Water parks aren’t for everyone — but if they are for you, you can attest to the fact that nothing’s better on a hot day than stripping down, hitting the wave pool, and rocketing head-first down 30-feet of plastic into the water below.
There are water parks dotted all over the globe, designed to entertain this exact kind of thrillseeker. But not all water parks are built equal. The best water parks offer slides and attractions for both adrenaline junkies and scaredy cats alike. Meanwhile, the worst parks can offer all of this and more — just in a much less safe environment.
We’ve all heard horror stories (most probably from our parents) of what can go wrong at a water park. In some locations, it’s easier to stumble into trouble than others. We pored over hundreds of reviews and incidents detailed online to find the parks with the most dangerous reputations, meaning you may want to think twice before planning your next visit.
Point Mallard Waterpark – Decatur, Alabama
Point Mallard makes the most of North Alabama’s natural resources. Visitors can spend the night in a 25-acre campground before splashing into an Olympic-sized swimming pool, multiple flume rides, a wave pool, and several staggered diving boards. However, it’s these diving boards that have some visitors on edge during their time at the park.
Multiple reviewers on Tripadvisor complained that Point Mallard is poorly maintained and dangerous, with one visitor claiming that a worker had told them the highest diving board was closed after a fatal accident. During that same visit, another person was allegedly taken away in an ambulance after falling from the next diving board.
The slides have received equally bad press from Point Mallard guests, who feel they’re unstable. With the park offering so many discounted tickets, overcrowding is also a big issue, making the wave pools a potential danger zone as other visitors and their floats cram into a small space. The lifeguards have also been criticized for not doing enough to keep the area safe. “Michael Phelps could not survive these constant waves,” said one visitor on Tripadvisor. “Be careful as there have been people who drowned in this pool.”
Mountain Creek Water Park (Action Park) – Vernon, New Jersey
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Back in the 1990s, Mountain Creek Water Park was known as Action Park — or “Class Action Park,” as it was dubbed by the 2020 HBO documentary, reflecting the number of lawsuits filed against the New Jersey park. While it had a reputation for offering some of the most outlandish water attractions in the U.S., at least six people lost their lives in accidents at Action Park, including electrocution during a kayak ride, three cases of drowning, and a heart attack after a guest entered cold water.
Unsurprisingly, injuries were even more common. One slide — the Cannonball Loop — featured a completely vertical loop and was closed after just one month thanks to the number of bloody noses, back injuries, and knocked-out teeth. The wave pool was the scene of so many incidents that it was nicknamed “The Grave Pool,” while the Alpine Slide caused at least 26 head injuries.
Despite its track record, the park actually reopened in 2013. While its most dangerous slides and attractions have been renovated or removed, some visitors don’t have much more confidence in the location under its new name than they did in the ’90s. There have been reports of uneven and “sketchy” slides, while others have complained about contracting ringworm and folliculitis after their visit, which isn’t exactly conducive to a fun day out.
Aqualandia – Benidorm, Spain
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Benidorm, Spain, is extremely popular with tourists from all over Europe, especially the United Kingdom, which makes attractions like Aqualandia busy by default. Open exclusively during Alicante’s high season (May to September), you can expect to find the park rammed come summer.
Popular though it may be, Aqualandia has faced its fair share of backlash. Several tragic accidents have occurred over the years, including a man who was left on life support and paralyzed after breaking two vertebrae in his neck on its Splash ride, which reopened just hours later. Aqualandia later denied fault, arguing that he hadn’t followed the rules properly (despite video footage suggesting otherwise). Another tourist sustained horrific injuries on the VertiGo slide when its trapdoor didn’t open completely at the beginning of the ride, while the same slide also left a British holidaymaker with internal bleeding. Sadly, the list goes on in an equally gruesome fashion.
Those who didn’t make headlines have still had some pretty grueling experiences at Aqualandia. One visitor in 2016 took to Tripadvisor to plead with others not to visit after they were allegedly left with permanent nerve damage on the Zig-Zag slide, despite it only being classed as a “moderate” thrill on Aqualandia’s website. Park officials have also been criticized for their blasé attitudes towards those injured on its premises, as well as for letting in so many guests that the park becomes dangerously overcrowded.
Western Water Park – Magaluf, Spain
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Also located in Spain, Western Water Park is — surprise, surprise — a Wild West-themed park in the vacation hotspot that is Magaluf in Mallorca. Across its three lands, Western Land, Indian Town, and El Paso, guests can ride comfortingly-named attractions such as Cola del Diablo (The Devil’s Tail) and El Látigo (The Whip).
