When the temperatures surpass 30 degrees you know it is time for a day in a water park. Unfortunately, the same idea usually hits another half million people. But luckily we have two water parks close by to choose from. The last few times we went to Aqualandia so this time we decided to choose Aqua Natura (and no, that ‘2 for 1’ coupon had nothing to do with it:).
As regards the price Aqua Natura is cheaper than Aqualandia and often has special promotions or discount vouchers available. Box office price for Aqualandia is 38 euros and if purchased online the ticket costs 32 euros (29 and 25 for kids respectively). It also offers afternoon tickets valid from 3pm for 25 euros (21 for kids) and this is how we usually visited it: not only that it costs cheaper to enter, but you also save on the lunch which as a rule is overpriced in the park and is of mediocre quality. Aqua Natura, on the other hand, costs 30 euros for adults and 24 for kids and has no special price for the afternoon visits. But it often has 10 euro discount vouchers available a
t McDonalds, gives away ‘2 for 1’ coupons (the last one I found at Cepsa gasoline station) or has offers on Groupon (there is currently one selling adult ticket for 19 euros). The only discount I ever encountered for Aqualandia was at Alicante airport and it was 8 euros discount from the box office price.
But the most important are of course the slides and here undoubtedly wins Aqualandia. It is much bigger and has much more slides to enjoy, larger children play zones and less rigid height limits. In fact in Aqua Natura almost all slides but two the smallest ones required minimum 120cm height. On top their measures were not very accurate since Tilius is 126 and when measured he seemed to be just on the limit making him anxious every time if he is allowed to go or not. And poor Elin was confined to a small children play zone and two ‘babies’ slides. In Aqualandia the bigger sli
des require measuring 125 cm but there are numerous slides and two big play zones for smaller kids. On the other hand Aqualandia counts many more visitors than Aqua Natura resulting in longer queues and lost time in waiting.
So I would say that Aqualandia is better for the families with pre-school kids for having nicer playzones. Once they reach 120 cm (or 125 to be on a safe side) it could be more interesting to go to Aqua Natura as the rides are rather moderate (making me question whether such a rigid height limit is necessary for some of them) and the queues are short. And when the kids are teens, then they will find Aqualandia more fun as it has some more extreme rides.
And the final note: parking at Aqualandia is free and it is 5 euros at Aqua Natura. The rent of seats is 4 euros at Aqua Natura and those seats are necessary since all the park is covered in concrete while in Aqualandia the rent is 5 euros but there are numerous green zones where you just can extend your towel or you can sit at picnic places with tables and benches.
Photo: on cover Elin in Aqua Natura children play zone; the two little slides in Aqua Natura that Elin could use