Staying afloat

THE owners of a water playground – wrongly labelled as “the park with no water” – believe it can live in the shadow of the new wave of recreational attractions being built in Bahrain and still prosper.

Giant water slides are visible to motorists on Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman highway and can appear unused to those speeding by. But it is an illusion, and, although the park was built back in 2000, it has been open to summer-time business for the past three years.
“We only received electricity permission in 2003 and we immediately opened in April that year,” said the executive manager of the ‘Aqua Park’ Ahmed Mirza Abdul Latif.
He said the park has been fully functional since between April and October and only shutting from November until March in the cooler months.
“We have heard all sort of different rumours – such as people saying that this was apparently a joint venture between a Bahraini and someone from a GCC country – that the owners built this place but ran out of money, took a loan and were not able to pay, hence it couldn’t open,” said Ahmed Mirza, who manages the park jointly with his father, Mirza Abdul Latif Abdulla.
“I have no idea why people thought this or jumped to this conclusion. We have been open almost four years now and we are doing well.
“The reason you cannot see water running on the giant water slides from the road side is because the water slides go on for 20 minutes every half hour to preserve electricity.”
The water park, however, boasts plenty of other attractions including 10 different water rides and various features such as a wave pool, spiral water tower, artificial waterfall and caves plus a 180m long, 1m deep lazy river.
The 40-feet high four-storey giant slides are particularly popular with children and adults too, said Mr Mirza. “We try and add more fun water rides to the recreation park each year because we know people like change and variety.”  
Other features include a separate ‘kiddy pool area’, family swimming pool, separate changing rooms for ladies and gents, sprinklers for cool showers and a cafeteria serving sandwiches, fast food and softies.   
The Aqua Park is open to the public from 11am to 5.30pm daily. Entrance is BD3 for adults and BD1.5 for children under five. 
“We get extremely busy during the summer months starting June at the end of school term and usually on the weekends end up getting about 250 to 400 people at a time.
“Our aim is to provide some recreational fun at affordable prices. We are targeting local families and other Bahrain-based average income expatriate families who can enjoy themselves without burning a hole in their wallets.
“We are also not comparing our facility to some of the large attractions planned. It’s a totally different concept,” added Mr Mirza.
For directions to the park, call 17405600.

By Sahar Mulla
sahar.mulla@gulfweekly.com