Atlantis Aquaventure Review: Best waterpark in the world
October 7, 2019
Atlantis Aquaventure is SO FUN. I am honestly not a huge fan of waterparks because I find them generally lame (just not the same amount of adrenaline inducing rides compared to normal amusement parks). But wow, Atlantis Aquaventure threw out all my previous misconceptions about waterparks because their rides were just CRAZY. I love it! Not only that, but it’s also the perfect place to cool off, given the crazy hot weather in Dubai – phew!
So, to share the love – this blog is going to list out a couple of things:
- Where to buy Atlantis Aquaventure tickets
- How to get to Atlantis Aquaventure
- What to bring and wear to Aquaventure
- Facilities within Aquaventure
- Suggested itinerary (the BEST rides to take, and in what order)
Where to buy Atlantis Aquaventure tickets
Atlantis Aquaventure offers multiple types of tickets (check the full list here), where the price differs depending on:
- UAE resident vs foreigner
- Inclusive of The Lost Chamber, Surf’s Up, Dolphin and Shark feeding
Personally though, I wasn’t really keen on checking out The Lost Chamber (essentially a huge aquarium of different types of sea creatures). Cool? Maybe, but not really my thing. I think kids might appreciate it though. Wish there was an option to not include this in the ticket…
NOTE: Atlantis Resort guests can check out Aquaventure and The Lost Chamber for free. My understanding is that it’s included in the room price 😊
How to get to Atlantis Aquaventure
As Atlantis Aquaventure is within the Atlantis Resort, it can be a bit tricky to do so… In total, there are three ways to get to Atlantis Aquaventure from your hotels:
- By public transport: Take the Dubai Tram to the Palm Jumeirah station. From there, take the monorail – which will bring you directly to Aquaventure Water Park. Note that the monorail is pretty expensive…. Plus, the tram + monorail combo would mean upwards of 45 minutes travel time, depending on where you’ll be coming from
- By taxi: The Aquaventure Water Park is a ~30 minute drive from the city center (which is where my family was staying). In total, the Careem cost us AED 120, which I thought was pricey, but at least comfortable and fast
- Book shared transfers from your hotel to the attraction: This is only worth it if you’re traveling alone and don’t want to go through the hassle of public transport. Note that if there are more than 2 of you, you’d be better off getting a taxi / Careem as you can split the cost evenly
What to bring and wear to Aquaventure
- Wear proper swimming attire, or they might stop you from taking the ride. If you don’t want to feel too exposed, they do allow you to wear cycling shorts and rashguard on top of your swimsuit – just make sure it’s of the proper material
- No need to bring goggles as the rides don’t really require them. In fact, they may even ask you to take them off as certain rides have high water pressure (e.g., Leap of Faith), which could theoretically knock them off your head if they’re loose
- Slippers that are easy to slip off and slip on, since you have to take them off and store them in these cubicles before taking the ride. Note: The cubicles are at the bottom of the stairs so you’ll be forced to walk barefoot while queueing
- Bring your own towel (otherwise, you’d have to pay AED 45 to rent one while there). You can bring it with you and just leave them in the cubicles. These towels will protect you from the sun AND keep you warm when the cold wind starts blowing
- The Dubai sun is CRAZY HOT, so spare your skin the horrors of sunburn
- Credit card / Cash. You can’t actually use cash inside the park. Instead, they’ll give you a waterproof cashless wristband when you enter. You can then purchase credits at the entrance, and use these to make purchases within the park. Don’t worry, these are refundable if you don’t manage to spend them all. For your reference, meals cost ~AED 55 – 70 inside the park.
Facilities at Aquaventure Waterpark
- Lockers: You can rent lockers for AED 55 (small) or AED 85 (big). In our case, our bags were pretty small so we just got one big locker to share (you can see the size of the locker from my photo below)! Note that the locker can be found by the entrance, within the bathroom/ shower/ changing area
- Shower Stalls: There are only a few shower stalls, and you can expect they’ll be quite dirty by the end of the day. I highly recommend you bring slip-on clothes (e.g., dresses). Don’t bother with a full shower, change into your clothes, and just shower when you get back to your hotel
- Food outlets: Don’t worry about lunch, as there are dozens of food outlets to choose from. I highly recommend you check out Barracuda (beside the Tower of Poseidon), because there are way more food options there. Likewise, I highly recommend you purchase a meal voucher at the entrance (when you’re putting in credits into your cashless wristband), as the voucher meal plan is cheaper (AED 55) compared to if you purchase the meal at the actual outlet (AED 65)
Suggested itinerary (the best rides to take and in what order)
Before I start, let me just say – COME EARLY. Try to be the first person in the park as this will save you a lot of queueing time!
Aquaventure has two major towers: Tower of Poseidon and Tower of Neptune. Note: you need to be AT LEAST 1.2 meters tall to be admitted into the towers and their rides. To be honest, if you don’t reach 1.2 meters, then Aquaventure is no fun – totally not worth the ticket price!
Anyway, I’ll assume you’re at least 1.2 meters tall and are raring to go! Ready or not, let’s go!
Start with Tower of Neptune
Why? Because it’s nearer to the entrance, AND Tower of Poseidon has the COOLER rides. Save the best for last!
