Winner

WhiteWater, a leading waterpark manufacturer, has supplied four record-breaking experiences and a broad selection of slide, ride, surf, and wave systems for Aquarabia Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia.

This major new destination water theme park soft-opened last week, and offers more than 22 rides and attractions across an immensely varied, fully themed visitor experience.

For WhiteWater, the attraction represents the growing scale and intricacy of destination water theme parks.

The company's contribution includes record-breaking water slides, water rides, a surf attraction, and bespoke ride vehicles, supported by in-house engineering and delivery expertise.

On projects of this size, that breadth of offering is key to reducing fragmentation across suppliers, streamlining integration, and providing a more coherent experience for visitors and operators alike.

Record-breaking water slides

Situated within Qiddiya City, Aquarabia covers over 250,000 square metres and is arranged into eight themed areas inspired by regional wildlife and natural landscapes.

The park’s standout features include four record-breaking water slides that test the limits of ride design. Junoon Drop in Camel Rock, for example, is over 42 metres high and marks the tallest and longest Family Master Blaster on the planet.

Bringing Family Blaster, Constrictor, and Boomerango together into a single attraction, Junoon Drop takes visitors up hills and down thrilling drops in bespoke, seven-person rafts engineered by WhiteWater.

Featuring higher walls, these rafts enable guests in street clothes to remain dry while still experiencing one of the park’s headline attractions.

Aquarabia marks a new era in water theme park design, combining traditional water theme park products with complementary rides typically not found in such venues.

In Viper Canyon alone, visitors can enjoy the world’s first underwater Aquaticars from Sub Sea Systems, WhiteWater’s 360-degree spinning SlideWheel, and, even more unexpectedly, a WhiteWater Shoot the Chute water ride.

Dubbed Hyper Viper, this water ride features a 15-metre drop and a dramatic splash experience for both riders and spectators, adding another dimension to the water park’s offerings.

Additionally, the Wave Wadi zone is home to the Wadi Tahaddi, a Spinning Rapids Ride from WhiteWater. This six-person boat ride broadens the experience mix with 600 metres of rapids and spins. The zone also features a WhiteWater wave pool, separate from the park’s surf area.

Breadth of experience

Aquarabia is also home to a surf zone, Surf Lagoon, powered by Endless Surf. Developed for surfers of varying skill levels, the system enables operators to change wave size and shape to meet the needs of a broad range of visitors.

Surf offers a further level of guest engagement to the attraction mix, delivering thrills, repeatability, skill progression, and surf lifestyle appeal.

Geoff Chutter, CEO of WhiteWater, says: "Aquarabia Qiddiya City is the kind of project that shows why breadth of experience matters.

"This park brings together record-breaking slides, water rides, surf experiences, custom ride vehicles, and complex engineering across a single destination.

"Projects at this scale cannot be delivered as disconnected pieces. They require a partner with the product range, technical depth, and experience to help make the whole park work together."

Mina Saad, Middle East & India manager, project services at WhiteWater, says: "It has been incredible for our local team to be so closely involved in this project.

"To see such an ambitious project come to life has been inspiring. The fact that it so closely mirrors the concept sketches is a testament to the strong collaboration of all parties and, of course, an exceptional client.

"Together, we’ve delivered a destination the region can take pride in, setting a new benchmark for water parks globally."

'Deep in-house capability'

Another significant element of WhiteWater’s contribution was the creation of bespoke dry rafts, as seen on Junoon Drop and a selection of other slides throughout the park.

Instead of deploying standard ride vehicles, WhiteWater designed dry rafts to enable shared-ride experiences and accommodate those who prefer to wear street clothes.

This required coordination across structural engineering, propulsion calibration, load analysis, and station design in order to support smooth dispatch, balanced loading, and consistent ride performance.

The result is a more versatile ride that delivers broader guest appeal for this region's cultural needs, and the opportunity to extend seasons in other regions.

Onno Meeter, president, Water Parks at WhiteWater, says: "What makes a project like Aquarabia Qiddiya City epic is not one headline attraction. It is the number of different ride types, their associated technologies, and the various teams that all have to come together successfully.

"From custom raft design and ride engineering to installation, commissioning, and long-term operational performance, this project required deep in-house capability across the full delivery cycle. That is where WhiteWater adds value on projects of this scale."

Water theme parks continue to grow in ambition, and Aquarabia is at the forefront of the developing trend.

While attractions such as Aquarabia are once-in-a-lifetime destinations, the inclusion of non-traditional attractions, immersive theming, and the adaptation of slides to local climate and culture are set to be embedded in water theme parks of all sizes over the long term.

For developers and operators, such projects set a new standard for what a delivery partner must be able to provide.

For WhiteWater, Aquarabia is a clear example of how product breadth, engineering integration, and execution experience come together on a large-scale project.

Earlier this month, WhiteWater announced that its Vantage platform will be deployed at all eight Enchanted Parks locations across the US.