The two main water parks in the French Riviera are Aquasplash in Antibes and Aqualand in Frejus. Both parks are about 30 minutes drive from Cannes one going east (Aquasplash) and one west (Aqualand)
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| Aquasplash in Antibes |
As you would expect, both parks get very very busy in the summer months so do try to arrive early in
the morning (as much as 30 minutes before opening is a good idea) and be prepared for some
long queues for the rides. It is also worth staying until the end of the day but be
warned some slides will close 30 mins or even an hour before the park closes, so don't get caught out leaving your favourite slide until the end.
You can keep costs down by bringing your own picnic and drinks (no glass or
alcohol) but be aware it is not a cheap family day out. That said you can often find cheaper entry fees by keeping an eye on Groupon or booking on the park's own website rather than paying at the entrance on the day.
Aquasplash
Located in the complex with Marineland, Antibesland and Kids
Island you will find Aquasplash on the road between Biot and Antibes.
There is a good sized parking area which costs €8.50 per car per day. You can however park for 30 minutes for free so you
could drop the family at the entrance and go and park somewhere a short walk
away.
Entry costs (2018
list price): Adults €29, Children €23, Infants (3 years and younger) Free.
Once in the water park there are plenty of sun loungers / chairs
dotted around where you can set up base and these are at no extra cost. If you
do want a bit of luxury there is an "Espace VIP" which comes with a price tag of
€69 for a pergola, 4 sunbeds and 4 non-alcoholic drinks. Be aware of pickpockets - one locker for your party's valuables is a good idea at
€5 per day.
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| A birds-eye-view of Aquasplash |
I would highly recommend taking a picnic as the food on
offer is neither of a brilliant standard nor particularly easy/quick to get, especially at peak times.
There is a really good selection of slides with two levels
of height restrictions - 1m20 and 1m40 - some requiring the rider to weigh at least 45kg(!) in order to gather enough momentum to crest the second half of the
slide.
For the younger visitors there are loads of splash areas,
smaller rides (Lazy River) and slides (Pirate Island) as well as a wave pool
and a lagoon pool.
There is a very nice touch at the bottom of Rainbow Canon
where there is a dedicated ‘wide slide’ for kids under 12 which lands in the
same pool as the main slides. My 7 year old spent ages going up and down this.
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| Some of the sunbeds and slides at Aquasplash |
TOP TIP: If you
want the thrill of dropping 10m almost vertically head to Sidewinder first – it
has the biggest queues later in the day.
The boats take two and be sure to keep your head lowered, it really
throws you around.
Our favourite was the Turbolance but be aware both this and
Spaceboat are very dark for the first few seconds so some children (or even adults!) may not like
them. My boys also loved the Splash Battle (especially as they were here with
their whole rugby team so it really turned into a war!)
Opening times:
·
From 16th June – 6th July
– 10am – 6pm
·
From 7th July – 2nd
September – 10am – 7pm
Access: 306 Avenue Mozart,
06600 Antibes, France
Aqualand
Very similar to Aquasplash is Aqualand near Frejus. It is
located on the road to St Aygulf as you come from Exit 37 of the A8 motorway. The
parking area is more reasonably priced at €4 per day and is fairly large –
you need to pay and get a token from the park before returning to your car.
Entry costs (2018
list price):
·
Adults (11+) €28, Children (5-10 years) €20.50,
Minis (3-4 years) €10
·
Infants (2 years and younger) Free. Seniors (65+)
€20.50
·
Family ticket (2 adults & 2 children) €97
Website Prices:
·
Adults (11+) €26, Children (5-10 years) €18.50,
Minis (3-4 years) €10
·
Infants (2 years and younger) Free. Seniors (65+)
€18.50
·
Family ticket (2 adults & 2 children) €83
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| Aqualand in Frejus |
You have to pay for sunloungers here though at a rate of €4
each. We visited as two families and rented just two to have as a base to return to.
We also had one locker at €5 (€2 deposit) for all our valuables.
There is a VIP area available where for €15 you can get a
sunlounger, a bottle of water and a coffee.
There is a similar selection of slides as Aquasplash. The ‘big
one’ is the King Cobra – queues for this one get very long so it would be a
good idea to try and ride it as
early in the day as you can. Others that also get very busy are Magic Slide, Rapid
Rafting and Flying Boat. Be aware that you need two people to ride some of the
slides - Rapid Rafting, Magic Slide &
King Cobra - and they will not allow you to ride solo so don’t waste time queuing
unless you have a partner. There is a
new slide for 2018 called Vertigo which is ‘unique’ in Europe so no doubt this
will be very popular/busy too.
If you would like to, you can pay for the Fast Pass to reduce
your queueing time for some of the big slides (King Cobra, Magic Slide, Flying
Boat, Rapid Rafting, Black & White Hole and Surf Racer). It is fairly expensive
at €12 per person and cannot be used on all the slides but many
reviewers say it is well worth it in peak season.
Our favourites were Twister, Black & White Hole and King
Cobra. The majority of the slides have a minimum height requirement of 1m10 and
Niagara & King Cobra are for riders over 1m20. In my opinion the areas for
the toddlers are not as good as at Aquasplash so if your children are under
1m10 or nervous of big slides I would choose the Antibes park over this one.
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| You can race against your 3 friends on the Twister slide |
You are not allowed to picnic around the pool area and
sunloungers, but there are specified picnic areas in the park. There is a lack of shade, though so a sun umbrella can come in very handy. Ideally have an early or late
lunch as most French people will stop to eat between 12 and 2pm and this can be
a good time to ride some more popular slides.
If you don’t find you’ve done all the rides in a full day they offer a
cheap day two pass whereby you can return the day after for an additional €13.
Opening times:
·
From 16th June – 8th July
– 10am – 6pm
·
From 9th Juy – 26th August
– 10am – 7pm
·
From 27th August – 9th
September - 10am – 6pm
·
CLOSED Thursday 6th and Friday 7th
September.à 1
8
Access: Camp de l'Abbé, 462 D559, 83600, Fréjus. Exit the motorway A8 at exit 37 and follow
directions to St Aygulf. The park is located on the D559 to Saint Aygulf at GPS
Coordinates: 43.419331, 6.728547
ROUND-UP – A family day out at a waterpark will never be the
cheapest day out on your holiday – if you accept that, take a picnic and expect
to queue, then you can still have a great time and it will often be the highlight of the
holiday for the kids!!
Accommodation:
Visiting the French Riviera and haven't booked your accommodation yet? Why not check out our wonderful centrally-located, self catering, townhouses and apartments sleeping from 2 - 11 people. All our properties are air-conditioned and are located on pedestrian streets within 5 minutes walk of the beach. We are a small family-run company so we are on hand for anything you may need before, during or after your stay!
Chic Gites - Accommodation Cannes
Visiting the French Riviera and haven't booked your accommodation yet? Why not check out our wonderful centrally-located, self catering, townhouses and apartments sleeping from 2 - 11 people. All our properties are air-conditioned and are located on pedestrian streets within 5 minutes walk of the beach. We are a small family-run company so we are on hand for anything you may need before, during or after your stay!
Chic Gites - Accommodation Cannes
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