Slip Sliding Away-Charleston's Waterparks

It's summer in Charleston. It's hot, it's humid, and people are looking for ways to cool themselves off. The good ole garden hose could be one way to do it or the common backyard pool could be another. Charleston residents are blessed with an alternative. It has beautiful beaches where you can stake out your claim to a plot of sand for a day next to the Big Blue in which you can cool yourself in its salty waters when the urge strikes.

But if you are looking to occassionally stray from the norm, Charleston also offers three of the waterpark variety to soak your body in when the temperatures are on the rise: Splash Island Waterpark, Splash Zone Waterpark, and Whirlin’ Waters Adventure Waterpark. Water slides, lazy rivers, a giant bucket that dumps 1,000 gallons of water on you, wave pool action, sprays, and soaking pools of varying sizes are all a part of the experience.

Splash Island Waterpark is located within Mt. Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. All of the water attractions here are designed for toddlers to pre-teen children. Great place for Moms and Dads to take their little ones for a low-key water experience. There are also trails and paddleboats in the park for kids and adults alike to enjoy. It is off of Long Point Road on Needlerush Parkway near Boone Hall Plantation.

Splash Zone Waterpark is located within James Island County Park on Riverland Drive. This park features a Caribbean style structure with slides, wheels, and sprays and a 500-foot lazy river with an adventure channel with sprays and a waterfall. Two water slides are featured here, both 200-feet long.

Finally, Charleston's big daddy of its waterparks, Whirlin’ Waters Adventure Waterpark is located in North Charleston within Wannamaker County Park. You will get wet, afterall that is the objective, isn't it. Some of its attractions include the Big Splash Tree House, a play structure that has a giant bucket that dumps 1,000 gallons of water, a 870-foot lazy river, that's almost three football fields of cool relaxation, and a multi-slide complex with 3 different selections of thrilling spills, each approximately 300-feet long. It also has a wave pool with 27,000 square feet of different types of wave action.

All three parks feature what they call extra value days: Military Monday, Two for Tuesdays, and Wet and Wild Wednesdays and you can use your Greenbax.

A final bit of trivia on water slides. Blizzard Beach Water Park in Walt Disney World boasts to have one of the world's tallest, fastest water slides, Summit Plummet. Height of slide is 120 feet and top speed varies according to rider-approximately 60 mph for adults and 50 mph for kids. It sends riders zooming through a short tunnel pelted by a curtain of water where they will begin the descent and may momentarily float into the air and freefall as if the slide vanishes hitting the straightaway at the bottom where they create a huge plume of water and possibly, an industrial-strength wedgie.-Vacation Rick Travel