Thinking of visiting Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark in Dubai, UAE, and feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone! Planning a visit to the world’s largest water park might look like a daunting task while all you want to do is simply have a good time and enjoy the best it has to offer.
We have been to Aquaventure when visiting Dubai with kids a few times. However, those trips were several years apart, the kids had different ages, and every time, I struggled to find information that I was looking for. Let alone find answers to all those questions in one place…
So in this guide, I share all the information we wish we had known before our recent visit to Atlantis Aquaventure water park. This way, you can find all the main info in one place. I hope that our experience-based tips and advice will help you make the most out of your time and money. Find out!
Here are our top tips for visiting Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark in Dubai:
1. Book tickets online (& well in advance)
There are several reasons why you should book your tickets for Atlantis Aquaventure online and in advance.
First, online tickets are cheaper than at the entrance. Furthermore, if you book tickets at least a week in advance, the prices are usually about another 10% lower. So by booking online and well in advance, you can save about 18% compared to buying tickets at the park entrance.
And finally, with online tickets, you can go straight to the entrance skipping the queues at the ticket desk, which saves you time.
TIP: While you can get tickets on the official website, we recommend booking via GetYourGuide. The price is the same, but the GetYourGuide website is so much easier to use. Plus, they have a very flexible cancellation policy. In addition, you can pay in your own currency which means that they apply the official exchange rate. Whereas paying in AED often costs you quite a lot extra in credit card fees and deviations in exchange rates.
Through GetYourGuide, you can also book all other popular tickets for Aquaventure, including dolphin experiences (those have timed slots are best booked well in advance too!).
Good to know: If you are planning to visit Aquaventure more than once, it’s better to buy a multi-day pass at the park entrance. They also have annual and season passes. If you are staying at Atlantis The Palm Hotel, you enjoy FREE access to the waterpark. So if you are planning to spend several days in this waterpark, it might be worth considering staying at the hotel, especially if you are traveling with a family and outside the peak season when hotel prices are more affordable.
Our experience: Every time we went to Aquaventure, it was only once during the trip. So we simply bought our tickets online via GetYourGuide. At the entrance, you show the QR codes and that’s it – it’s all very simple and straightforward.
2. Get a combo ticket with Lost Chambers Aquarium
Atlantis The Palm Hotel is not only home to the Aquaventure Waterpark, but it also houses the Lost Chambers Aquarium. These two are located just next to one another and you will pass the aquarium on your way to the water park entrance.
Therefore, many people visiting Aquaventure Waterpark also visit the Aquarium. However, the regular entry ticket for the Aquarium alone costs about 135 AED (+-34euros). As much as we liked this impressive aquarium, this price feels way too high for what it is… Especially if you are visiting with a family and the costs quickly add up…
This was also the reason why we skipped the aquarium on our previous visit – it just wasn’t worth the price. However, nowadays they have a combo ticket for Aquaventure + Lost Chambers Aquarium and it offers very good value.
TIP: So instead of buying separate tickets for the water park and the aquarium, you can get this combo ticket and visit both. It’s A LOT cheaper this way and makes a visit to the aquarium a nice addition to your day.
Good to know: Aquaventure Waterpark is open until 6 PM, whereas the Lost Chambers Aquarium remains open until 9 PM. So you can easily visit here at the end of the day, when the water park is already closed (or when you had enough of it).
Please also note that Aquaventure tickets that include dolphin experiences usually do not include Lost Chambers Aquarium.
3. Avoid weekends
If you think the main attractions in Dubai are busy during the week, then just try to imagine them on weekends.
Since Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark is popular with pretty much all age groups (families, teens, young adults, etc.), it attracts lots of local visitors as well. And when do locals have time for water parks? On weekends and school holidays, of course.
So if you want to avoid the biggest crowds and enjoy the park to the fullest, try to avoid visiting Atlantis Aquaventure on weekends.
