Hi guys!
So, last weekend my friend Echez and I planned a trip to a water park here in Istanbul called Aqua Dolphin in the Esenyurt area. There are several water parks in Istanbul, and he chose this one, because it has a couple interesting slides, and was likely to be less crowded than the other parks.
I met Echez at the Mecidiyeköy meydan and together we walked a couple minutes to join the free service bus which leaves Mecidiyeköy at 9:30am and returns to Mecidiyeköy at 17:55. Mecidiyeköy is pretty much the center of Istanbul and you can find many büses and trains going there from almost any part of the city.
When you get in the bus, they sanitize your hands, and give you tickets to show the drivers when it’s time to leave the park, so they know the bus you came to the park with.
It takes about 30 minutes to get to the park from Mecidiyeköy, so you have the entire day to enjoy all the fun things the park has to offer.
When you get to the park, there’s a queue where an attendant checks your temperature due to the pandemic going on right now. After which you’re directed to another queue to pay for your tickets to get in the park. It costs ₺70 for men and ₺60 for women.
Guests are not allowed to bring in their own food or drink, so there’s another table devoted to checking your bags after you have swiped your tickets to get in.
When you get past the entrance, you’re met with the gender separated changing rooms to each side, a shop in the middle that sells accessories and other swim items, and the stairway that leads to the various pool areas. Echez bought a water proof phone pouch from this shop for ₺40. You can’t spend cash at the park, so you’re given a band you load up with cash and swipe whenever you want to pay for something.
At the changing room, you are given a key to a locker in exchange for ₺10 in cash, which is refunded when you return the key to the locker you’re assigned. The keys have a stretchy band attached to them, so you can wear them as a bracelet or anklet in order to avoid losing them. I especially found this helpful. Hand sanitizers are also provided by the attendants who were pleasant and polite.
The Aqua Dolphin park has several pool areas for guests to enjoy and have a good time in, or sunbathe beside. There’s a family pool, as well as other gender separate pools, and a couple others. Even the kids aren’t left out as they have their own pool too.
The park also has a lot of shaded areas to relax in, and get a break from the hot summer sun Istanbul is famous for. The entire park is fraught with trees, flowers and cabanas. They’re also picture perfect, with great natural light.
The park also had some really cool and fun slides. Some were single slides, some were double slides, and yet others were for groups of four, but each slide was fun and exhilarating. I tried out two of them, and you can find the videos of me doing so on my YouTube.
After a fun time at the slides, Echez and I proceeded to the cafeteria to get some food. The cafeteria has about 6 food options including an egg meal, something that looked like a charcuterie board, and a couple burgers. It also has a few drink options such as sodas, beers and ayran - which is buttermilk.
I had the double cheeseburger, (I think that’s what it was called) and ayran, as I don’t drink soda. I also decided to try out a beer for the first time. I liked the burger enough. It wasn’t anywhere near bad, and it didn’t feel like a waste of money. It also wasn’t expensive. It cost about ₺30. I discovered that I really do not like beer, so I definitely won’t be trying it again.
The park also had several other drink shops and bars around - like this bar that was shaped like a boat, and had rigs for sails. I found it really fascinating and cute.
Echez and I left early, so we didn’t join the Service bus on our way home, and we had to walk down to the highway where we found a taxi that took us to the Esenyurt meydan for about ₺20.
I had a really nice time here, and found the park to be very beautiful and enjoyable. The Turkish natives were pleasant, and several of them asked to take photos with us, or dance with us. They even taught us a traditional Turkish dance. It was so much fun, and I would definitely visit again on a day I want to have a nice time with a group of friends.
Love, Yoma.
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