Situated in the centre of Phuket Island, Andamanda is a relatively new attraction on the scene in Phuket, but is it worth it for a day out? Firmly staking out its claim as the ‘best water park’ in Thailand, is it really true?
Well, we’ve not tried them all, but on the scale of Phuket amusement parks, this is pretty cool but is it worth a day in your Phuket family itinerary? We’ll run you through exactly what you can expect, the bets rides and who it would best suit.
Table of Contents
What To Expect at Andamanda
The park is divided into five amusement areas, including 17 mobile games, 32 slides, and 8 attractions. The whole park is set around a Thai theme, on a quest for hidden treasures from the Andaman Sea. The five themed areas to explore are:
- Coral World – perfect for younger kids and lazy river fans
- Naga Jungle – your more extreme rides
- Pearl Palace – entrance area and retail
- The Great Andaman Bay – wave pool and beach
- Emerald Forest – more long slides
There are 12 different types of extreme slides, with a total of 29 rides and attractions to try across the park. If its not too busy, you could fit all attractions within a day, assuming you meet size requirements!
Ride Height Limits
Height limits vary so do take note of these for younger children before deciding if this is the right sort of day out for you that kids will get value from
NB, the magic number you want is 122cm (that’s 48 inches). Over that height, kids move to an adult ticket, but it means they can access pretty much every adrenaline ride in the park.
Ride Name | Height | Park Section | Thrill Level |
---|---|---|---|
Rolling Ripples | 107cm | Coral World | 2 |
Atoll Adventure | 102cm | Coral World | 2 |
Wonder Waterland | no limit | Coral World | 1 |
Little Reef | 91cm | Coral World | 2 |
Flight of the Kinnarees | 122 cm | Emerald Forest | 5 |
Angels’ Slides | 107cm | Emerald Forest | 5 |
Emerald Pool | 107cm | Emerald Forest | 1 |
Flow Rider | 107cm | Emerald Forest | 4 |
The Andaman Bay | 107cm | Andaman Bay | 3 |
Curving Cavern | 107cm | Andaman Bay | 4 |
Eagle Flyer | 122cm | Andaman Bay | 5 |
Moken’s Boat | 107cm | Andaman Bay | 4 |
Rock n Raft | 122cm | Andaman Bay | 5 |
Sliding rocks | 107cm | Andaman Bay | 4 |
Racing Nagas | 107cm | Naga Jungle | 3 |
Cobra Curls | 122 cm | Naga Jungle | 5 |
Dragon’s Drop | 122 cm | Naga Jungle | 5 |
Garuda Soars | 122 cm | Naga Jungle | 5 |
Top Rides At Andamanda
Some of the best attractions at Andamanda you’ll want to try include:
The Eagle Flyer (Thrill Level 5)
A family/group ride where you go soaring down and then drop to a near-vertical fall. This is paired with Rock N Rafts, a slightly more sedate family ride. Solo/couple riders will be paired up at the top to give your ride the right weight (3-6 people).
Moken’s Boat (Thrill Level 4)
A wild river ride with plenty of twists and turns and near-vertical transitions in tubes, ride solo or with a friend.
Naga Jungle Racing Nagas (Thrill Level 3)
6 parallel slides so you can compete with friends or strangers in a timed mat race to the end.
Andaman Bay Wave Pool (Thrill Level 3)
The artificial sea creates waves as high as 3m, goes off every 15 minutes, and has a 300-metre-long beach. Its definitely up there as one of the best wave pool experiences.
Rolling Ripples (Thrill Level 2)
Asia’s longest lazy river at 550m is a super way to float your day away if you’re not a big fan of the thrilling rides. It is indeed quite lazy compared to some of the rapid rivers our thrill seekers are used to!
Flow Rider (Thrill level 5)
Want to learn how to catch some waves? Grab bodyboards for kids or wave boards for adults and learn some new moves.
Andamanda For Younger kids
We do think Andamanda really excels with younger kids looking to tackle bigger rides.
With toddlers and preschool-aged kids, you definitely want to be on the Coral World side of the park, which is heading left as you enter. Here, they can enjoy Wonderwaterland and Atoll Adventures, which offers a three-story play structure with thrills suitable for the younger crowd.
Little Reef includes junior versions of some of the big rides to help them experience some moderate thrills and spills!
Andamanda For Tweens & Teens
With older tweens and teens, we suggest you head right after you enter where more of the thrilling rides are. These include Angel’s Slides in Emerald Forest, along with Cobra Curls, and Dragons Drop in Naga Jungle.
The verdict from our theme park connoisseurs was the rides were good but not the best they’ve ever been on.
Our tween’s biggest gripe (admittedly, visiting in peak season) was the queuing for everything. We luckily did get in not long after opening time and faced queuing for bag inspection (NB, they are scrupulous about the bag check; no water or snacks can be brought in—see more below), then queuing for tickets and queueing to top up cash on watch.
We were lucky to bag a few sun chairs to share but those arriving much later than 11:00 am had to find places to dump towels and shoes beside the rides.
After that, there was more queue after queue for every single ride. The saving grace came in the opening of the wave pool at midday, where you can jump in without a queue.
