thetravellingwilbennetts

Last year during our Italian Adventure we visited Caneva World and had a brilliant day so the little ones were keen for water-park fun this holiday.  I did a bit of research beforehand and in the area we were staying in near Carvoeiro there were 3 options within an hour drive.  Checking the websites we were drawn to Aqualand Algarve due to their offer of 50% discount offer available by booking online.

Booking is easy and the website can be converted into Portuguese and English.  You don’t have to choose a specific day which is a bonus particularly when you have other families to consider.  We were able to take advantage of the offer and decide when to go when we were in resort.

You can also pay on the day and there are also options including daily transportation from a number of different popular resorts and also on request from others which is great for those without their own hire-car.

The park is about 15 minutes drive from our villa and so we made up a packed lunch and arrived in good time to make the most of the day.

There is plenty of parking at the waterpark – although a lot of it is exposed to the elements so on a hot day I would definitely recommend either finding the shade or using  a windscreen shades if available.  (We didn’t and the steering wheel was lava hot when we returned).

We arrived at the park and the children were so excited.  Raring to get going.  The girls heading straight to the park mascot for the obligatory photo shoot, the boys far too cool to indulge in those antics.

There are lots of sun loungers and shades dotted around the park, you do need to pay for these though (only an additional few euros so didn’t break the bank).  We were able to set up camp, have a place everyone could meet and if needed grab a bit of shade.

Then it was time to go exploring.  The boys headed off to the faster slides and the girls queued up for the Rapids, one of the slides you use the rings for.  We all enjoyed it laughing hysterically – especially seeing my friend thrown out, twice.  Then it was time for the flying carpets and Ella loved this making us go up and down a few times before she was set to go on anything else.

The boys came to find us and had sampled all but a couple so gave us their opinion as to whether the girls would be OK.  We set off as a team to the Kamikaze ride and this was great, fast and certainly got the adrenaline pumping.  I put on my daring pants and tried the crazy leap but this was just a bit too much for my little lady.  She made it to the top but the drop was too much and she got a little teary.

In order to get the heart rates down a bit we headed to the wave pool and splashed around a bit before heading to our shaded camp and enjoying our little picnic.

We were all really impressed at this point by the park and the value it offered.  There are, of course, extras you can purchase – such as a fast pass  – but we didn’t feel this was a necessity.  However, if the rides with the rubber rings are your thing then it is probably worthwhile.  We only went on these rides once each so whilst the queues were a little longer that the rest of the, it didn’t bother us and there were plenty of other rides without long waiting times.

The park was also spotlessly clean including the toilets which have often been an area I like to avoid at all costs.  There was also a few different options to choose to eat, but as we had packed our own I cannot comment on the standard of the food – but it looked decent enough and the costs again didn’t seem extortionate.

After lunch we headed back into the park and the lazy river first.  Personally I enjoyed relaxing but the girls were not so impressed even commenting “the most boring ride ever”.  There is a great kids area which is suited to smaller children and also a large pool if you just fancy a swim.  We tried out a few more rides and the Crazy Race being a firm favourite.  Ella and I went on the Hydro (which took a bit of convincing) but she still preferred Crazy Race.

Before we knew it we realised that we had had almost 6 hours at the park.  We decided to call it a day and packed up.  We didn’t leave without an ice cream though and there was a good choice of flavours available for all tastes.  What we tried were delicious, deserved and pretty good value.

Summary

Overall we had a brilliant day and at under €15 euros per person we felt this was great value.  I am not sure if we would have felt the same paying full price but would definitely recommend if you can take advantage of the offers available.

There is enough choice for all ages and levels of adrenaline that need feeding.