lindsaymC5307JB, Aug 2026
Aqualandia after nearly 30 years of visiting!
Oi oi Everyone….. hope you are well and this review helps ❤️We recently visited Aqualandia after returning to Spain after a six-year gap due to going to Turkey for our holidays.For reference, I’ve been coming to Spain for nearly 30 years of my life. My Gma lives in Albir so I’ve been very lucky to see Aqualandia change over the years. I’ve been as a child with my parents and then taken my own children, so I pretty much know what I’m going to get.Because we hadn’t been for six years I decided to read some of the reviews on Cool Destinations before we went and, to be honest, some of them really surprised me. I’ve never really felt the need to review Aqualandia before because it’s always been amazing, but after reading some of them I thought I’d actually come on and give my opinion considering how many times I’ve been over the years.TicketsWe got a really good deal before we went. I booked through Booking.com and because I have a Genius discount I managed to get all five of us full-day tickets for £85. Absolute bargain in my opinion. Adults are classed after 12 I think…We actually loved it so much we decided to go back again while we were still on holiday also because my kids didn’t have much at my Gma’s and it’s a full day!!! . I booked the second lot myself while we were out there and I think it worked out around £123 for the five of us including the conversion fee.One thing I would definitely say is BOOK IN ADVANCE. It’s 100% worth it.If you turn up without tickets you have to go and buy them and then you’re put behind the people who have already purchased theirs. Which I completely get. People have already sorted and paid for their tickets so they shouldn’t then be held up by people buying them on the day. You also pay more on the day anyway.Queues and the slidesI’m going to be completely honest, it’s August. It’s peak season. It’s going to be busy. Unsure if that’s new info.Even when I was little my dad used to get us there really early. We would basically get in, dump our stuff and go straight to whatever big slides we wanted to do. Back then it was Black Hole, Pistas Blandas and Kamikaze.This time obviously Cyclon was the big one.On our second visit we made sure we were there for 10am. We got in, dropped our stuff and literally went straight to Cyclon. We walked straight on. You do get collectively weighed all 4 of you going on - just incase anyone is self conscious about this. I’m a big girl and as no one was there I was ok.I’m not going to lie, carrying that massive rubber ring up 18 flights of stairs is HARD WORK 😂 I am a big girl and it nearly finished me off. The actual slide was absolutely worth it though.Unfortunately for my children I refused to go on it again 😂 Nothing to do with the ride whatsoever. I just was NOT walking back up those 18 flights of stairs carrying that ring again.Straight after that we went to Black Hole and walked straight on. Then Pistas Blandas, again no queue, and then the rapids.After that first hour the queues definitely started building up. On our first visit I remember looking at Black Hole around 12/1ish and it was about a 30-minute wait. I didn’t even bother looking at Cyclon because I knew that was going to be a big wait by then..We didn’t bother with Zig Zag on our second visit because by the time we went over there after 12 the queue was huge. We did them on our first visit when they were one of the first slides we went on and they’re still as good as they always were.I personally don’t think the afternoon ticket is worth it during peak season. Get a full-day ticket, get there for opening and get the big ones done first. Then you can just plod around at your own pace for the rest of the day.I really don’t understand some of the complaints about queues. It’s August in Benidorm. There are thousands of tourists there plus Spanish families are on their summer holidays too. Of course it’s going to be busy!Cleanliness and the waterI saw quite a few comments about this.Firstly, the water. It’s not like the chlorine water you get in your normal swimming pool. It’s salt water, it’s fresh and yes, it’s bloody cold 😂 But for flying down water slides it’s absolutely perfect.There is loads of greenery around Aqualandia so naturally you are going to get leaves etc blowing into the water. Then you have thousands of people walking around barefoot and getting in and out of the pools all day.It’s definitely not for lack of trying because there are staff constantly going around cleaning.I did see things like false eyelashes in the water. With the greatest