Let’s say, you have been in Cyprus for some time. You’ve swum in the sea, drunk some wine and snacked it with olives. Alright, what’s next? Why don’t you run out to get to a water park? However the island is pretty small there are quite a lot water parks here. To make it easier for you to choose an amusement to your liking our journalist visited all the water parks in Cyprus. Here is the complete detailed guide in one article.
Fasouri Water Park
Where: this water park is located among the fields and gardens to the west of Limassol in Tserkezoi village. You can find it quite easy watching for signs along the road. Another option is to take a free bus that will drive you from Limassol to Fasouri Water Park and back several times a day.
Prices: 30 Euros for an adult, 17 Euros for a child (3 to 11 years old) and free for children under 3.
Opening hours: during the season period from 1 June to 31 August it’s open from 10 to 18 daily. Out of season, from 1 May to 31 May and from 1 September to 29 October — from 10 to 17. It’s closed for the rest of time.
Queues: I’ve visited this water park on a weekday in summer. It took me about 15-20 minutes to get inside. As a rule there are lines to the coolest water slides too but I’ve waited no more than 5 minutes, well 10 minutes maximum. So I can say that the queues are generally tolerable and do not spoil the fun.
Highlights: firstly Fasouri Water Park is the biggest one in Cyprus. The water park has an area over 100 000 square meters (25 acres) and 30 different attractions for all ages. An important note: there are certain restrictions for attending some attractions both for adults and for children. For example, your humble servant climbed the stairs of one of the most interesting slides only to read the sign “maximum height 1.90 m, maximum weight 100 kg”. A staff member working there checked out my 115 kg and about two meters height, breathed a sigh and throw her hands up. So I’ve had to go down. Fortunately this kind of “discrimination” is applied only to a pair of water slides so I’ve enjoyed the rest of them without any inconvenience.
Now for the punch line. The water slides. One of the most extreme slides for daredevils is ‘’Kamikaze’’. You go down a steep 50 meters water runway at 50 km/h. It looks scary enough let alone the ride; a good option for those who like they nerves tied in knots.
Another dozen of classical open and tube water slides differs from each other by the speed and the number of twists and turns. One of them offers you 120 meters long ride in complete darkness. After rushing down a watery pipeline of another one you’ll find yourself whirling around a giant water-bowl.
“Black cannon” is definitely worth mentioning. This quite small and at first sight unexciting slide can give you an unforgettable experience. You ride through a steep black cannon your stomach flipping and land on the trampoline that sends you on a flight by your own. The whole trip ends with you making a giant splash while falling in the pool. The most memorable experience to my opinion. Just one more warning for the men: it’s really important to cross your legs in a certain way while riding “Black cannon” otherwise it’ll probably be unpleasant for you.
There’s a water slide you can ride sitting on a mat like they use it for yoga classes. Nothing special.
A special area for small children is located right in the middle of Fasouri Water Park. A pool, different tiny slides and various climbing objects are at your service.
“Lazy River” stretches 400 meters around the park. Visitors drifting here in rafts relaxing and enjoying slow ride.
And of course as in any other decent water park there are pools for every taste.
The water park itself is neat and well maintained with areas where you can stay in the shade during the heat. The staff is friendly and attentive. Lifeguards watch all the pools and water slides. Sun beds and umbrellas distributed through the park, available free of charge. Tubes and mats for swimming and riding the water slides as well as lifejackets are also free.
Nine food outlets within the park offer its visitors drinks and fast food.
May be you are one of those strange people who goes to the water park to get a tattoo. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Among other facilities there are Massage Parlor and Garra Fish Spa. For some reason these services are also available at Fasouri Water Park.
A day at Fasouri Water Park leaves a positive impression, nothing to fault: plenty of attractions to choose from, no risks, not too crowdie, the staff fully trained and, what’s more, considerate. Okay, may be the slides are quite common for an ordinary water park, you can find here nothing super exciting or surprising. However it doesn’t matter if you can spend the whole day here. The price of 30 Euros for the activities offered in the park sounds pretty adequate. Definitely recommend this water park to you.
