We were initially somewhat hesitant including Waterbom Bali into the itinerary. This will be the fourth water theme park the kids have been to already in just a few years, and we seriously had doubts whether the park will be any different from the ones in Malaysia, Singapore and Phuket. We’re glad we did now though, if with the benefit of hindsight: Waterbom Bali is a stunningly done-up, beautifully landscaped attraction that despite having opened for a few years now, still looks and feels like it just opened the day before. Comments!
The car ride from our villa to the park in Kuta was about 80 minutes on an early Sunday morning, but as Dewa Marco mused, the traffic can get heavier in a flash. So, we were lucky, and arrived at the park 10 minutes before its 9AM waiting time. There were a few other families already waiting there too, but as we’d booked online, we just needed to show our booking reference code, drop in a deposit to the velcro-secured waist band, and zoomed past the gantry. There are numerous admission counters, so even if you haven’t booked online to enjoy the tidy discount, ad-hoc admissions should still be brisk.
Locker rental is available at a few places, but we went with the main one just beside the entrance. The family locker @ 35,000 IDR was large enough for all of our bags, though the rental also requires a refundable 30,000 IDR deposit. The changing rooms and shower areas were spotless and extraordinarily clean.
The park comprises a number of slides to suit all bravery levels and adrenaline-junkies, though unlike the Splash Water Jungle Park @ Phuket, Waterbom Bali felt more suited to young adults and older than children. There’s a fairly large waterplay called the “Funtastic” with a trio of kiddie slides right beside it, a main pool (“Pleasure Pool” LOL) – and that’s it. The kiddie slides were however so fun for H and P that they spent just about the entire stay in the park going up and down those three slides repeatedly!
There were just a handful of other families and visitors in the early morning from 9AM to 10AM, and the growing crowds were still tolerable for the next hour after that. 11AM onwards though was when the hordes arrived by the busloads, which made the place a lot more congested.
The Lazy River ride is beautifully scenic, with tropical-garden styled on both sides of the route, and gentle currents to move you along. P liked it so much we went twice before hordes descended.
The park isn’t apparently smoke-free, though there were zones which were marked out as such. However, several visitors – including several fairly young Caucasians – either East Europeans or Russians from their language – who clearly couldn’t care less, and puffed away.
We enjoyed the three hours we allocated to the park, and reckon that’s about enough time if you’re visiting on a crowd-free day. Expect a much longer stay to cover all the rides on a busier day though.
Recent comments