respect, that is hardly Aqualandia’s fault 😂 False eyelashes are lovely for a night out, but I’m not entirely sure why anyone thinks the one-night-only type are going to survive a day at a water park! Vertigo speeds of 62mph —- lashes ain’t staying on unless you’ve used Gorilla Glue.Some of the drains do smell. Again, I’m not going to pretend they don’t this is not the whole park. But you can walk down some of the main streets in Benidorm and smell drains. It’s Spain, it’s absolutely boiling and there are thousands of people there.For me the park itself was as clean as I’ve always known it to be and sometimes I think the guests have a lot to answer for as well.FoodI love the food there and I REALLY love the chips 😂 it’s not because they are 5 star it’s just the little memories for me. It’s cooked fresh my kids ate it all up - that’s what matters.We’ve done Aqualandia both ways over the years. I’ve taken picnics with my parents when I was younger, I’ve taken picnics when my own children were younger and we’ve bought food there.This time we bought food and for the five of us it was around €75. That was five large drinks and everyone had chips plus something else, so a burger, hot dog etc.I don’t think that’s bad at all for five people in a water park. Unfortunately I didn’t take many pics of the food however I did get one of my son eating a hot dog - you tell me if you think his face said he likes it 😂😂😂The staff were lovely too. I always like to try and order in Spanish and they’re so patient with me and actually let me try 😂 Service was quick and we had no issues at all.Sunbeds, rings and the other chargesSunbeds are €8 if you go and pay for them at one of the desks first. We sat by the wave pool and paid at the rapid ring rental tent. If you wait until they come around to collect the money it’s €9, so go and pay yourself and save a euro!You can also rent one of the yellow rings for the rapids. Obviously you pay for it, but then it’s yours for the day.The good thing is you don’t have to keep waiting for a ring on the rapids. You can basically walk back up and go again as long as they’re letting you through. You can use them in the lazy river, wave pool and the other big pools too.Some people love having them. They are a bloody lump to carry around all day though 😂They’ve also got the Aqua Bands now where you can load money onto your wristband rather than carrying cash/cards around while your stuff is in a locker.We used one the first day and it was really handy. On our second visit we had my mum with us who wasn’t going on the rides, so she looked after our stuff and we didn’t bother.Hidden charges?This one confused me a little bit because I’d read reviews talking about all the “hidden charges”.I’m not sure what people mean.Yes, there’s a Fast Pass. We didn’t buy one and didn’t need one.Yes, you pay for a sunbed if you want one. You pay if you want to rent a yellow ring. If you have a photo taken and decide you want to buy it, you pay for the photo.But none of those things are compulsory.I don’t see it as any different to somewhere like Alton Towers. Obviously they’re two completely different types of parks, but you pay your admission to Alton Towers and then if you want Fast Track, photos or additional experiences you pay extra for them.I’m slightly confused as to what people are expecting to be included.Kids areas and lifeguardsThe lifeguards are strict. You will hear a LOT of whistles 😂 Especially around the wave pool if children who aren’t tall enough start going down towards the wave machine.Personally, I’d rather them be strict.The younger children’s area is still great and there’s also the newer play area up at Laguna, which I will forever know as Niagara Falls 😂We absolutely love it up there. The rock slides are still ridiculously fast and we always found the queues around that area really good.OverallAfter nearly 30 years of going to Aqualandia, I still love it.We enjoyed our first day enough that we actually paid to go back and do another full day on the same holiday.My biggest advice is just be realistic. If you’re going in August, it’s going to be busy. Book your tickets before you go, get there for opening, dump your stuff and get straight on the big slides you really want to do. Once you’ve done those, just enjoy the rest of your day.Aqualandia is still Aqualandia to me and after a six-year break, we absolutely loved being back.Although I will say, Cyclon was a lot easier when I was younger and my dad was the one carrying the bloody rings up the stairs 😂 can you still get your dad to take you on the rides near 40?Hope this helps someoneLoves x