There’s nothing better than the adrenaline rush of sitting at the very top of an awesome waterslide waiting for that hit of excitement! The competition to build the biggest, fastest, scariest and longest waterslide in the world is hotting up and the world’s biggest water slide is over a kilometre of incredible fun.
The wonderful world of waterslides is relatively new. In fact, what is generally credited as the world’s first waterslide appeared in New Zealand at the 1906 International Exhibition. It was a basic wooden chute that shot swimmers over a lake, and soon the craze caught on. Over the next twenty years, similar slides appeared at lakes and fairs all over the world.
In the 1920s, Minnesota native Herbert Sellner, a furniture designer by trade, invented a water wheel ride as well as a waterslide that skimmed thrill-seekers thirty metres across the water’s surface. It was Sellner’s creations that paved the way for today’s incredible creations. Here are the contenders for the tallest waterslide as well as the world’s longest waterslide.
Insano
Sano (Photo: Bianca Pereira / EyeEm via Getty Images)
Location: Fortaleza, Brazil | Height: 41 metres | Opened: 1989
A previous holder of the title of world’s biggest waterslide, the appropriately-named Insano is located at Beach Park in northeastern Brazil, Latin America’s biggest water park. The freefall body slide is as high as a twelve-story building and is so steep it takes just five seconds – at speeds approaching 105 km/h – to reach the bottom!
Daredevil’s Peak
A spectacular spiral (Photo: Aneese via Getty Images)
Location: CocoCay, Bahamas | Height: 41.1 metres | Opened: 2019
Around ninety miles north of Nassau, CocoCay is a tiny island, privately owned by the Royal Caribbean cruise company and used as a destination port for their guests. It’s also home to the world’s fourth tallest waterslide, known as an enclosed speed body slide. You have to be a true daredevil to ride Daredevil’s Peak. The spectacular spiral offers a kaleidoscope of colour and a proper adrenaline rush!
Captain Spacemaker
A long way down! (Photo: terex via Getty Images)
Location: Venice, Italy | Height: 42 metres | Type: 4-person inline raft slide
There is no more fitting location for Europe’s tallest waterslide than Venice, the City of Water! Captain Spacemaker – the third tallest waterslide in the world – is located at the Aqualandia Water Park and takes three or four riders down a 60° incline at speeds approaching 100 km/h!
Thrillagascar
Enjoying a wild ride (Photo: Yobro10 via iStock)
Location: New Jersey, USA | Height: 43.3 metres | Opened: 2020
The world’s tallest indoor waterslide is the star attraction at the DreamWorks Water Park. It’s inside the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex in the New Jersy city of East Rutherford. One the world’s biggest water slides, Thrillagascar – named after DreamWorks’ Madagascar film franchise – is North America’s tallest waterslide.
Kilimanjaro
Tall waterslide (Photo: Lazy_Bear via iStock)
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Height: 49.9 metres | Opened: 2002
The tallest waterslide in the world is Kilimanjaro at the Aldeia das Aguas Park Resort in Brazil. There are 234 steps to the top and the view is so scary it’s estimated at least one in twenty riders back out when they get up there! At an incline of 60°, riders hit the staggering speeds of up to 100 km/h. Kilimanjaro also holds the record for the highest drop on a body slide.
The World’s Longest Waterslide
Friends on a water slide (Photo: Image Source via Getty Images)
Location: Penang, Malaysia | Length: 1,111 metres | Opened: 2021
Snaking its way through the Malaysian jungle, the star attraction of the ESCAPE Park is a waterslide named simply ‘The Longest’, not unsurprisingly the longest waterslide in the world.
Seventy metres from top to bottom, the world’s longest tube water slide takes riders on a twisty-turny four-minute journey down a canopied mountain. The CEO of the waterpark’s parent company said he never intended to break the world record, he just wanted a ride that wasn’t over in the blink of an eye.
The Longest is like a rollercoaster, short sections of slow action are mixed with long drops and fast curves that go on, and on, and on….!
One reason it was built deep in the Malaysian jungle was to try and make the riders perceive the rainforest from a new perspective. The designers want them to appreciate nature and to understand its beauty and importance and why it should be protected at all costs, while having the thrill of a lifetime!
