Busch Gardens Adventure Island

Busch Gardens Adventure Island is one of the coolest water parks in Florida, in more ways than one! Located as part of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, it’s one of the neatest water parks to be found in Florida. Want to explore with me?

Adventure Island is a part of Busch Gardens, but apart from it, kind of like Discovery Cove at Sea World, or Blizzard Beach at Disney World. And that, of course, means a separate entrance fee.

But Adventure Island is 30 acres in size, so in reality, it’s a whole day’s trip in itself. The theme for this Tampa Bay water park is the Florida Keys, and it’s carried off surprisingly well (although nothing beats the Florida Keys themselves).

What to do First?

You’ve arrived at Busch Gardens Adventure Island — what should you do first? Well, there are 10 different “rides”, like the Caribbean Corkscrew (looks awesome!), the Gulf Scream, and my personal favorite, the Key West Rapids (think of a wild tubing ride).

So naturally, you’ll want to hit all ten of the water slides, rides and tubes!

Catch the Wave!

You’ll probably want to check out the 17,000 square foot wave pool called “Endless Surf” at some point. It’s one really big pool! And the waves are nothing to sneeze at, either — they can get up to 5 feet high — whoa!

Take a Break

One of the places you can go to chill out some is the Rambling Bayou. It’s a half-mile tubing trip through a rain forest (not exactly a bayou, I know). Anyway, it has lush landscapes, tropical waterfalls even (get this) rain and fog. Thank goodness the sun comes out after!

Speaking of breaks, when you get hungry, there are several different dining options (all casual, as you might guess). Think burgers, hot dogs, pizza, nachos — great “feel good” foods. Oh, and ice cream! Lots and lots of different kinds of ice cream for those hot, sunny days.