The best waterparks in Melbourne are dotted across the city. Read below for our picks whether you’re after something free, indoors or a larger theme park to spend an entire day.
Adventure Park
Home to Victoria’s biggest and longest waterslide, the Tornado, Adventure Park in Geelong is also the largest theme park in the state. With water play areas for tiny tots, private cabanas for hire, you’ll also find rides and slides like the Gold Rush Rapids, Aqua Racer and Lazy River. Make a day of it and pack a picnic or make use of the free BBQs that are provided. For colder days there’s also a wide variety of dry activities including mini golf, archery, ferris wheels and carousels.
Watermarc
Following a recent multi million dollar upgrade, this leisure centre in Greensborough now boasts one of the state’s most popular and impressive water play facilities. With adrenaline rides like Tantrum Alley and The Pipeline, you’ll also find a tarzan rope, water adventure playground and large inflatables to play on. Toddlers and babies also have a dedicated space with jets and water sprays.
Seville Water Play Park
Our pick of the free, outdoor water play parks is in Seville. With water jets that are activated from September through to April, you’ll find it located next to a larger recreation reserve, perfect for a picnic, playing games or going on the playground. With a variety of water jets that are set on timers, children love the anticipation of where will spray next and you’ll also find some tunnels and rocks to climb on. With safety in mind, the designers have included rubberised surfaces as well as shaded areas.
Funfields
Another water theme park staple, Funfields, is in Whittlesea, just under an hour’s drive from Melbourne. Just in time for summer this year it has also launched a new waterslide called the Gravity Wave. It is now the largest of its kind in the world, and you begin by launching yourself off a platform 26.8 metres above the ground and own 186 metres of tubing. With 22 other rides and an additional water play area, there are things to cater to all ages whether it’s the Aqua Shak or Birdy Cove for the young ‘uns or the Typhoon and Kraken Racer slides for those who are taller than 120cms.
Pop up slides
Melbournians enjoy a good festival, so water lovers in particular will have been pleased by the various pop up water slides in and around the city over the past few summers. Last year, Fed Square hosted the Slide the Square, right in the heart of the Melbourne CBD with a 75 metre slip ‘n’ slide for a 12 day run. Landsdown St also hosted a 3 block long water slide that ran along the edge of the Fitzroy Gardens. The same folk from Slideapalooza Melbourne will be setting up shop at St Anne’s Winery in February 2018 for a two day water slide festival with multiple slides for all ages.