Paphos Waterpark
Where: not far from the city centre near Rikkos beach.
Prices: 31 Euros for an adult, 18 Euros for a child (3 to 11 years old).
Opening hours: during the season period from 1 June to 31 August it’s open from 10 to 18 daily. Out of season, it’s probably closed. There’s no detailed information about that.
Queues: there was nobody at the entrance on a weekday. I’ve just walked to the ticket window, paid an entrance fee and went inside. I can say that it depends about lines to the slides. Many interesting slides could have zero lines and to ride another one, Crazy cone for example, you have to wait about 40 minutes. At least not under the sun: all the gathering places are well covered with sheds.
Highlights: Paphos Waterpark might not impress you at the first sight; the slides look not high enough, the park is smaller in the size than Fasouri. You might ask yourself is it worth the money I’ve paid for the entrance? And the answer is “Yes. It is.”
Different zones of the park serve for different purposes. A well-positioned children playground is a separated area with a swimming pool, tiny slides and other running and climbing activities.
Another area of the water park includes “cannons” that fire guests in the water. The “cannons” of Paphos Waterpark are second to those in Fasouri Water Park. No trampoline at the end, you just drop out of the tube, fly a few meters more and flop into the pool. This final splash is very far from what I consider as a pleasant feeling.
“Lazy River” as usual goes along the park. An interesting feature of the “Lazy River” of Paphos Waterpark is that it flows into the “Raging River” — a wide slide that can be enjoyed in a single or double tube, family ride is also available. So at first you ride down the slide at a not super high but extreme speed and then get to the “Lazy River” where you drift along all the attractions in the water park. It’s a great idea to my opinion.
And of course there’s the main area where all the beaten paths lead — the top slides of the park. It’s also a separated area located in one of the park corners at the top of the hill. I should admit there’s plenty to choose from.
“Kamikaze”, “Free Fall” and “Aqua Infinity” — 3 slides which are in charge of extreme here. First two are quite similar with only difference that “Kamikaze” slide has curves while “Free Fall” is more steep and vertical one. That’s way the feeling it gives you is completely different. “Kamikaze” is a high and scary slide for sure but at “Free Fall” you can’t even call it a “ride”. All your senses will convince you that you’re falling. The height of these attractions is 15 meters, not so much comparing them with giant 50 meters long kamikaze-slide at Fasouri Waterpark. Anyway both rides are definitely pulce-racing.
The third extreme attraction, “Aqua Infinity”, is a pipe. The light rays inside it make you feel as if you’re speeding down insanely fast. The ride really gives you tons of fun and a thrill at the same time.
The most popular slides of the water park are situated on the next level down the hill. “Crazy cone” is the main one. I’ve imagined me writing a negative review about this park while standing in the line to it for about 40 minutes. But then I’ve changed my mind.
I can say following about the “Crazy cone” itself: it’s a standard tube, which widens in two non-standard cones in the middle. Probably it supposed to be scary but it is mostly amusingly funny. Honestly I can’t say this attraction is worth 40 minutes of waiting.
Also here, on the second level there’s a slide called “Zero Gravity”. The name sounds very promising but I haven’t feel anything similar to this effect while riding it. At first you float down at a high speed and then go up the slide by inertia and the gravity pulls you down again. The whole attraction works on the principle of slowing pendulum. Lovely and funny, that’s all.
The entrance to the “Ranging River” is situated also at the second level. This attraction is the second one in the water park with a big queue. The waiting time is about 20 minutes.
The last attraction of the second level is “Twister”. It’s another variation of a black hole. You twist and turn in total darkness, a guaranteed classic with a guaranteed exciting after the ride.
To set aside few cons, the main feelings you get riding the top slides are joy, excitement and fascination. You can surely go to this water park for the second time without getting bored.
Let’s talk about the comfort and the additional services.
The tiles that cover the ground get so hot in the sun that it pains to walk barefoot. It can cause a certain discomfort to take in count that you must enter the main part of attractions not wearing any shoes include flip-flops.
