Aquashow Park

Situated around 2km inland from Quarteira is the Aquashow Park, a huge complex centred around one of Portugal's largest water parks.

Aquashow is home to a good selection of water-based rides suitable for a range of ages. From adrenaline-fueled free fall slides to just bobbing around.

The rides themselves are all various combinations of slides, chutes and flumes with or without inflatable tubes. Where they vary is how high, twisty and fast they are but all finish with you shooting out of the end into a pool.

At the fastest end of the scale are the White Fall and new FreeFall slides which as you can guess involve some degree of plummeting down a steep slide. On the White Fall you do this in an inflatable tube whilst the FreeFall is a whopping 100ft (32m) high. A slightly different experience is the Wild Snake. Nearly 50ft (16m) high it involves shooting down the spiralling slide in the pitch black.One of the longest slides at the park is the 178m long Twin Space Shuttle in which you twist and turn down either the red or the yellow chute.

Aquashow Park's Water Roller Coaster is the only one of its kind in Portugal and the largest in Europe. 80 feet (23.5m) high and nearly half a mile (74m) long this ride whizzes along the track and through the water at a top speed of nearly 50mph (70 km/h)

The water park is also home to Portugal's largest wave pool. Suitable for all the family you can choose whether to throw yourself into the waves or paddle in the shallows. Of course there is a standard swimming pool if you prefer your water to be a little calmer.

For younger children there are two special areas which are essentially a cross between a scaled down version of the park and a children's playground. Aquakids and Aqualand are supervised by a whole team of lifeguards and are suitable for toddlers up.

Many of the rides have minimum height (over 3'8" / 1.10m) and age restrictions. One of the best for younger kids that doesn't have any restrictions is the Lazy River. Here the whole family can waft around the shallow circuit in 2-man inflatable dinghies.

And just in case all the water based fun wasn't quite enough for you there are a number of animal themed shows put on during the day. There are the parrot, reptiles and birds of prey shows where you can get up close and personal with some of these exotic creatures along with organised performances.

The Aquashow Park is part of a larger 4 Star hotel complex and as such there are all the facilities you would expect of a large attraction. Along with practicalities such as plenty of changing areas and lockers there are a number of cafes, restaurants and kiosks with food for a range of budgets and tastes. 

The waterpark is open from the beginning of May until the end of September from 10am seven days a week. Prices are around €15 for younger children and €25 for adults/older children.