The Spectacular Case of Splash Caribe

‘Me encanta!’, as they say it in Spanish. That’s how most guests feel when they first experience the wild and exhilarating water ride at the Splash Caribe, Parque Diversiones in Costa Rica. Built by WhiteWater, the family ride is famous for its spectacular iconic splash, making it a centerpiece at parks around the world. Amongst the 32 attractions at Parque Diversiones, Splash Caribe stands out for its thrilling ride experience. Guests simply love the thrill and excitement of descending down a slope on a boat, culminating in a giant splash spewing water in all directions.

According to Francini Córdoba, Gestor de Calidad, Parque Diversiones, “It is extremely exciting when you experience the adrenaline rush when the boat hits the water. The feeling of being inside the wave is incredible.” With a part of the park themed as Costa Rica at the beginning of the 20th Century, Parque Diversiones’ motto is ‘healthy children helping healing children’ with the profits from the amusement park supporting the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. Besides Splash Caribe, the park has 2 more water rides: Pacuare, a Spinning Rapids Ride and Reventazón, a Water Coaster.

Everyone wants to experience the splash of a lifetime
“Visitors love the Splash Caribe attraction as it allows them to be in direct contact with water, and since Costa Rica is a tropical country, being able to get wet and cool off seems quite appealing to most guests. In terms of ride performance, Splash Caribe has the highest performance rate out of all the water rides. By comparison it is used 18% more than Reventazón and 18.5% more than Pacuare. The difference is that the Splash Caribe allows visitors to get completely wet with the wave. In addition, the wave reaches the bridge which is located over the attraction and makes it a second point of interest,” adds Francini. The big splash has become an attraction in itself, with a bridge specially designed to enjoy the wave from.

With an yearly ride performance of roughly 895,000 rides by guests annually, so far, Splash Caribe has entertained 2,105,596 visitors and keeps thrilling thousands more each week. Running all through the year, the ride is well-received by guests. “They have a positive response, full of joy, euphoria and emotion. They usually look for a second ride or go directly to the bridge over the attraction to receive the wave. If given a choice for an upgrade, I would make the ride longer and perhaps increase the ride capacity by adding more boats and the theming, as well,” quips Francini.

Some of the most fun you have with your clothes on!
Speaking of one of the many advantages of water rides, she adds, “flume rides give amusement parks the unique opportunity to offer the most thrilling ride experience to their guests where they are in contact with the water, enjoying the invigorating effect, but without the actual need for submersion.”

An iconic Shoot the Chute, Splash Caribe once again exemplifies the need for water rides for parks and why every park must have one:

• Bringing in tremendous diversity and a wide range of experiences, water rides provide the huge spectator value
• Besides providing high capacity family entertainment, water rides bring a great opportunity for sideline interactivity that most large amusement park rides find challenging to accomplish
• While most of the other rides soak you down with water, water rides continue to be a guest favorite enabling just the right amount of splash with their clothes on

Reach out to us to find out more about how we can help you get the water ride advantage through an underutilized area of your park.