I was glad to see that the height and weight restrictions applied to the slides are minimal. There isn’t a maximal one like in Fasouri anywhere here in Paphos Water Park, so you feel free to ride any kind of slides at your choice.
There are plenty of sun beds in the park but the number of people wishing to take them is no less. The quest of finding one free sun bed is real (however it may take some time), but the task of finding two free sun beds standing near each other brings the game to another difficulty level near to impossible.
There are a few food stalls and cafes and a Thai restaurant with a promising name “Phuket” at the territory of the water park.
Of course the food in this restaurant differs from those you can taste while your visit on the Phuket Island in Thailand. I would call it “how the Greeks imagine Thai cuisine should taste like”. On the other side you probably come to the water park not in search for authentic Asian restaurant, am I right? So let Phuket be Phuket, the main thing — there’s a place you can have a snack at.
In conclusion I might say may be Paphos Waterpark is smaller than Fasouri in the size but it’s also a good one to go to. Queues can be a certain disadvantage but the variety of slides and amusements outweighs it entirely. This park gets the thumbs up from me.
Splash
Where: this water park is situated in Chloraka village, a suburb of Paphos, right on the main route E-701. I’m sure you can’t miss it; it could be seen from the road.
Prices: 15 Euros for an adult and 10 Euros for a child (for all ages).
Opening hours: during the season period from 1 June to 31 August it’s open from 10 to 18 daily. Out of season, it’s probably closed too.
Queues: they not only don’t have queues here, you even should go look for a cashier around the park. No single line to the slides is also visible.
Highlights: here’s a spoiler — this water park impressed me the most.
The price twice as low as in previous two parks doesn’t mean that it’s twice as bad here. I would say this place was designed for other purposes. It’s not some tricked-out water park people go to get a thrill. The motto of this water park could be “have some really nice time by the pool”. And ride a few slides of course.
Splash Water Park has about 5 big slides, a couple of slides for children, several swimming pools and one café. Nothing more. But it is more than enough for the quiet and relaxing time with your children.
The good thing about it there isn’t many people here what means a lot of free sun beds and a way less noise.
Be careful walking barefoot, the tiles at daytime get so hot only advanced yogi can manage it.
This water park would get a positive review, except for one thing. It’s time to add not a fly but even a whole elephant in our ointment. Let’s talk about safety.
First thing that made me curious is a total absence of lifeguards or any other kind of staff at the medium slides. There’s no one to instruct you should keep your legs crossed and lay during the ride. You can freely do what you want because no one cares.
During my few rides at the medium slides I felt all the joints and seams with my back. It doesn’t really matter but it’s not a pleasant thing, you know. Further — it is more.
The biggest slides have some personal on and near them but it’s just a formality. Staff wearing instructor’s t-shirts pays no attention to the people who ride the slides. What for if there are things more interesting like the phones and the Internet? They have no time to watch over the visitors.
Among others I’ve tried to ride a “vortex”. It’s an ordinary pipe slide with something similar to a toilet bowl at its end. You make a few spins in it and splash into the pool. Classic you would say. But here’s an unexpected surprise: you hit the edge of the “toilet bowl” with your head when you are coming up to the surface. Incredible experience! I’ll bet you can’t get it anywhere else! One of the lifeguards has been sitting less than one meter away from me during this accident. He looked at me boredom and laziness mixed in his eyes and than turned away.
Well, this is all rather unpleasant, but it’s only child’s play to what is on the way.
The most cool and interesting slide in Splash Water Park is called “Black hole”. You may ride it only in the tube. Of course I gave it a try. At the beginning it was as usual: scary and funny at the same time. Then — only scary. I fell off from my tube during one of the sharp turns and we went our separate ways. I hit the wall with my head when the tube was flowing away. It didn’t bleed but this hit give me a bump.
Another conclusion I’ve made there you can slide only sitting in a tube, without it it’s quite impossible. At this moment I’ve remembered about a huge man who stood after me in the line and imagined how unexpected our meeting in this pipe would be. The rest of the way to the life-saving pool I crawled an all fours wishing this dream would never come true.