Anyone daring enough to experience these attractions firsthand will need to contend with frequent overcrowding. These rides get popular — and tightly packed. This is fine if parks are well-organized, but a major gripe with visitors is Western Water Park’s lax safety measures. On Tripadvisor, some have dubbed it a “death trap,” while others have complained that its young lifeguards don’t offer much advice or guidance to stay safe on rides. “The lifeguards don’t have a clue what they are doing they just tell you to go they fail to tell you how to position yourself to avoid injuries,” one person said on Tripadvisor.
Bumps and bruises are part of the package of any water park visit. However, they do seem to occur pretty often at Western Water Park, primarily from flipped rafts and extremely rough slides. A lot of riders complained that these slides are in dire need of maintenance, with notable grooves as you ride and, according to some visitors, visibly rusty screws.
Calypso Theme Waterpark – Limoges, Canada
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The first sign that Canada’s biggest water park isn’t the safest destination in the world is its sheer number of safety violations. Located just 20 minutes outside of Ottawa, Calypso Theme Waterpark has been reported and fined multiple times over the years and boasts a long list of accident reports from former guests.
In 2012, the park accidentally released too much chlorine into the water, hospitalizing 13 visitors. A few hours later, the same thing happened and another two guests were forced to go to the hospital. Three years later, Calypso Theme Waterpark was fined $400,000 over six violations of the Technical Standards and Safety Act. These violations included operating a slide that the park knew wasn’t safe, failing to give all of its workers proper training, and not reporting serious injuries that occurred on property — including one that saw a man break a vertebra on the Steamer slide.
When it comes to accidents, Steamer is typically the biggest culprit in the park. Even Calypso Theme Waterpark’s biggest fans have warned future visitors of the ride, with multiple hospital-worthy injuries detailed online. It was previously found that it had developed a “buckle” that caused rafts to flip, an issue to which a prosecutor claimed the park was “wilfully blind.” Its Orange Bobsleigh has also been the site of multiple incidents over the years, including one that injured an entire family of five and saw one person flung over the side of the slide and onto the concrete below.
Siam Amazing Park – Bangkok, Thailand
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You get two attractions in one at Siam Amazing Park (not to be confused with Siam Park in Tenerife). Those on a budget-friendly trip to Bangkok can enjoy both a theme park and a water park, complete with the world’s biggest wave pool, Talay Krung Thep, and multiple high-speed slides, including Saifa (“lightning” in Thai) and the Tower of Power. While it’s definitely an adrenaline-packed day out, Siam Amazing Park — previously known as Siam Park City — doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to safety.
In 2008, 28 children aged between 10 and 13 were injured when sections of its corkscrew slide collapsed and caused them to fall over six feet to the ground. As recently as 2022, guests continue to point out the park’s lack of maintenance, citing the wave pool covered in dead skin and a ring pool that is dirty and falling apart. “Half of the attractions are closed, probably because [they’re] so badly maintained the break all the time,” one guest wrote on Google Reviews. Those who have tried to discuss the park’s safety issues have claimed that they were met with aggression from Siam Amazing Park’s management and escorted out by security.
WhiteWater World – Coomera, Australia
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WhiteWater World is the sister park to Australia’s biggest theme park, Dreamworld. While the latter is open year-round, WhiteWater World only opens in Queensland’s warmer months — usually September to April — and draws inspiration from the country’s iconic surfing and beach culture. Its rides cater to guests looking for both mild and extreme thrills, but more than half of its slides fall into the “max thrill” category.
Sometimes, this thrill is a little bit too much. In 2020, an 8-year-old girl suffered extreme internal injuries and lost half a liter of blood while riding WhiteWater World’s Fully6 attraction. The park’s operators were issued with an “improvement notice” over the incident, though it was later revealed that the guest — who was left with PTSD — wasn’t told by staff that she needed to cross her legs before riding the slide.
Two years later, another guest took the water park to court after being flung from a raft on its Triple Vortex slide. The rider in question alleged that the park was more concerned about getting him to sign a non-disclosure agreement after the incident than getting him medical help (something WhiteWater World strongly denies), despite the fact it left him with a snapped clavicle and nerve damage. “I never even got an apology,” he told 7NEWS.
