Summer in South Florida is a (at least!) a six-month affair. Make the most of the season with splashes & giggles at a local water park….

A few tips regardless of your destination

  • Hours vary by park, make sure to call & confirm before venturing out
  • Pack towels, flip flops & loads of sunscreen. Reapply often.
  • Hydrate regularly.
  • Some parks allow outside food. Great way to save money & encourage healthier snacking.

Broward County

  • Castaway Island Water Park (3300 N Park Rd, Hollywood, 954-357-8811). Castaway Island offers two interactive water playgrounds: One for smaller children with climbing features and a small slide; the other for older children. The park also features a zero-entry, hard-bottom Swim Lagoon with a waterfall. Castaway Island is open seasonally.
  • Paradise Cove Water Park at C.B. Smith Park (900 N Flamingo Rd, Pembroke Pines, 954-357-5170). Paradise Cove is Broward County Parks and Rec’s largest aquatics facility. Older kids will can hag in paradise pipeline featuring four 5-story watersides, while little ones will like Sharkey’s Lagoon’s18-inch deep pool and Parrot’s Point’s 12-inch deep pool. Everyone can enjoy a 410-foot-long meandering type ride. Paradise Cove is open seasonally.
  • Splash Adventure Water Park (401 S. Powerline Rd, Deerfield Beach, 954-357-5100). This is the park for little ones. Features include slides, tunnels, turn valves, wheels and levers, water curtains, and a huge bucket that fills and empties onto the playground below. The depth of the pool ranges from zero at its edges to 12 inches at its deepest. Lifeguards are on duty whenever the water park is open.
  • Tigertail Aqua Challenge at Tigertail Lake Recreation Center. (580 Gulf Stream Way, Dania Beach, 954-201-4500). Tigertail Lake Recreational Center is Broward College’s experiential learning, team building, watersports and ropes course facility. Its Aqua Challenge is a water obstacle course and playground featuring climbing walls, a bouncing dome, a trampoline and a catapult with a 16-foot swing
  • Tropical Splash Water Park. This park includes two interactive water playgrounds: One for smaller children, with climbing features & small slides; the other for older children, with a spiral slide, two turning slides, water guns and an oversize bucket that regularly fills with water and dumps it out onto the playground below. The complex also includes a fully accessible instructional pool, used by the county’s SWIM Central program, and a marina with boat rentals.

Miami-Dade County

  • Bucky Dent Water Park (2240 W 60 St., Hialeah, 305-818-2990). Highlights include a zero depth entry swimming pool, twin 30-foot waterslides and an activity pool with slide.
  • Grapeland Water Park. (1550 NW 37 Ave, Miami, 305-960-2950). Grapeland offers four big attractions: Pirate’s Plunge slide, Shipwreck Island with splash fountains and two smaller slides, Captain’s Lagoon heated recreation pool and the and Buccaneer Ride lazy river.
  • McDonald Water Park. (7505 W 12 Ave., Hialeah, 305-818-9164). This park is particularly great for little munchkins. Highlights include a water playground/tot lot, a 1,000-foot lazy river and a wave pool.
  • NeoSplash Water Park at Jungle Island. (1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Miami, 305-400-7000). Jungle Island’s pop-up inflatable waterpark features slides as high as 65 feet. The Park is open seasonally.

Palm Beach County

  • Aqua Park at Greg Norman’s Shark Wake Park (7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, 561-323-3937). This floating water park spans an entire acre and offers monkey bars, climbing towers, bounce-house features and slides for 150 guests.
  • Calypso Bay Water Park (151 Lamstein Lane, Royal Palm Beach, 561-790-6160). Highlights include two 220-foot water slides, an 897-foot lazy river, a children’s water playground, lap pool & lily pad walk. Note: This park is only open seasonally.
  • Coconut Cove Water Park. (20130 Regional Park Dr, Boca Raton, 561-629-8840). Attractions include two four-story water slides, a children’s water playground and a 986-foot lazy river. This park is open seasonally.
  • Rapids Water Park (6566 N Military Trail, Riviera Beach, 561-848-6272). Rapids clocks in at over 30 acres and is packed with attractions for kids of all ages and fear levels. Highlights include six high speed slides, an artificial wave FlowRider, a quarter mile lazy river, an aquatic obstacle course & water play areas for the little ones.