Good to know: Weekends in the UAE start on Friday afternoon and last until Sunday. So the best days to visit Aquaventure are between Monday and Thursday. In addition, you may want to check if there are any public holidays during your visit as well (and avoid those).
4. Arrive early
Aquaventure Atlantis is open daily from around 9 AM. Try to arrive at the park early, before it even opens (you also need some time to get to the entrance, etc.).
Even in the busy season, it’s rather quiet in the morning, which means that you won’t have to waste time in lines waiting to get in, pay for the locker, etc. But what’s most important is that you will be able to enjoy the best attractions without much wait.
Our experience: We recently visited Dubai in the high season, arrived at Aquaventure a bit before 10 AM, and could just walk in without any delay. Most of the attractions were very quiet at this time of the day and we could do a lot in the first hour – an hour and a half.
By noon, there were enormous queues at all the water slides. The same places where we had less than 5 minutes of wait time in the morning were now showing 30-45 minutes of waiting time. In the afternoon, most queues were over an hour long.
Good to know: Arriving early is not the only trick to avoid the crowds. Further below, you can find more tips. But first, some more practical information.
5. Pick up free water socks!
If you have been to water parks before, you probably already know that it’s best to wear water shoes. That way, you don’t have to worry about hurting your feet while walking, or burning them when pathways between get scorching hot in the midday sun. Since water shoes sit tight around your feet, you can simply wear them all the time, on all slides.
We normally pack our own water shoes for water parks, but if you are traveling light, you will be glad to know that Aquaventure provides water socks for FREE! They are not as sturdy as water shoes but do the job just fine and should last through the day. In the worst case, if they break, you can also ask for a new pair. Just don’t forget to dispose of them in the special container before you leave the park (or take them with you and reuse as long as they last).
Good to know: You can pick up a pair of water socks at any guest services counter inside the park. When we visited, they also had a big aqua socks kiosk in the middle of the main pathway towards the attractions – you really couldn’t miss them.
While you can simply wear sandals or flip-flops for walking around, we do not recommend them because you can’t keep them on at the attractions. At Aquaventure, they have some shelves where you can leave your shoes before going up to the slides. But if you do that, you’ll be barefoot half the time and will also have to come back to pick them up (walking on hot surfaces in the meantime).
6. Pack as little as possible & use a locker
When planning to spend a day at a water park, pack only what you really need.
Leave everything that you don’t absolutely need at your hotel (including jewelry, watches, etc.). Also, wear light clothes and shoes that take as little space as possible.
If you want to keep your belongings safe inside the park, you will have to use lockers. However, keep in mind that they are very expensive and quite small. A regular locker costs 60 AED (+-15 euros) and can hardly fit a small backpack. A bigger locker is 85 AED (+-22 euros).
You can rent a locker at any guest services counter inside the park. If you need a towel, you can rent a beach towel at the same time. Keep in mind that towels cost 35 AED (+-9 euros). We packed several small travel towels with us. You may also be able to borrow a towel from your hotel, but it might be difficult to prop it inside the locker, especially if the towels are big and you are sharing a locker with the whole family.
Good to know: Lockers are located at the entrance of either female or male bathrooms/changing rooms. But there are also ‘family lockers’ that might be easier to use, depending on your family situation.
TIP: There are lockers in several different areas of the Aquaventure waterpark. If you want to be able to quickly access your locker during the day, we recommend using the lockers that are located more centrally rather than the ones at the entrance. Atlas Village area (close to Poseidon Tower) is a good choice for that, right in the middle of the park.
This brings us to the next point – the park layout. See below for more info!
7. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the park (+Map)
Atlantis Aquaventure prides itself as the world’s largest waterpark and has an impressive number of more than a hundred rides, slides, and attractions. However, in reality, it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it sounds on paper.
If you are mostly interested in the best water slides and most exhilarating attractions, you can find them all in just 3 towers: Neptune Tower, Poseidon Tower, and Trident Tower. Each tower is a starting point of a series of rides, which often share the same staircase.
PRO TIP: Be sure to check height requirements for the attractions you want to do, especially if visiting Aquavanture with young kids. If your kids are 120 cm tall, then they are allowed pretty much everywhere. But if they are smaller than that, you’ll have fewer choices (still plenty, but much less thrilling rides which might limit what the rest of the family can do).
If you are wondering which rides and slides are ‘the best’, here are our teens’ favorites:
- Neptune Tower: Leap of Faith (not for the faint-hearted though).
- Poseidon Tower: Slitherine.
- Trident Tower (the best tower, in our opinion): Odyssey of Terror, Medusa’s Lair, Vortex, Blackout (not for the faint-hearted either). The kids also loved ‘cliff jumping’ at Immortal Falls and went at least 10 times – there was very little to no wait here early in the day.
We found some other popular rides (especially at Neptune Tower and Poseidon Tower) ok, but not really worth the wait if longer than 10-15 minutes. Lazy River is also very nice, especially the not-so-lazy parts.
Below, is the map of Atlantis Aquaventure. As you can see, Neptune Tower is on the left and closest to the entrance, Poseidon Tower is in the middle of the park, and Trident Tower is all the way to the right, furthest from the entrance.
In addition to all the thrilling rides, there are two main ‘splash areas’ where you can find slides and attractions for smaller kids (under 120 cm). Those are Splashers Island & Mountain close to the entrance and Splashers Lagoon & Cove close to Poseidon and Trident Towers.
Furthermore, there are several other areas that have nothing to do with water slides and similar. One of them is Atlas Village where you will find dolphin and sea lion experiences (to be booked in advance and at an extra cost). And then there is Aquaventure Beach, where you can simply relax on the beach as well as a watersports area where you can find activities like kayaking and paddle-boarding, but also wind surfing, flyboarding, etc. (all at an additional cost).
So depending on your interests and/or your kids’ age/height, you will likely spend most of your time in just a few of these areas. And out of 105 attractions, maybe you will only be interested in just 15 or 20…
Good to know: Since the park is large and rather spread out, the best way to experience what Aquaventure has to offer is by visiting one of the towers/areas at a time, doing whatever you want to do there, and then moving on to the next tower.
But there’s something else we wish we had known before our visit to Aquaventure – see below.
8. Start with the furthest towers & most thrilling attractions first
In addition to booking tickets in advance, avoiding weekends, and arriving early, this is the most important tip that I can give you if you want to make the most out of your visit to Atlantis Aquaventure – start with the attractions that are further away from the entrance first (ssh – don’t tell anyone!).
Most first-time visitors are so overwhelmed when they enter the park, that they have no idea where to start. So obviously, people start with the first things they come across – usually, Neptune Tower. We made the same mistake too, but luckily, quickly realized it and moved on as far away from the entrance as we could.
If you arrive very early, you could start at Poseidon Tower which only has four rides, and move on to Trident Tower later. If, however, Poseidon Tower is already getting busy, head straight to Trident Tower and make the best of your time there before the crowds reach that part of the park. We personally found that the attractions at Trident Tower were the best of all areas.
In addition, go to the attractions that use floats first. The queues at these rides get insane in the afternoon. My personal favorites – by far – were Odyssey of Terror and Medusa’s Lair, both at Trident Tower.
Good to know: While the distances at Aquaventure aren’t that big, you can also use their ‘express shuttles’ to get from one area to the other. We found that walking went faster than waiting for the shuttle, but if there’s a shuttle available, you can simply hop on.
9. Have more money than time? Upgrade to AquaExpress!
If you want to avoid a long wait at all the attractions altogether, you can upgrade to AquaExpress which gives you fast-track access everywhere.
However, keep in mind that it costs an additional 495 AED (+-135 USD) per person, making it a very expensive luxury, especially if you are visiting with a big family.
Good to know: If you decide to do this, you can simply pay for the upgrade upon arrival. So you get your regular tickets online in advance and then pay for AquaExpress at the park itself.