May be it was me doing something wrong, I don’t know. But it literally was the first time that happened. I’ve ridden different water slides higher than this one, at a higher speed and even with curvier surface and everything was perfect. Maybe I’m naïve, but I suppose that water parks differ from death camps mainly because you shouldn’t be incredibly strong or super intelligent to survive there. Otherwise the terms on the slides shields must be changed for “minimum height 1.20 m, minimum IQ 110”.
I don’t want to exaggerate; at least I’m alive and okay. But I would never ever take my son to such an extreme ride. So, I strongly recommend avoiding this water park.
WaterWorld Themed Waterpark
Where: the main water park of Ayia Napa is located 5 kilometers away from the city centre, not far from Ayia Napa Marina.
Prices: the most expensive water park in the list. The entrance ticket is 38 Euros for an adult and 10 Euros for a child. 24 Euros for children 3 to 13 years old.
Opening hours: for 7 month in the year (from April to October) the water park is open daily. Out of season (April, May, September and October) from 10 to 17. During the season (June, July and August) from 10 to 18.
Queues: there’re no lines to the cash box but they are plenty inside the water park. An interesting note: while in other water parks you’re waiting in the queue for your turn to ride the slides, here in Ayia Napa you’re waiting for the opportunity to grab a tube because of its lack. Sometimes the waiting time is incredibly long. Staying in line for half an hour is not the limit.
And it’s also correct for the rest of the attractions. Even at an ordinary slide with a vortex you will wait about 7 minutes for your turn. Another both important and unpleasant note: the lines are in the open air without any shed or shade for you to hide from the sun.
Highlights: this water park is a themed one. The territory and the slides itself are designed in ancient Greece style. Does it affect your opinion about the park or not, the decision is yours. As for me the slides and the way everything works in the park is way important than the look.
Well, WaterWorld Themed Waterpark positions itself as the biggest themed park in Europe. There are 9 restaurants, 35 attractions and many playgrounds for children inside. “A number one European water park”. Just look at this shyness. Let’s find out is all these true or not.
This water park is really big, may be even bigger than the one in Fasouri. It feels like a lot of free space here. The water slides constructed not in sets as in other water parks, but distributed equally around the territory that adds the sense of something great to the whole impression.
Two children playgrounds are very well maintained. The first one “Trojan Adventure” consists of tiny slides and a pool and the second one “Danaides Waterworks” is an area with small fountains that splash and bubble all the time. In addition to these two zones there is “Atlantis Activity Pool”, which suits for children too.
It’s all clear with cafes, they offer common for such places fast-food options: burgers, pizzas and hot dogs are bestsellers. You wont go hungry for sure.
The situation with water slides is more complicated. Yes, there are 35 attractions in the park, and yes, the most of them are very similar to each other.
Let’s speak about the top attractions of this water park. The most interesting water slide to my opinion is “The Quest of Heracles”. I haven’t meet Heracles himself on this slide but the impression of the ride is very good. This attraction is constructed of two separate tubes twisting around each other (similar to DNA strand). The slope is very steep. I don’t know the exact speed at which you go down the slide but I’m pretty sure it’s the fastest slide I’ve ever ridden.
Another attraction I really enjoyed is “Drop to Atlantis”. You will experience the drop sitting in a three-man bullet. Visually it’s the longest and one of the highest water slides in the park.
The ad proudly says that “Drop to Atlantis” is the only slide of its kind in the world with light, sound and visual effects within the ride. Maybe this announcement is accurate, but as for me it’s just a giant water slide.
The serious flaw of this attraction is the longest waiting line to get a tube. Waiting for 40 minutes? Easy-peasy.
What a water park without kamikaze-style set of slides? “Thunderbolt” and “Lightning” are the highest slides of this type in Cyprus. The total height of the “Lightning” is 75 meters (against 50 meters high slide in Fasouri and 35 in Paphos).
