Located in Lagoa, Algarve Slide and Splash brands itself like Portugal´s largest water park and one of the best in Europe. In our view despite being a very well-organized water park fails short to reach that goal.
But before getting judgmental let’s get the facts straight. Slide& Spash was inaugurated back in 1986 and has now 16.000 acres offering a broad range of water slides, adventure pools and recreational areas. The major attractions are Kamikaze, Black Hole, Bonzai and Tornado, a brand new water ride that opened in 2012 and uses single rubber rings as you spin down the ride to the pool at the bottom.
In 2014 the park opened a new kids area called Tropical Paradise. The site features water guns and several mine water slides including a large dinosaur, a whale and an octopus. But apart from the very good slides the park fails in everything else: there’s no wave beach or slow river.
In July 2016 the park opened Big Wave a major slide from Proslide manufacturers with several twists and turns and a big drop into a slide ramp.
With 25,000m2 of grassed relaxation area, there is plenty of room to take it easy and watch your children from the safety of your sun lounger. All areas of the park are well patrolled and there is a first-aid post on site in the unlikely event that you should need it. Food is standard fast food fare so bring a picnic to eat on the many grass areas if this isn’t for you. The on-site gift shop stocks plentiful supplies of any necessities you may have forgotten along with a selection of mementos for the little ones to take home with them.
On the down side the shows are poor and the entry tickets are overpriced (27€ adults). Also in the peak summer (August) the park is horribly busy with very long queues for all rides, tube rides are all very slow and there are no fixed shades so you have to hire small parasols. Waterproof sunscreen and a t-shirt is advisable or you get sunburnt. Also you pay for everything (lockers, sunbeds, tickets, even a 10€ for a photo with a parrot…) so at the end of the day an expensive park. But the major disappointment is the lack of a lazy river or a waves swimming pool.
Slide and Splash is a great day out with loads of rides, pools, chill out areas but a little pricey comparing to the more diversified offer of neighbor Zoomarine and Aquashow.
Updated 1/08/2016
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Big Wave, Kamikaze, Black Hole, Bonzai and Tornado
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