Slide & Splash

Slide & Splash stands on the E.N. 125 at Vale de Deus, 8401-901 Estômbar, in the municipality of Lagoa in the Algarve. The operator gives the opening date as 10 June 1986 and the present total area as 10 hectares, and describes itself as the longest-operating park in the Algarve, marking 40 years. Alongside the water attractions the site has grassed and sunbedded rest areas, spaces for massage and a fish spa, several catering points and a shop. The operator states that it works in accordance with decree-law no. 5/97 of March, which regulates water parks in Portugal. The park is entirely open-air: there is no sauna, no steam room and no covered bathing hall, and the water is ordinary treated pool water, described as neither thermal nor mineral nor seawater. The one heated element named is the Jacuzzi, which the operator describes as offering hot water and relaxation jets.

The attraction list is published by name and intensity rating rather than by dimension; no slide lengths, heights or drop figures appear anywhere on the site. Rated high intensity are Black Hole, an enclosed slide ridden in complete darkness on a double float with unexpected curves; Big Fall, on which the floor opens after a countdown and which the operator calls the fastest drop in the park; Kamikaze, described as one of the tallest slides in the park; Race, a timed racer with the result shown on a display at the finish; Tornado, a spinning funnel; and The Big Wave, a fast descent that runs up a wall. Rated moderate are Drops, two slides with a short jump before the pool, Foam Slides for side-by-side family descents, The Tunnel and Blue Hole, an enclosed run with light and colour effects. Rated low are Boomerang, a float ride with a wall oscillation, Corkscrew in a translucent blue tube, Banzai with two mat runs taken head-first, Disco River with lights and music, River Ride on a continuous-current river, the Jacuzzi, the Laguna swimming pool, and Big Slides Tower, which the operator says gathers seven renovated slides each with its own pace and route. Children's provision is Children Slides and Tropical Paradise, a children's zone with mini-slides, water jets and shallow areas. Height limits published on the attraction filter run 1.00 m, 1.07 m, 1.20 m, 1.22 m and 1.40 m, with a 1.20 m maximum on some attractions.

The operator's own timeline dates the individual installations: Corkscrew, Big Slides Tower, Jacuzzi and Banzai-River Ride in 1986; a swimming pool, a children's pool and jumps in 1987; Kamikaze in 1988; soft racers in 1993 and children's soft racers in 1994; Black Hole in 1997; Crazy River in 1998; Blue Hole, an enlarged children's pool, a new swimming pool and the Laguna in 2001; Tornado in 2011; Tropical Paradise in 2014; The Big Wave in 2016; slide renovations in 2018 and 2019, including Disco River replacing Crazy River; and in 2022 a new slide tower with Boomerang, Race and Big Fall together with the first cabanas. In 2017 the main building was renovated and a solar thermal installation with a capacity of 6,000 litres of water was added.

The 2026 season runs from 1 April to 31 October. The published calendar gives 10:00-17:00 through April and May, 10:00-17:30 in June, 10:00-18:00 from July to 11 September, and 10:00-17:00 from 12 September to the end of October, with scattered closed days in April and October. One contradiction stands on the operator's own site: the home-page slider carries the line 'Parque encerrado.' alongside an invitation to buy 2026 tickets, while the hours calendar on the same site shows the park open on those same dates. Services listed include lockers, cabanas for groups of four, six or ten, parasols, sunbeds, a second-day ticket, catering, a shop, first aid with a defibrillator, parking, accessibility provision, the Aquafeeling fish spa and massages, and a facial-recognition photo service called Splash Memories.