Ride 1: Leave your stuff in the cubby hole first. First ride to check out? Leap of Faith!
Leap of Faith doesn’t need any tubes, all it needs is… YOU. The ride stands tall at 9 storeys, and involves a near-vertical drop of JUST YOU, as you hurtle through an acrylic view at ridiculously high speeds helped by gravity. As you do so, you pass through manta rays and sharks – not that you’ll notice as you’ll be too busy screaming your heart out and keeping your eyes shut!
In case you didn’t notice, this ride is WILD. I love it.
Ride 2: After you finish Leap of Faith (feel free to do this ride multiple times – it’s awesome), go grab a tube at the nearest pool beside the tower. Once you’ve got your tubes, you can start with… Shark Attack!
Shark Attack is pretty boring actually, where your tube will end up in an underwater tunnel filled with different kinds of sharks, mantis rays and all sorts of fishes swimming above and beside you. It’s pretty but ultimately nothing new. To be honest, it looks much clearer outside the tunnel!
Why do I suggest it first? Because it’s a slow ride, the lines do become pretty long – so best to do it first!
Ride 3: Surge (requires tubes). Surge is kinda cool in that you can’t see where you’re going since it’s pitch dark. Having said that, feel free to skip this one if you’re short on time
Ride 4: Storm. Walk out of the Tower of Neptune and turn left to get to the Storm ride
NOTE: If you weigh less than 60-70 kg, you need to get a double tube (so that two people will be riding together, whose total weight exceeds 70kg). I found Storm pretty cool because there were several areas where you actively go up (beating gravity) using JUST the water’s momentum. Storm (the ride) leads directly to the Plunge – which is quite similar to the Surge, in that it’s pitch dark so you can’t see where you’re going and what’s coming up next. If you’re short on time and want to skip the Plunge, there’s a special line after the Storm that allows you to leave the ride, and jump into the queue for Shark Attack
Done? Great, it’s time to move to Tower of Poseidon. Grab from your stuff from the cubby hole, leave the tubes since you won’t need it anymore, and let’s move it!
At the Tower of Poseidon
Ride 1: Poseidon’s Revenge
This was the only ride that really made my heart palpitate. Riders are asked to enter a capsule. Then there’s a 3, 2, 1 countdown right before the floor beneath you literally disappears, and you plummet down at 60 kilometers an hour. OMG. Just writing this brings back the memories and I can feel my heart stutter
NOTE: There’s a 50kg minimum weight requirement as they need you to generate enough momentum on your own to finish the 360 degree loop (crazy ride??). This ride barely has any queue given the restriction, plus the fact that it is definitely NOT for the faint of heart
Ride 2: Slitherine
This is similar-ish to Leap of Faith, but with some twist and turns. Even better – you can turn it into a competition as you race against your friends to see who can complete the twist and turns first! As you finish the ride, they’ll clock your time and you can celebrate your win or lament your loss!!
Ride 3: Aquaconda
Super super fun group ride!! Your tube (carrying max 6 people) will plunge into a dark meandering tunnel, then suddenly drops you into a super intense river rapids-like course. Of course, they take it to the next level as your tube literally goes up up and away – I was half afraid we would flip over!
Ride 4: Zoomerango
Again, another group ride. This time the tube (carrying max 6 people) will suddenly plummet (achieving an almost perfect vertical drop) and use the momentum and momentary weightlessness to carry you over to the other side. It’s like Anchors Away, without the seat belt, and on water!
**If you still have time afterwards, you can circle back to the Tower of Neptune to try out the Falls and the Stinger. Both rides will end up at the Torrents and you can then while away your time via the Lazy Torrents/ Rapids, until you reach the Torrent Beach. As the sun sets, you can also drop by the Paradise Beach to marvel at the beautiful sunset and the pristine white beach sand (nothing beats Boracay thought!)
Other activities you might be interested in, but would have to pay for (if you didn’t purchase a ticket that included these activities):
- Zipline: AED 125
- Shark safari: AED 340
- Ray feeding: AED 185
Of course, you can also decide to just chill by the lazy rapids or by the beach! Look at all those folks just chilling!
And that’s it for the day! Keep in mind that if you leave Aquaventure when it closes, expect to pay CRAZY surge amounts as everyone else would also be rushing to grab a cab to head back to the city. We ended up having to pay 1.4x the normal Careem rates, damnit. It was well worth it though – because we made it to the Dubai Fountain show and got this beautiful shot of the Burj Khalifa lit up at night! To learn more about the Dubai Fountain show – read up on my experience here!
For other Dubai related posts
- Dubai Desert Safari: Definitely an adventure to remember
- Yellow Boat tour: A chance to see Dubai from another perspective
- Deira (Old Town): Reacquainting myself with the history of Dubai
- Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark: The best waterpark in the world
For other Abu Dhabi related posts
- Abu Dhabi: A five step guide on how to make an Abu Dhabi trip worthwhile
- Ferrari World Review: Unique rides and attractions for all ages
For first time travelers to Dubai, you may have questions regarding visas, how to get around the country, where to stay, and so on. If so, you might be interested in: