Southern California has some of the best water park in the United States, and I will tell you why.
1. Raging Waters Sam Dimas
This water park is fairly new and has so much to offer as far as all day fun in the sun. If you want to catch some waves in the ” Flow Rider” or maybe you would like to race side by side with one of your friends or family members, this tops my list of the best place to spend the day in sun. From vertical drops like the ” Drop Out” water slide that sends you down a slide 7 stories in the air at about 40 mph, to some great group rides like ” Thunder Rapids” to get thrown from side to side barreling down the flume. Trust me, you are going to get very wet! This place is very family friendly with slides/rides that cater to almost anyone small or tall.
There are rides and areas just for the kids so you will not have to worry about some of the main rides being a little too extreme for the young ones. Areas like “Kids Kingdom” is a huge water playground for your kids to stay cool and to play on some small slides or navigate through plastic tunnels. One of the coolest things they have is called “volcano Fantasea” where kids can climb in this big volcano and slide down the slides coming out of it. Its not very high up so, anyone can have fun with this one.
General admission for adults is 34.99. Children under 48″ 19.99. The park is located in San Dimas CA. The hours of operation is usually 10-7 during the week and 10-8 on the weekends.
This is another amazing place to spend all day at getting wet an wild. As soon as you walk in, its hard to decide where to go first. You can go to “Balboa Bay” to hang out and catch a few waves or work on your tan. Or you can go the the “Imperial Run” area and go down some of the twistiest slides that really does make you a little dizzy. If adrenaline is your thing, you can go to the “La Jolla Falls” area and race down some fierce vertical drops. You can also join the family and go the the “Coronado Express” and ride down some really fun rapids. I would say the main area of attraction would be the ” Sunset River” area being that there is a cool fun house in the middle called “Dicks Beach House” and also ” Tykes Trough” for the kids mainly. All in all this is a very fun park to spend the day to get a little bit of everything.
General admission for adults is 28.99. Children 3-11 years of age 17.99 The park is located in San Diego CA. The hours of operation is usually 10-7 daily
This a definitely one of the better water parks as far as family friendly rides go. From big thrill rides to just lounging around and keeping up with you tan, you can have it all here. One of the best rides is the ” Black Snake Summit” which features 2 of the tallest water slides in California. When you see it, you can see why, as it towers over you when you walk by it. This park also has a huge pool area with about 2 foot waves to hang out and kick back with the family while you contemplate which ride you will try next. Most of the rides big on family friendly, so you will not have a problems going on which every one you like with the young ones. There is an exclusive playground just for the kids called ” Castaway Cove” where they can play and co mingle with other adventure seeking children while you can kick back and soak up some rays. One of the coolest looking slides and fun is ” Tiki Falls” where you can slide down a very large slide and out the mouth of 3 interesting looking Tiki heads into the water below.
General admission for adults is 29.99. Children under 48″ 20.99. The park is located in Los Angles area (Valencia) CA. The hours of operation is 10:30-7 daily
4. Wild Rivers Irvine
This is another fairly new park that offers some great rides and great family fun. One of my favorites here is called the “Abyss” which you slide down a very large dark tube pretty much all the way dark and then fall 50ft into the water below. Another great ride here is “Congo River Rapids” which you get tossed side to side in a wide flume until you reach the bottom of the massive ride. Its hard to keep the water out of you face in that one. Although this park does not offer as many rides as the previous ones listed, its still a really fun place to spend the day as it is very family friendly. One of the coolest rides at this place that is pretty unique is the ” Bazooka Bowls” ride that sends you going through a tube into a huge bowl to swirl round and round until you fall in to the smaller hole at the bottom to the pool below.
General admission for adults is 31.98. Children under 48″ 19.98. The park is located in Irvine CA. The hours of operation is 10-8 daily
5. Knott Berry Farm Soak City Palm Springs
This park has some similarities to the San Diego park, but it still has rides and attractions it does not have. This is a very fun park to visit to get out of the hot Palm Springs heat and relax with the family. This place offers some unique type of attraction like “Kahunas Beach House” which if you are not careful you will get wet just standing outside of it. ” Tidal Wave Tower” is the kind of ride that you come screaming down the slide and smash right through the water at the end to create a nice wave to splash on-lookers either looking or not looking to get wet. Catch some waves at ” Rip Tide Reef” or you can go down a huge 70′ water slide called “Surf Rider Rapids” getting tossed from side to side before crashing into the pool of water that awaits you. This park also offers a swim up bar for those that are 21 and over and a cafe to have a drink or snack.