“Chariot chase” is a multi-slide that offers you an extreme ride on a mat 70 meters down to a pool. Not bad, with the only exception that the bumps you get during the ride can be quite sensitive. And of course here is the line for the mats too.
“The Fall of Icarus” is another attraction worth your attention. It’s some kind of “zero gravity” slide. You ride down the steep slide and go up its opposite part then dive towards earth once again. This time this attraction works quite good, the ride really gives you a thrill.
The selection of attractions is not bad but the feelings after the rides are not so exciting as in water parks of Limassol and Paphos.
The level of service and comfort is definitely the weak spot of this water park.
The number of sun beds is just enough. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to find a free one but it’s a pretty hard task. Every sun bed is covered with an ugly blue mat that supposed to make your rest time more comfortable but in reality it just makes it look sloppy and dirty like a bench a homeless sleeps on. I’ve had no desire to lay myself on this mat.
One thing I didn’t like at all in WaterWorld Themed Park is the floor. It’s so filthy in some areas that you should wash your feet at a special place before entering a slide. And the clean floor is also very slippery.
To support the whole atmosphere of ancient Greece one of the main routes through the water park is build of concrete and stones imitating a cobblestone street. I can’t appreciate the aesthetics of it because I’m not an expert but it’s a torture to walk there barefoot.
WaterWorld Themed Park is the dirtiest of them all: the plaster on the walls is covered in cracks, the colors the attractions are painted with are burned up and some pipes are all smeared with bird droppings.
Call me picky, but it was you who called your water park “Number one European Water Park”. It is perfection what you demand from a leader, not the bird droppings.
Electra
Where: 15 minutes walk from the historical city centre of Aiya Napa near Penera beach.
Prices: 15 Euros for an adult, 10 Euros for a child.
Opening hours: from 9 to 18.
Queues: zero.
Highlights: Electra is like a twin brother of Splash water park in Paphos. There are three water slides for the adults, two for kids, a swimming pool and a bar. The only difference is there aren’t any slides to ride in a tube here.
It’s a nice place to lie on the sun bed sipping a cocktail and watching the kids playing. The water park is so tiny you can see every corner of it from any location.
Panthea Rainbow Aquapark
Where: in the middle of Ayia Napa near Parko Paliatso amusement park.
Prices: 15 Euros for an adult, 10 Euros for kids.
Opening hours: from 10 to 17.
Queues: zero.
Highlights: another miniature water park of Ayia Napa. Looks like it is much more presentable than Electra but in fact isn’t much better. You will get a standard kit here: several water slides of a medium height, a swimming pool, a bar and a playground.
Also this water park has another serious gap. I came to the main entrance at 13:30 on the weekend and a bored staff member said, “Come next day, mate, we’re full up”. I’ve asked if I could walk inside just to see how it works there and he let me in. And you know what, I haven’t noticed any crowds at all. It’s all the same as everywhere else. The number of visitors is not so huge; the number of queues is zero. What kind of criteria does the administration of Panthea rainbow use to calculate the quantity of the free places remained a mystery. Anyway if you plan your visit to this water park it is better to call before you go to make sure you can get inside.
In conclusion here is my personal ranking of water parks in Cyprus. Frankly speaking, there are only three water parks in Cyprus. I would call the rest “water squares” or even “water avenues”. They will suit you if you are living nearby and don’t care about good attractions. But it’s definitely not that kind of places you would take a long trip to get to. So I didn’t include them to my list. They are all the same what is more.
So, here it is:
1 Place — Paphos Waterpark
Not the biggest water park, queues are its flaw but it’s definitely driving. Extraordinary water slides, kaleidoscope of feelings. It’s a great place for spending the whole day at.
2 Place — Fasouri Water Park in Limassol
Perfect services, spotless, a very sophisticated infrastructure and well-trained friendly staff. Everything you expected from a water park you will get here.
3 Place — WaterWorld Themed Waterpark in Ayia Napa
Quite good water slides, a lot of space, great children areas. But the queues could drive you mad, the place itself looks scruffy, the prices are too high. This water park leaves the most controversial impression of them all.
