After raining for three days last week, which by the way was considered as a very rare occurrence here in Abu Dhabi, the skies eventually cleared up and Mr. Sun came out at last, giving us a perfect "summery" weather just in time for our scheduled weekend getaway in Atlantis The Palm's Aquaventure Waterpark.

We decided to have an early beach trip this year to avoid the uncomfortable heat of the summer season.  Believe me, you would find it almost impossible really difficult to enjoy any outdoor activity with a temperature spiking up to 40-50 degrees Celsius! We had already experienced how extremely unpleasant it felt to go swimming in May and June, and we're never EVER doing that again!  (Sadly, we had to learn the hard way.) Thus, the month of March, in my opinion, is pretty much the most favorable time of the year to enjoy a refreshing dip in a beach or pool -- not too hot to cause heatstroke and not too cold to leave you freezingly cold.  

Our little family is a great fan of anything FREE, thus we usually just spend summer in the public beach of Corniche -- an absolutely beautiful beach with pristine waters and white sand!  However, when my dear husband saw Aquaventure's flash sale online, he thought of it as a great opportunity for me to finally experience the best water park in the Middle East and Europe. So without thinking twice, he booked us a reservation and scheduled one weekend for a family trip to Dubai.

Atlantis The Palm is a majestic 5-star resort hotel built at the apex of the man-made island, The Palm Jumeirah, which is approximately an hour and a half drive away from Abu Dhabi.  We arrived at the place around 10:30 am, but it took us one more hour before we were finally able to get in and enjoy the Waterpark.  (Unfortunately, the parking area near the hotel costs AED 150, which was very expensive, so my husband had to drop us off by the lobby and look for a slot where he could park our car for free.)

While waiting for Ronnie, I decided to go to the admission counter to claim our passes and avail a locker -- priced at AED 40 (small) and AED 75 (big) respectively -- where we could keep our belongings.  That was when I saw the huge tarpaulins of the rates and packages available at the park, which indicate that the regular admission fee to Aquaventure's Marine and Waterpark costs AED 320 per person.  Frankly, I find it quite pricey and told myself I wouldn't be happy to spend that much for a Waterpark.  Good thing UAE residents are provided with a special rate, not to mention they also give AED 60 off to those who made an advance booking online.  Hence, we only paid AED 130 each for the entrance (kids 2 years old and below are free of charge). Great deal, right?

Aquaventure is huge and you would need to do a lot of walking to go from one place to another.  Nevertheless, I must say I loved it that way because you'll never find the park overcrowded with visitors.  I don't know if it's just me, but I really don't like it when there are just too many people trying to occupy a pool as if it was a scene from the sinking Titanic.  

Anyway, the park has lots of exciting rides, but my sister and I only got to try The Rapids, Torrent River, and the Water Coasters while Ronnie and Rafa just went 5 rounds in the Torrent River.  I know you might be thinking we wasted the opportunity to try all the rides.  While that may sound true, what's more important for me was to enjoy the place.  Obviously, sliding down the Leap of Faith, along with the other thrill rides, would just scare me to death, so I didn't dare try it anymore.  My main goal here really was to get out of the park safe and alive!  Lol!

Aside from their spacious Waterpark and its heart-pumping rides, I also loved that they do have A LOT of lifeguards around.  And by the phrase "a lot," I mean you'll see a lifeguard present at each post, which is only 50 meters apart.  Parents like me would certainly have the peace of mind that their kids are indeed safe in this place.  Kudos to the management for prioritizing their visitor's safety!

On a different note, I must say that the traffic caused by the ongoing road construction outside the hotel resulted in a horrible traffic jam!  Just imagine wasting an hour of your life in an almost non-moving traffic?  That's crazy!  I hope they would be able to finish the project soon so people won't have to experience the inconvenience we had endured during our visit.  Nonetheless, Aquaventure was still the best waterpark I had been so far!  Indeed, a must-visit place when in Dubai!