We’ll try not to make this a direct criticism of Andamanda, as, let’s be honest, it’s common for all theme parks on a sunny peak season day. Nonetheless, it’s frustrating and detracts from the fun with kids who want constant action.
Dining at Andamanda
Like most theme parks, you’re probably not going there for the food, but it’s available from several outlets. The standard and quality of food are good, with Western, Asian, and Thai choices. The Village is the best spot to head for a variety of choices.
We also liked Sand Bar and Bay for a swim-up bar, and the Wave Bar for adult guests.
As a rough guide, expect to pay ฿330 for cocktails, cans of beer start from ฿150 to draft pints ฿200. A panini, sandwich or burger at the bar ฿189. In the Village, fries/chicken pops ฿150, a burger combo set ฿399, pizzas ฿299 a can of soft drink ฿85 and large water cup refill ฿99.
Our tip is to put more than you think you’ll need on your ‘tap and pay watch’ at the start and get it refunded at the exit, rather than needing to queue for top-ups.
NB: If drinks by the pool are important to you, be aware of religious dates when alcohol sales are prohibited in Thailand.
Retail
Of course, there are retail opportunities if you’ve forgotten any of your essentials like sunscreen and sun tops, you can pick these up at the expected markups. You’ll find these at the Bizarre and Pearl Palace, plus several small concession stands around the park.
Andamanda Open Hours
The water park is open daily from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM (they are open every day including rainy season, but will temporarily suspend rides or close in extreme weather).
We found the arrival time at 10:00 AM in dry season to be really busy. There was a huge queue of taxis and minivans waiting to be dropped off from just before park opening time until well after. If you want to get to a particular spot in the park and get those first couple of rides queue-free, you need to be dropped off super early, i.e., plan to get there at least by 9:30 AM and be first in the queue for everything.
How Much Does Andamanda Cost?
Note that mini explorers are considered 91-121cm (broadly 3 to 6-year-olds), whilst those over 122cm will need an adult ticket. There are a few savings if you buy online in advance; the gate price is:
- Adventure Explorers – ฿1500
- Mini Explorer (91 – 122cm) ฿1000
- Children under 90cm are free
- Senior Explorers (aged 60 and up) for ฿1000
We try not to tout you too many third party ticket sales on our blog, but this is genuinely one of the cases where you’ll find ticketing partners can offer you better pricing and deals than you’ll get at the gate – depending on the season ad your currency:
- For example, Get Your Guide tickets at the time of our last visit were ฿1300 (excl transfers)
- We’ve also seen Klook deals from $33USD – making the tickets about ฿1200
Extra Costs Once You’re In
For a family day out like this, you’ll invariably pay more than just the ticket cost. Firstly, there’s the obvious dining and snacks, as we discussed above.
You can bring your own towels or rent them there for an extra fee (some tickets we’ve seen include towel rental, but cost more, so really not free! See if you’re paying the towels but they cost more, so not really free!) The towel rental is ฿200, and the lockers are ฿150 if you buy them on the day.
Note that when you arrive, you’ll want to top up money on an electronic bracelet, which can be used for all your transactions in the park. Strangely, this didn’t seem to be an option at the ticket counter, you need to find a kiosk inside.
What Should You Wear to Andamanda?
Like most of Phuket, almost anything goes around the water. You’ll find women in ridiculously tiny bikinis through to conservative burkinis, but it’s safe to say that if you’re going on slides and out in the sun all day, do yourself a favour and wear appropriate sun protection tops.
The only things that are disallowed are
- babies without swim diapers
- everyday street clothing and underwear
- zippers and buttons on swimwear
- snorkelling gear
- personal flotation devices (they will provide life jackets and rubber rings).
You can pick up any emergency gear you need, like sunscreen, bathers, and goggles, from the retail shops but expect to pay $$$.
Where is Andamanda
- 333/3 Moo 1, Tambon Kathu, Amphur Kathu, Phuket 83120
Situated fairly centrally on Phuket Island, it’s easy to get to from many beachside communities. You’re approximately 40 minutes from Phuket Airport and 20 minutes from Patong Beach.
Where to stay nearby
Despite what we first thought, looking quickly at their website, the water park does not have an on-site hotel. Their hotel partner is the Intercontinental, but it’s a good 30 minutes away on the Andaman Sea coast. You can stay pretty much anywhere on the island, and transportation can be arranged.
Grab and Bolt are also great options if you are trying to close out a transfer, expect to pay ฿300-500 per family group (for an XL vehicle) in both directions from most of the beachside towns.
There are plenty of taxi touts at the end of the day waiting to take you home, but we’ve invariably found it cheaper to book our own.
Drinks and Sustainability at Andamanda
This is not a round of applause, Andaman; we’re going to have a serious gripe here.
At the entry, they go through your bag with a fine toothcomb, removing the tiniest of snacks and any external bottles of water that you bring. Any. So our two battle-weary 1.5L water bottles that have survived at least five family beach trips with us (we refill them at home with a large water dispenser ), were instantly confiscated. The dry crackers I carry for my extremely fussy eater, gone.
