AQUAVENTURE
WILD WADI
Dubai’s original waterpark, Wild Wadi Waterpark has been thrilling Dubai tourists and residents young and old since 1999. It is hard to believe that the park has stood for more than 15 years, though, as the rides are continually updated and the park always looks flawless.
The jewel in the crown of Wild Wadi has long since been the Jumeirah Sceirah – a 120m slide that sees riders hit speeds of 80km/h after being dropped through a trap door. There are also a number of raft-based slides at the park, with the heart-thumping Tantrum Alley, which sees rafts with as many as four people at a time hurtle down steep waterslides, appearing to come perilously close to the open edges, before cascading into the water pool below.
YAS WATERWORLD
Yas Waterworld visitors will be able to try the world’s first and largest hydromagnetic-powered, six-person tornado waterslide – it’s over 235 metres long! For adrenaline seekers there are three-metre high waves on Bubble’s Barrel, which has the world’s largest surfable sheet wave for flowboards and bodyboards. The Bandit Bomber, a 550–metre coaster, is the first with onboard water and laser effects. Riders can shoot jets of water at targets, drop water bombs and trigger special effects, while people below can spray them with water as they pass.
Sitting atop Jebel Dana, the towering core of the park’s altitude-defying summit and measuring eight metres in diameter, the park’s gigantic pearl is Yas Island’s newest landmark. The park draws on Abu Dhabi’s heritage and has ‘The Lost Pearl’ as its theme. Visitors follow the story of a young Emirati girl on a quest to find a legendary pearl as they make their way around the attractions, which include a souk and pearl-diving exhibits.
