I won 6-month season passes for two to Adventure Cove Singapore at my workplace’s D&D event, so we went to Adventure Cove 4 times last year!
I would have liked to use it more, but it’s amazing how quickly time flies and before we knew it, the passes had expired.
K is a competent swimmer and makes the height requirements for many activities, so she and I had Adventure Cove mummy-daughter dates most times.
Here’s a family record of the fun we had, peppered with some helpful tips if you intend to visit.
Tip #1: Avoid the huge crush at entry by going around 12 noon. When the doors open at 10am, there’s usually a long queue. Though that can be avoided by season pass holders, who have a special entrance gate.
Tip #2: There are strict prohibitions (bag-checks) on bringing in food and drink (to make sure you patronise their F&B outlets of course), so if you don’t want to spend a bomb on theme-park priced F&B, eat brunch or lunch before entry. Then you can play all the way till closing at 6pm.
You can exit and re-enter, but Adventure Cove is tucked away in a corner, so you’d be kinda wet and wasting quite a bit of time if you walk to have lunch outside.
Tip #3: We always use the lockers opposite the Riptide Rocket queueing area, instead of the ones near the entrance. It’s the most central location, so you can easily access your locker to get more sunblock etc in between activities. It is also located near many washrooms. It costs $10 to rent a basic locker, but you can open and close it as many times a day with a two-level code.
Rainbow Reef
This is by far my favourite attraction, because snorkeling! I think it’s fantastic that there’s no extra charge for this, and you can go a zillion times if you want! Kids must be able to swim, and be at least 107cm tall. K qualifies and is a confident swimmer, but preferred to sit at the edge of the pool everytime I went, mainly because she’s not used to snorkeling.
I think it’s not easy to coordinate breathing with a snorkel mask, so I’d recommend this only to kids who are confident swimmers and age 9 and above, since they are less likely to panic if they have breathing issues. Even I had breathing issues a couple of times because water seeped into the mask, and to pause and re-adjust the mask. I think I’ll train the kids to snorkel in a shallow bay first – at least they can focus on learning how to breathe properly with their feet on the ground.
Tip #4: Be strategic in the order of activities. If you are a big fan of snorkeling at Rainbow Reef, always head there first to check out the queue.
I really enjoyed seeing the fishes in the sea water, and it hosts an amazing variety of more than 100 species of marine fishes! My favourites were the bright yellow ones that look really beautiful as a large school feeding on algae on the rocks.
Bluwater Bay (Wave Pool)
This was K’s favourite by far. And because there is no queue, and the waves occur every 15 minutes, it was easy to let her stay as long as she wanted here.
Big Bucket TreeHouse
The Big Bucket TreeHouse is a good spot for kids aged 4-8. The slides are pretty long and fast too.
Adventure River
We float down the very long river at least once everytime we visit.
There are so many lifeguards stationed along the river that it must be the most well guarded adventure river in the world.
My favourite part is floating past the Manta Rays – their movement is so mesmerising.
K and the Manta Ray below share a grin.
SeaHorse Hideout
This was B’s favourite place. We were able to redeem free tickets from some points for her to go once, and this was truly her Hideout for 80% of the time. Glad we didn’t actually pay for her entry, because it’s clearly not her kind of water park.
Thrill rides
I love water slides, and I managed to try all of them apart from Riptide Rocket (which was closed for maintenance the one day I had time to queue for it). For me, here’s how they ranked in terms of fun (starting with the most fun) – Tidal Twister, Pipeline Plunge, Whirlpool Washout, Dueling Racer, Spiral Washout.
More details on each specific ride can be found here.
Tip #5: Head for the showers around 5pm, because nearer closing time at 6pm, you can expect LONG queues. It’s such a drag to stand in line for ages just to shower and get changed.
The controversial dolphins
I didn’t pay to interact with the dolphins, but could see them from the second floor level where the Riptide Lounge is located (simple drinks and biscuits available for Season Pass holders).
I don’t have a strong view on dolphins in captivity, though it is definitely more magical to see them in the wild. I suppose the dolphins are treated as well as they could be in Adventure Cove, and have access to good vet care etc. But is it better to have a ‘good life’ in captivity, or be torn apart by predators in the wild (without losing one’s freedom)? What do you think?
When to visit
Our four visits were on the following different ‘types’ of days, so you can gauge from our experience which the best day to visit is.
- Saturday (2-5pm) – It was packed! Long queues for almost all the stations, and the wave pool was pretty full too.
- Normal weekday afternoon (130-4pm) – Very comfortable, hardly any queues *yay*, though still well-visited by many tourists.
- Public holiday (1030am – 1pm) – It was by far the most crowded experience we had, more so than when we visited on a weekend. Long queues everywhere.
- Weekday (PSLE marking ) school holiday (1030am – 2pm) – Comfortable crowd, though longer queues started forming after 12 noon.
Best age to visit
- There are height restrictions for some rides, and my kids aren’t exactly gutsy daredevils, so I’d say kids’ experience of Adventure Cove will be maximised if they are at least 122cm tall.
For all other questions, there’s a very useful official FAQ here.
Ticketing info
Day passes:
$36/ Adult
$26/ Child (4-12 years)
$26/Senior (60 years and above)
Facebook Comments