I want to add that at busy times, there were quite long queues at the AquaExpress line as well. In one case, we saw people queuing for over 15 minutes (which meant that the regular line was hardly moving at all). There are many rich people in the UAE who are prepared to pay for this upgrade, which kind of loses its purpose. But at busy times – and for most popular attractions – this might be the only way to enjoy them.
We found it better to simply arrive earlier, do the most popular rides in the morning, and then spend the afternoon at the quieter attractions, lazy river and similar, swimming in a pool, or relaxing at the beach, etc. But if you absolutely want to do every single ride at Aquaventure, paying for the AquaExpress is the only way to do ‘everything’ in a day.
Below, we have one more tip that might help you make the most of your time.
10. Eat late & plan any additional activities in the afternoon
As already mentioned, the busiest times at Atlantis Aquaventure are in the afternoon. It’s not really a big deal at the beach or splash areas, but the queues at the best rides can get crazy long. Most rides where we had almost no wait at all in the morning, were showing wait times of up to an hour by 1-2 PM.
So use the morning hours to the maximum by doing the most thrilling attractions first, without wasting your time on anything else.
If you can wait for lunch, postpone it as long as you can. If you want to do any dolphin- or sea lion experiences, book late afternoon time slots. Use your afternoon to relax and rewind!
Needless to say, if you booked a ticket that includes entry to Lost Chambers Aquarium, go there at the very end of the day, after you leave the water park.
11. Additional Tips for Atlantis Aquaventure in Dubai
Here are some additional tips and practical information that you may want to know before your visit:
- Wear UV clothes and use plenty of sunscreen lotion. While the layout of Aquavanture is planned well, trying to maximize the use of shady areas, you cannot avoid being in the sun for hours. And we all know how hot it can get in Dubai! Without good sun protection, you risk getting a serious sunburn. Wear UV shirts/rash guards and use lots and lots of sunscreen lotion for any uncovered skin.
- Bring a waterproof case for your phone. If you want to take some pictures during the day, bring a waterproof phone pouch. I had mine on all the rides and it was allowed almost everywhere. There were a few attractions where I think it could have been an issue (certain body slides and especially the ones where you slide on your belly like HydraRacer). But I didn’t do all of them so I’m not sure if it is forbidden on any body slides.
- You can find free life jackets of all sizes close to Raging Rapids in the Trident Tower area. These jackets are required for this attraction, but I’m sure you could also ‘borrow’ one of them if e.g. your kids can’t swim yet and you didn’t think to bring arm floaties with you.
- There is free WiFi available in Atlantis Aquaventure as well as Lost Chambers Aquarium.
- You can use credit cards for all payments at Aquaventure Atlantis. If you visit the park several times, you could also install their app and link your credit card with the armband. But if you are only visiting Aquaventure for a day, simply take a credit card in your waterproof phone pouch. If you use your smartphone for payments, you should be able to pay with e.g. Apple Wallet and similar. If not sure, just ask the guest services staff when you pay for the locker.
- You are not allowed to bring any food or drinks to the park (except for water and baby food). As with all theme parks, food prices at Aquaventure are really high. We paid over 80 euros for a very simple fast-food lunch for 3 people.
READ ALSO: How Expensive is Dubai
So, these are our top tips and tricks for visiting Atlantis Aquaventure in Dubai. I hope that this gives you a better idea of what to expect and helps you plan a perfect day at the world’s largest water park.
Have a great time!
More travel inspiration and information for visiting Dubai:
- Practical info:
- Things to do:
- Fun read:
READ ALSO: Dubai Itinerary for One Week
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Neli
Wednesday 3rd of April 2024
Spot on Jurga. Three more tips...the snacks in the shops near the changing rooms are cheaper. The lazy river is amazing and of course has no queues. There is a great beach....chilll and swim.
Jurga
Thursday 4th of April 2024
Thanks for the tips, Neli. Happy travels!