belly and then hop over the water surface of the landing pool.

Rio Rapido

Right next to the mat slide Banzai is the relatively inconspicuous tube slide Rio Rapido. On this slide you race down the mountain in a straight line. But Rio Rapido wouldn’t be Rio Rapido if the slide wouldn’t have a hill on which – thanks to the pronounced airtime – you are almost thrown out of your tube. Shortly afterwards and after a small jump you reach the landing pool of the slide.

Escorregas Grandes

The Escorregas Grandes start from the highest point of the Slide & Splash water park, seven slides, each with creative names, all of which are characterised by a multitude of curves and jumps. Unfortunately, these body slides are all a bit older, so you can unfortunately feel the joints a bit. Furthermore, the speed of the slides is not high enough to take off during the jumps. Nevertheless, the Escorregas Grandes offer an extremely solid sliding pleasure for the whole family.

Rio Turbulento

The Rio Turbulento is another tube slide that starts at a similar altitude. The beginning of the slide is a credit to its name. Unfortunately, before the final and quite steep shot, there is no speed at all, so that one struggles a little through the channel.

Kamikaze and Tornado

The starting point for the kamikaze slide and the Tornado funnel slide are located on an annex. While Kamikaze precisely reflects what is to be expected, the Tornado turns out to be a rather boring slide. The speed is just enough to make one lap in the funnel and let yourself drift in the direction of the exit by the water jets.

Black Hole

At the back of the mountain, next to the show arena, where a parrot, reptile and bird of prey show takes place, there are also the black hole slides, which I could not test. Two persons are required to ride in the mandatory double rings. Too bad that nobody ever gets around this part of the Slide & Splash water park. In addition, the park was generally very empty.

Pistas Brandas

Next to a spacious restaurant, you will find the small and large wide slide Pistas Brandas. As I have already ridden a similar ride in the Danish Djurs Sommerland, I was very curious to see how quickly one loses one’s footing here and was surprised to find the wettest slide in the park due to the spray coming up during the slide.

Saltos

Nearby are the small Saltos slides, which you should not underestimate. The speed here is relatively high, the jumps accordingly pronounced and at the end the fall into the cool water is waiting. With the right technique, a rollover is possible at least on the left slide, which initiates the fall during a turn.

Pictures Slide & Splash

Conclusion Slide & Splash

Slide & Splash is a really good water park, which is not only nicely designed, but also has a lot of good slides. Due to the emptiness of the park I could slide everything interesting several times, so that the slightly higher entrance fee was definitely worth it. On the way to the next destination of the day, the zoo and amusement park Zoomarine, I also passed Aqualand Algarve, but I skipped this one because of budget and time reasons.

 

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Slide & Splash