With sunshine, alcohol, beaches and even a television show in its name Benidorm already ticked a lot of boxes for tourists but now it’s added another attraction to the list with one of the world’s largest waterslides.
‘The Cyclon’ opened just in time for summer at Aqualandia, the waterpark in Benidorm which welcomes thousands of tourists every year.
It measures 36 metres high – similar to a 12-storey building – and 200 metres in length and sweeps visitors down tubes and around bends at a whopping average speed of 60km/h, simulating the feeling of zero-gravity.
However, the highlight of the ride is a huge vortex tunnel measuring 20 metres in diameter which will see riders circling like water around a plug hole before continuing on to fall in the pool below.
The tag-line for the slide asks visitors ‘Ready to hallucinate?’, which admittedly sounds a bit ominous but is most likely referring to the impression created by the blue and white pattern which will swirl around riders as they enter the vortex.
The open-topped vortex is similar to a ‘space bowl’ slide which has riders slide around a big bowl before tumbling out of a hole at the bottom but the Cyclon quite literally puts a unique spin on the concept by putting the bowl at an angle of 45 degrees.
The ride is one the whole family can enjoy together, providing you’re all over four foot, as visitors swoop down in groups on a four-seat raft.
Aqualandia officially opened its new attraction last month but with the summer holidays just around the corner there’s no doubt the queues for the slide will only get bigger over the next few weeks as excited tourists embark to the park for an adrenaline-filled day.
Cyclon is rated as a ‘moderate’ attraction, in comparison to ‘infantile’ or ‘radical’, so if you’re apprehensive about waterslides but still feeling a bit daring this could be the one for you!
Of course, there’s no shame in being an adult who’s happier to stick with the infantile selection. The Aqualandia website even boasts ‘abundant gardens with plants’ which you could entertain yourself with if you decide none of the rides are for you.
The water park is also home to the world’s highest capsule slide, Verto-Go, which stands 33 metres high. With riders dropping down at an average speed of 100 km/h, that slide is understandably classified as ‘radical’.
One-day tickets for the park are available online from €34 for an adult and €26 for a junior or senior.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.