# Travel >> Types of Travel >> Family Vacation

Water Park Attractions in Gulf Shores, Alabama

Gulf Shores is a city on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Attractions include the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, Gulf Shores Museum, Bon Secure National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Morgan and Gulf State Park. Being right on the Gulf of Mexico, the city's main attraction is the beach. The white sand and emerald waters keep Gulf Shores packed with tourists during the summer. Water lovers don't have to stay on the beach for fun, however. Gulf Shores is home to a popular water park, and there are others nearby that promise fun and thrills without the sand.

Waterville USA
- Waterville USA in Gulf Shores is about a quarter-of-a mile off the beach but has enough watery fun of its own to keep people off the sand and inside the park. Attractions include a variety of waterslides with names like The Hurricane, The Black Widow and Great White. Slides can take one, two or three people. Riders may go on body, tube or raft slides, some of which are high-speed and enclosed so the riders can't see their destination. The park also includes a lazy river, wave pool and Flowrider surfing ride. For those under four feet tall, there is WaWa World, a pirate-themed water park, and Shrimp Boat Village. Open from May to Labor Day, Waterville USA also includes an amusement park.
  
  Waterville USA
  
  906 Gulf Shores Pkwy.
  
  Gulf Shores, AL 36542
  
  251-948-2106
  
  watervilleusa.com
Surf City
- Pensacola's Surf City is 40 miles from Gulf Shores. The park includes four large waterslides: two for tubing and two body slides. The Zoom Flume slide can take one or two riders at a time. Surf City has three small slides in the Junior Activity Pool for small riders. There is also the Kiddie Pool with two tiny slides for small children and a 750-foot lazy river. Surf City is open May through October and is next to its sister facility, Fun City Amusement Park.
  
  Surf City
  
  6709 Pensacola Blvd.
  
  Pensacola, FL 32505
  
  850-505-0800
  
  samsfuncity.com
Big Kahuna's
- Big Kahuna's water park is in Destin, 87 miles from Gulf Shores. The park is open Spring through Labor Day. Tiki River Run is a slide for one or two riders. Single rider slides include Cobra Twister, Monkey River, Raging Rhino River and Hammerhead. There are also three Maui Pipeline Speed Slides and the 70-foot freefall slide Jumanji. Kids can enjoy several slides built for their small size, as well Pleasure Island, a children's water playground. Other water attractions include a wave pool, lazy river, two fast float rivers, surf and bodyboard ride and Bombs Away Bay, a water playground for all ages. Big Kahuna's also has an adventure park that includes mini golf, a race car track, a sky coaster and the cyclone, which gives the feeling of riding on an airplane propeller.
  
  Big Kahuna's
  
  1007 US Highway 98 East
  
  Destin, FL 32541
  
  850-837-8319
  
  bigkahunas.com