Aqualand Maspalomas — Attraction in San Bartolomé de Tirajana

Everything in this park is extremely overpriced and not even worth it, not to mention the 'adult' ticket range - an 11 year old counts as an adult!!?? First, were stopped and told we are not allowed to bring in our own swimming ring for my little brother, and we were sent back to put it back in our car. We later discovered that in their pricey shop, they sell swimming rings, obviously for a extremely high price. After entering, you have to pay 7€ for a locker which doesnt even have a large capacity. You dont want a little locker, or you want to keep your stuff handy? You will have to pay 5€ for a seat. Not only that, but the shop there is horribly overpriced. I Had to buy a pair of swimming shorts, costing me 18€. So not only you have to pay a ton for your tickets, you have to pay for every little thing in there. I've also seen how expensive the food is there, and ive also heard that it tastes really bad, so I would highly recommend avoiding it. Basically, you just have to pay a huge amount of money for anything and everything, they honestly just want to drain your bank accounts. There is also not a large amount of slides, if you dont count the minutes waiting in queues, you will be able to go on every slide in the park in less than 20 minutes. Also, they're not amazing, they are just ordinary slides you see at any other ( even cheaper ) water park. Not to mention the staff dont seem to care at all about their overpaying customers, half of them look bored and unhappy to be there. If the customers are made to pay so much, i would atleast expect the staff to be a bit more warm and welcoming. Although i do have to say, some of them are, but theres only a handful of them. There is one staff member in particular which was horrible, I do not know her name, but you will certainly know when you see her - unpleasant, rude and generally horrible. My little brother was measured on every single ride he went on, every time he went on it , treating him like some sort of animal. The time we encountered this rude lady was when he was being measured at the bottom of a slide , before even entering, in order to confirm he measured over 120 cm, which he did. We were allowed up and we waited in queue for a good 10 minutes, then we were stopped at the top of the slide, before going down it because they wanted to measure him AGAIN. The lady knew he was measured downstairs as she was informed by a radio, yet she continued to do it again. If he wasnt tall enough, he wouldn't have been let up, seems quite logical , does it not? My mother and father informed the lady once more that he has been measured before going up, but she ignores them and begins being very rude, then shooing us away. Once we got to the bottom of the slide, she decides to make her way down to us again as if to just annoy us and cause problems. She starts talking to one of her coworkers, pointing fingers at my mother while talking quickly and in a very rude tone in Spanish, directed at my mother. The lady then proceeded to repeatedly call her stupid - not only in Spanish but also in English. To make it even worse, once we had absolutely enough of her, we began leaving, the lady looked at 2 random customers (a father and son) and said , " stupid people, eh?". Extremely immature and horrible behaviour. She should not work in any sort of job that includes communicating or being around people as she is extremely rude and immature. If you can, avoid her. To make things worse, no one informs you on what to do once you try to finally leave that place. The machine which is meant to lift the barrier to let you leave, doesn't accept regular coins, so you are left confused, resulting in you most likely ending up circling the car park attempting to find a way to leave. After finally going to the reception to figure out how to get out, it turned out that you have to buy a token from them, instead of using regular coins. Because why not make it more confusing and annoying? They could atleast put up a sign or a sticker somewhere telling people to buy that token from...

Ignore the negative reviews — Aqualand was actually very enjoyable! From a tourist’s (British) perspective, it’s a great place to spend the first half of the day. While it isn’t huge, there are enough rides to keep you entertained. However, most rides have a height restriction of 150cm, so it may not be ideal for families with smaller children unless you're happy to stay at the wave pool and kids’ water play area.

The wave pool also wasn’t really much of a wave pool — it goes off every so often but doesn’t really move you much, apart from the vibrating bubbles at the shallow end. Some slides that don’t require rubber rings can leave you with a bruised bum as you tend to bang around a bit. The lazy river is extremely slow — more suited for sunbathing than actually floating around.