I mentioned to my husband that we should have each bought our metal bottles instead. Nope, they were taking them from customers, too; you had to reclaim anything you wanted back on departure (which added a lot of time to the hot and sweaty entry process).
So, really, it’s not so much about them being environmentally friendly as wanting a captive audience that had no choice but to buy their beverages. For ‘only ฿299’, buy their reusable cups and get ‘free’ water refills. Or ฿99 gets you a water paper cup.
If it was genuinely about sustainability, why could people not fill up their own bottles? They were easily creating their own plastic waste issue with the number of confiscated items.
It was pleasing to see some effort being put in, though; Phuket and its environs are WELL behind the curve on sustainable practices. (Side story: shops still can’t believe when we pull out our own shopping bags and give us a huge smile—my mum instilled this habit in me back in the 90s!)
Paper straws are used at Andamanda, which is a huge step up from most venues, and all cutlery, cups etc in the restaurants are reusable. Baby steps but nowhere near enough for a modern opening on the island.
Andamanda vs Blue Tree Lagoon
In our household, there’s a clear winner here. Both in Phuket offer water-based experiences, but Andamanda is what you’d call a traditional water park. Blue Tree Lagoon, on the other hand, focuses on water sports and more adrenaline activities. It has fewer slides but more hair-raising experiences and a variety of activities in and out of the water.
Blue Tree lives true to its motto, ‘Thrill and Chill,’ and we all felt it was a better day out for our family’s needs and interests with preteens and teens.
Simply put, we’re not great with crowds, ever! And our kids are thrill seekers so the idea of cliff jumps and slides where you can do fancy tricks over and over without big queues hugely appealed.
We didn’t feel the entry battle at Blue Tree (in fact, we got a personal staff greeting and tuk-tuk transfers to the lagoon entrance). All around, we were made to feel like a welcome guest, not a drowning number in a squash of bare arses (I still can’t fathom why girls/ladies think itsy bitsy g-string bikinis are appropriate in water parks?).
Every family will be different. I think with younger ones, there are probably more thrills they’ll get at Andamanda. If you’re paying the under 122cm price, they’ll be cheaper, but restricted on attractions. The choices within Coral World at Andamanda are quite varied, though, and they can enjoy the wave pool with life jackets. At Blue Tree Lagoon, the infant’s area is pretty limited.
By price comparison, Blue Tree’s adult prices were similar but included towels and lockers (and a free meal when we visited), and kids are half-price for those under 12. At Andmanda, you’re paying full price for everyone from about 6 years old (122 cm). Meals and drinks were also a little cheaper at Blue Tree.
Blue Tree may not be everyone’s favourite Phuket water park, but we found it a better value-for-money and relaxing day out (minus the body aches and pains the following day, but my boys wholeheartedly agree that it was worth it for the thrills!)
Sadly, Blue Tree have announced the upcoming closure of the lagoon from 31 July 2024, making this one a non-argument now. We truly hope their planned ‘new concept’ keeps the chill and thrill in mind.
Andamanda vs Splash Jungle
We are awaiting another trip to Splash Jungle, the only other water park of size in Phuket to see how this currently compares. Situated in the north of Phuket in Mai Khao, it’s attached to Splash Beach Resort. Both are reportedly quite tired now and the park is nowhere near the size of the new Andamanda Water Park.
They do run good wet season deals, though, making it a value pick off-peak season, but we think you’re still going to get more ‘bang for buck’ at Andamanda.
More Frequently Asked Questions About Andamanda
The park covers nearly 100,000 sqm (58 rai)
Andamanda Water Park has been open to the public since May 2022.
No, you will need to pay extra for towel hire and locker rental if needed, so plan ahead.
Andamanda is the biggest water park in Phuket, but the title of the biggest water park in Thailand actually goes to Ramayana in Pattaya.
Yes, there are plenty of rides and attractions that would specifically suit younger children. However, if you’re travelling only with younger tots, you may find one of the island’s mini water parks more suitable and less overwhelming, such as AquaKingdom in Thalang District or Rawai Park in Rawai.
Final thoughts on Andamanda Phuket, is it worth it?
Andamanda is definitely a fun day out for your thrill-seeking kids. It’s not cheap, but it’s cheaper than, for example, a day out at one of the zipline parks or an elephant sanctuary, which tend to be half-day activities. You could easily spend a full day at Andamanda and feel you’re getting your money’s worth, as long as it’s not an exceptionally busy dry season day with crowds.
Andaman is really good, but being spoilt to have also tried all the best water parks in the UAE, plus Asia’s leading award-winning Waterbom in Bali nearby for SE Asia sun-seekers, is it on par? We think not quite. Perhaps the difference is that Waterbom has that really chilled-out lush jungle feel; Atlantis in Dubai has an incredible number of thrill riders and Splashers Lagoon & Cove kids zone second to none for scale of junior rides catering to those under 1.2m
We don’t have a comparison to Ramayana Water Park in Pattaya yet, but we hope to update you soon!
We think you’ll get value for money at Andamanda if you’re an active family with kids who are seeking a few more thrills than jumping waves at the beach, but save this one for a special treat (it’s ideal for rainy season when the beach waves may be too much but you still want to chill out in the water!)
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