Coco Splash water park in Lamai

Coco Splash water park in Lamai

Samui's first water amusement park; Coco Splash, down in Lamai! Yesterday we visited this park with our two children and two friends and although we didn't arrive until just after 1pm, we had trouble getting them out of there again by 5pm. It was a great success and they can't wait to get back again and get wet! The place is open now for around a month.

The park is set up and run by a French couple and they seem to have hit the nail on the head, this is something that Samui has been lacking for a long time, a great day out with your children!

Although the park isn't that big, approximately 30 by 70 meters I would guess, for a 5 years old it must be big enough, especially looking at the reactions of our kids!

The smaller glide, for 5 years and older with a max height of 160cm. A big fave by all the kids that we took and the kids already in the park or who joined later.

The big slide, for 8 years and older or at least 125cm height. A big hit with especially my son. I rode it a few as well and it's surprisingly fast! Be warned!

An overview of the park, there are two main slides and a water basin with some minor attractions. Opening times are between 10.30 and 17.30 and it may get crowded during the weekends or school holidays. Birthday parties are also available at request.

How to get there

Entrance fee is 200,-THB for the day for swimmers/players and free for non swimmers. A membership card is available at 350,-THB with each visit only being 100,-THB, however the membership card is only valid for 6 months. I'm sure we will visit again but most likely not to justify the expense of a membership, especially considering we live relatively far away from the park. Information can be obtained on 08 1082 6035

Food and drinks are also available at the park.

I'm happy the park is here now and I'm sure we will visit again, don't hesitate and have a visit, your kids will love it!

Camille

Dream World, Bangkok

Dream World, Bangkok

Today we left by now familiar sights of Pattaya for a trip to Thailand's best known amusement park; Dream World in Bangkok near the old Don Muang airport. With free flowing traffic it's about an hour and a half trip from Pattaya. Their website explains pretty straightforward how to get there.

The park is fun and our kids, now 7 and 4 loved it but the pricing structure is rather strange. For Westerners there's one price that probably includes all rides, but is a rather expensive price compared to the Thai rates. Having said that, the Thai rates are confusing, you can get a simple entry ticket and pay for every ride you want to take in the park an additional fee between 20,- and 120,-THB or for about twice the price you get a ticket that will get you once in almost everything or for a bit more you can get a visa that will get you unlimited in everything or so you think!

Some of the rides, like the new Sky Coaster and the tremendously popular Snow Town are not included in any ticket and are as much as 180,-THB per adult. We paid more for our party to get into Snow World than the initial entrance fee was!

The park is split up in 4 parts, Dream Plaza, Dream Garden, Fantasy Land and Adventure Land. You can walk everywhere easily, it's not that big. being a Friday today, there were loads of schools on a day trip and I guess that in the weekend the families come out. Be aware that the park opens around 10am but most of the rides won't open until 11am.

Some of the popular rides like Space Mountain and Grand Canyon had long waiting lines of an hour around 2pm. It may pay off getting there early!

A very popular ride is also this Super Splash, a classic in most parks where there's plenty of sunshine.

The Sky Coaster was cool, it took me about 20 minutes to get on the ride, which lasts about a minute and 40 seconds, Asia's first hanging coaster. It was a very good ride!

Snow Town was already and it's immensely popular since it must about the only place in all of Thailand where snow can be experienced. It's a great sight to see all the Thais (especially the Thai girls in their skirts, legs exposed) freeze their respective butts off in the freezing hall temperature and they love it! My kids went berserk in there and my 4 year old son went 3 times on the ride as pictured above in the video.

A great day was had by all and the kids were already making plans when we would return! Having said that, if you've experienced Western style amusement parks, Dream World is good and lots of fun but it's not gonna hold up with a good quality Western park. Still not a reason to skip it! We will be back!

Camille