Aquariaz water park, Avoriaz

After I bailed out on our friends in Avoriaz on Saturday, they invited us up again on Sunday to join them for a trip to Aquariaz (see what they did there ;)) indoor water park.

We decided to head up in the morning and go for a slide first, then grab some lunch before going for a swim. We’d be needing swimming gear, boarding kit and changes of clothes, so we decided to pack the van and drive up to Avoriaz. We parked in the outdoor car park by the Chappelle Snowpark, got ourselves organised, then jumped on the button lift alongside the black jump line.

When we first arrived here in February, Iz was already a pretty good skier thanks to having regular lessons on the local dry slope back in the UK. There’s a few technique issues to work on but she’s confident, fast and in control. T, on the other hand, was only just starting to turn when we first arrived but now he’s zapping all over the place and both of them are weaving in and out, overtaking people and dipping off the edges of the pistes looking for fun stuff to play on.

Being able to run through the park now as a family, with everyone getting a bit of air off the kickers is putting such a massive smile on my face and, as a family train, we’ve progressed to the blue line now. T’s insistent he’s ready for the red line but he’s barely leaving the ground at the top of the blue kickers. I need to keep him well within grabbing distance as we pass the red drop-in.

There’s a run called Proclou in Avoriaz which you get to by going through the underpass at the bottom of the Chappelle Snowpark. This mini ‘Stash’ is great fun for the little (and big) ones with green jumps, whoops and a big handful of log slides to get them started on rails. It can get busy though and there’s a distinct lack of park etiquette.

We had a couple of runs through Chappelle and Proclou then met up with our friends to go for some lunch at a forgettable restaurant – we think it was called ‘Le Brasserie’. Slow service, abrupt waiter and the medium steak was very well done. ‘Le Cafe Fantastique’ next door was packed! We should have seen the signs.

After lunch we had a couple more laps while our mates’ 2 year old had a nap before meeting up at Aquariaz.

Off to Aquariaz

€8 each for adults to get in, €6 for Iz and €3 for T. As is always the case with these places, the thermometer displaying the internal air temperature must have been faulty because the 30ºC in here definitely doesn’t feel like the 30ºC I’m accustomed to in southern Spain. Maybe it’s a positive mental attitude thing to help you believe it’s warm or maybe it’s just the exchange rate…

Not bad all in all though. A nice kids’ play area with the usual small slides, water canons, waterfalls, floor fountains etc. A lazy river, pools, outdoor hot-tub jacuzzi, indoor cool-tub jacuzzis, a big half pipe that you drop into on inflatables and a climbing-wall traverse with a rope swing at the end to jump back into the pool which the kids (and me) loved! Oh and there’s totally tropical vegetation too! It could really do with something a bit more gnarly though, like a couple of big slides or a kamikaze slide to keep the bigger kids (myself included) entertained.

Also, the one thing you look forward to in these places is getting into a lovely hot shower to warm you through on the way back to the changing rooms, especially after paddling through the glacial meltwater in the foot bath. Not here my friend, more of the same, only three of the limited (ten-ish) showers were spewing hot water, the rest were baltic. This resulted in a queue of shivering punters waiting for the warmth. Not cool Aquariaz… Not cool…Actually very cool… But not cool…

The kids still had a chill by the time we got them home, fed them and put them to bed.  Despite a couple of shortcomings though, Aquariaz was great fun, reasonable value and the little guys loved it. We all slept brilliantly that night and we’d definitely go back and will be recommending it to friends.