Birch Bay Waterslides – Birch Bay, Washington
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Birch Bay Waterslides has spent over 35 years entertaining Washington residents with just eight water slides come summer. This small but mighty park is a local institution come summer, but it was forced to close early during its 2023 season after a concerning incident left one male guest severely injured. While the park has remained mum on the precise details, the guest reportedly sustained serious leg injuries due to an equipment failure – with some locals claiming that the incident occurred after segments of a slide came apart and sliced the rider’s leg.
For those who’ve grown up visiting or working at Birch Bay Waterslides, the incident was a long time coming. On the local community Reddit thread r/Bellingham, multiple former employees alleged that the slides were in terrible condition even a decade ago. Reviews of the park are plagued with complaints about safety hazards. On Tripadvisor, one 2017 visitor stated, “This place should really be shut down, it is so run down.” Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that after the incident in August 2023, it was revealed that a previous inspection had found rusted nails, water damage, and cracked concrete supports, all of which were recommended to be fixed before it opened for the 2023 season. Despite all the drama, Birch Bay Waterslides is now selling discounted passes for its next season and will seemingly reopen in 2024 as usual.
Water Planet Aqua Park – Alanya, Turkey
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Summer days hit an average of 82 degrees Fahrenheit in Alanya, Turkey, which makes popping to the water park even more tempting than usual. Unfortunately, some visitors have found their day at Water Planet Aqua Park not so enjoyable. There are negative reviews online for the park, many detailing a chaotic environment with a lack of lifeguards and safety precautions. While most reports focus on your typical water park injuries, they tend to stress just how frequently bumps and bruises occur at Water Planet Aqua Park.
According to past guests on Tripadvisor, multiple slides reportedly don’t have enough water to keep riders moving smoothly all the way down, and many contain bumps that make it tough to stay in your raft. One guest from 2018 claimed to have witnessed some “awful accidents” during their visit, including one in which her daughter started going down one slide and “ended up two slides over hurting her leg and shoulder.” Another child allegedly hit her face on the wall of a slide after being knocked by an adult who came down too soon, resulting in “lots of blood.” Most recommend checking out Alanya’s other water parks as a safer — and more fun — alternative.
Serena Water Park – Espoo, Finland
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Considering its hottest days typically only reach 68 degrees Fahrenheit, Finland isn’t exactly water park central. However, it still has a bustling destination open from January to December in the form of Serena Water Park. The park has both indoor and outdoor slides (the latter of which are only open in the summer for obvious reasons), not to mention a cave of saunas if you need help defrosting from Espoo’s frigid winters.
Exciting though the novelty of a Finnish water park may be, Serena Water Park has apparently seen better days. Many visitors have warned others about the park, reporting loose screws that scratch your back as you ride, and dangerous-looking slides with uneven sections throughout the tubes.
Those responsible for keeping the chaos in check don’t receive glowing feedback either. “The lifeguards on duty were few and seriously uninterested in following what was going on even close to their post, lounging around with an air of boredom, only reluctantly responding to direct questions,” one visitor wrote on Tripadvisor, where they also called the park “an accident waiting to happen.” If other reviews are anything to go by, accidents are already relatively commonplace. On Google Reviews, one describes an incident in which they lost several teeth, while another guest injured their leg.
Blue Bayou Water Park – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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One visitor took to Tripadvisor to warn others “just don’t go,” which tells you everything you need to know about Blue Bayou Water Park’s reputation. The Louisianan water park sits next door to Baton Rouge’s Dixie Landin’ theme park (which is closed for the foreseeable future), boasting all the typical staples — from a lazy river to speed slides and bowls.
While the park was once beloved in the area, the general consensus seems to be that it’s gone downhill since the 1990s. Lifeguards and other employees have been accused of being disinterested in the welfare of the park’s patrons. Some visitors have had to seek medical attention for injuries sustained on its rides, which are in desperate need of some TLC to eliminate the rough bumps that hurt riders on their way down. “I don’t get that the inspection didn’t close it yet,” a visitor said on Tripadvisor in 2017. “Leakage, safety barrier falling apart, buoy with torn handle, a complete disaster.”
Methodology
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The most cautious people would say that every water park is dangerous. In reality, while there’s some element of risk to every adventurous day out, the safest locations will have precautions and guidelines in place to mitigate the worst case scenarios and ensure guests can experience the safest possible thrills.
To find out which parks are doing this properly (and which ones aren’t), we read through hundreds of traveler reviews across Tripadvisor and Google to find out how safe guests felt on their visits. We also looked through each park’s safety record since its opening to find out about past incidents that may be indicative of just how dangerous it is to pay a visit.
