Besides Universal Studios Singapore, Adventure Cove Waterpark was the other theme park at Resorts World Sentosa that I really wanted to check out. The entry tickets for my husband and I came at a steal too as we redeemed them with part of the 285 Sentosa Fun Pass tokens that we bought for $51 on Traveloka!
However, one setback we faced using tokens instead of paying directly was that we weren’t able to secure tickets for a future date in advance, we could only redeem them on the day itself. With covid restrictions in place and capacity limitations then, that made things a little anxiety-provoking as we could end up making a wasted trip. According to the staff, there were two ways around it – either make a reservation via Chope (which didn’t help as it often showed no availability) or check the website on the day itself (if there were still tickets for sale, it meant there was availability). Anyway, we took a chance and managed to redeem our tickets in the end, much to my relief (:
- Inclusions:
- 1-day entry tickets to Adventure Cove Waterpark
- Spent: SGD$10.74 (for 2 tickets at 30 tokens each)
The first thing we did upon entering was check the staggered operating hours for some of the rides (similar to what they did at Universal Studios Singapore) so that we could devise the most efficient route. Lockers can be rented for the whole day with unlimited reopenings ($10 for a small locker, $20 for a big one). We were able to squeeze both our regular-sized backpacks into a small locker.
Some things to consider bringing are towels (the park doesn’t provide these), sunscreen and food if needed, because as expected, theme park food is ridiculously expensive. We bought a tuna sandwich for $6 and a small pack of nacho chips, which came with a cute submarine container, for $7 as we got hungry midway. The Bay Restaurant, a proper sit-down dining area, was closed that day so our food was from one of the two food carts still open.
At every ride entrance, there are cylindrical cubby holes for you to deposit your slippers and other belongings. Even though these weren’t manned and completely open, we saw fearless folks leaving their valuables like their phones in there 
My husband and I tried out pretty much all the rides so we came up with our personal ratings of the experience. Do note that our ratings are not done with young kids in mind (the low intensity rides may still be quite scary for some) so do calibrate this list as needed. Here are the low-intensity rides:
– Adventure River (a lazy river with a grotto cave and a marine life underwater tunnel)
– Rainbow Reef (a huge aquarium with a beautiful reef for snorkelling)
Before going into the water, a short briefing is conducted and snorkel masks are provided. It was incredible, totally reminding me of our experience at Morton Island! We swam beside schools of colourful fish but they’d always dodge out of the way when we approached them. Thinking this blue tang fish (Dory from Finding Nemo) would do the same, I casually reached out to try and touch it. Lo and behold, it didn’t dart away! In fact, it just calmly continued on its journey whereas I was the one panicking and needing to take a breath as I was a little grossed out. Interestingly, it felt rough and bumpy instead of smooth like I imagined. Regardless, I really enjoyed my time here and highly recommend it 😀
– Dueling Racer (a two-lane water slide where you race someone down on a mat)
This ride doesn’t reach high speeds to the point where there’s some lift-off at the crests like we experienced at Whitewater World.
– Spiral Washout (a funnel tube ride with relatively gentle slopes)
– Tidal Twister (a fairly low-speed flume ride where your float gets turned backwards for a segment of the ride before getting turned back frontwards)
Next up are the moderate-intensity rides:
– Pipeline plunge (a dark, spiralling pipeline ride with moderate speeds)
– Splashworks (an obstacle course that includes free-fall cliff-jumping platforms of two different heights, a rope net and a vertical rope climb)
We had 15 minutes to roam around this space before they herded us out for the next batch of people. Attempting the rope net first, I realized halfway that it was rather painful to hold onto or step on the ropes, so I had to bite the bullet and quickly get to the other side. Moving on to the vertical rope climb, I learned that day that my husband is an excellent rope climber. Watching him shimmy up the rope so effortlessly to ring the bell at the top was really impressive (good job, SAF). Lastly, the platform cliff jump was highly intimidating for me as I wasn’t looking forward to having water rush up my nose. Nevertheless, I tried the shorter one (wouldn’t do it again) while my husband made jumping off the taller one look far too easy.
On to the high-intensity rides:
– Riptide Rocket (a high-speed hydro-magnetic roller coaster ride with steep drops and climbs with some segments in darkness)
The first hydro-magnetic roller coaster in Southeast Asia, this ride had the longest queue and wait time of all the others. You get lifted up to the top of the slide via a gently-sloped conveyor belt before whizzing up and down some pretty intense tunnels. My husband was very intrigued by this mechanism and how it could accelerate us upwards at such high speeds without any tracks. We wanted to ride this again but failed, twice. The first time round, the conveyor belt broke down so there were some poor souls stuck midway through their ascend. The second time round, we were so close to the front but the conveyor belt malfunctioned again. Before they could fix it, the rain came and activated the lightning warning, resulting in the cessation of all park activities 😦
– Whirlpool Washout (a high-speed ride where you get washed out into a huge open-air circular basin before going down the “drain” in the centre, potentially with your float turned backwards)
There is supposedly a wet maze zone situated above the grotto cave but it hasn’t been open for the longest time. It is a water maze and high-elements rope course perched on a height that overlooks the park. It sounds quite challenging and thrilling but such a pity it was closed during our visit.
Here are the more toddler-friendly options in the theme park:
– Big Bucket Treehouse (a playground with slides and tipping buckets of water)
– Bluwater Bay (a wave pool with deck chairs by the side)
The waves here can be quite strong so unless you’re looking for more of a thrill, it is advisable to stay near the outermost radius of the pool and wear a life jacket (free to loan) if needed.
– Seahorse Hideaway (a shallow wading pool with surrounding cabanas)
There are other special experiences that come with an additional fee, such as the Ray Bay Encounter, where you get to feed and swim with dozens of rays. We didn’t go for this so we settled for watching them from the Adventure River instead.
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. The rides were quite fun but were unfortunately nowhere near as exciting as the ones at Whitewater World in Gold Coast, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your personal threshold. Also, most of the rides felt largely similar – just a lot of spirals and dark tunnels. The only one that really made an impression was Riptide Rocket because of its intensity as well as its novelty. Alas, if the conveyor belt didn’t break down so frequently, we might’ve had a chance to make this visit worth our while. Food options were disappointing too. If you do decide to visit, one definite must-try attraction is the Rainbow Reef snorkelling experience, an amazing opportunity to get up-close and personal with marine creatures.
Dania Experiences 