It is a bit pricey for what’s on offer, and some areas are quite run down — for example, the lazy river floor has an odd colour and some staircases are very rusty. That said, the rides themselves were great fun, with plenty of steep drops as well as some gentler slides for those who prefer something less intense.

I’ve seen reviews complaining about the ground being too hot — obviously, that's out of the park's control. From 10am it was fine, but by around 2pm it did get quite hot, so I’d recommend bringing flip flops or sliders and carrying them on your wrists while using the slides.

Phones aren’t allowed on some rides (even in waterproof cases), so you have to leave them at the top and walk back up after finishing the ride, which can be a little awkward when it’s busy. I suspect some bad reviews are from people who visited during school holidays — I went on a Friday in June and managed to get on every ride multiple times within the first couple of hours, so timing makes a big difference.

It's not very budget-friendly. Sunbeds cost €5 each and are constantly monitored, so you can’t use them without paying. Lockers are €7 (non-refundable), and the food is expensive — chicken and chips were €15, water €3, cheesy chips €9, and only one kids' meal option for €10. Bringing your own food is definitely the better option.

They also take slide photos, which cost €10 for one digital download or €30 for all digital copies plus one print. Given the size of the park, it’s hard to justify the overall price, as I expected it to be a bit bigger (similar in size to Alton Towers), but the rides themselves were really fun — at times I felt like I was going to fall off, which added to the thrill!

One small point of confusion: only one ride has a conveyor belt to take the rubber rings to the top — on all others, you need to collect a ring from someone finishing their ride and carry it up yourself, which isn’t clearly explained and you just have to figure it out by watching others.

Overall though, my partner and I had a great time and even left early after getting on all the rides...

I was working in Maspalomas and had some freetime, so I decided to go to Aqualand with a bunch of great colleagues. Not 10 minutes after landing in Las Palmas airport we were handed vouchers saving us a couple of euros off the entrance fee (which was a little high in my opinion). This left me with the impression that that these guys were either really desperate or this place is the shit and one of Gran Canaria's must-experience attractions. I must admit that it was the first of these thoughts that I considered most probable!

My initial thought about Aqualand before actually going was that I'd probably end up with a dose of foot warts and a stomach full of chlorine water while some spoiled british fat kid's screaming would leave me half deaf on my left ear (which is already battling with a solid proportion of tinnitus). My expectations were in other words nothing short of a long haul day - although in good company and with a small hope of a tickle or two in the lower gut region.

Now laying in my bed on the other side of an adventurous afternoon filled with laughter and good memories, I must admit; I was wrong. From the fright before going down the Boomerang to the kick of the final drop in the Racer Twin Turbulence, I had more than a couple of tickles and dopamine rushes coming through! Surprisingly, the Snake Falls would provide the most thrilling of the 36 slides Aqualand offers. Hiding a little above the other 3(!) slides in the Snake Falls, a fully covered pipe leaving no light coming through left me with the biggest impression. Its twisted structure had my head spinning as the high speed, the slide conditioned, smashed me into the lukewarm water where all the subjects of the four snakeheads would be spat out in unity and joy. As I emerged from the water, confused and dizzy, I realized that my whole body had been affected and mesmerized by this 7 second escapism.

Altough the Anaconda was closed and I didn't appreciate the park having sea lions swimming around in pools by the size of the room I rent in my friend's metropol apartment, I must say that this was a very pleasent experience. The food was a bit expensive, as I paid 20€ for a burger menu, which on the other hand was rather justified as I learned that my large burger menu at La Cantina came with a large beer (0,75L!) for no extra costs. It's also obviously the off season right now which was great as there were basically no waiting time for the slides. The staff was mostly nice in spite of a raised finger or two as my excitement took the better of me rushing for another turn in the Adrenalina. We'll have to see with the warts, but my guess is that I'll be wart free returning to Denmark come three weeks!

With the day coming to an end and as my afternoon has been properly accesed, I can only say:

Grab your friends and...