Get your trunks and cozzies ready because you’ll want to hop in your car (and plane) and hit every one of these adrenaline-pumping water slides. Only the BIGGEST and BEST from around the world have made our top 15 list. They’re big, they’re bad, and they’re sure to get your blood pumping as you splash through one of these insane thrill rides!
From Brazil to China to America and Europe, we’re bringing you the absolute best water slides from every corner of the globe. That means the BIGGEST, the TALLEST, and the most INSANE attractions that modern technology has to offer the whacky and wild world of water slides, right here!
In This Guide
Kilimanjaro, Brazil
What better way to start us off than with the tallest waterslide in the world? Kilimanjaro does its volcanic namesake more than proud with its nearly 50-meter height. All that height also means you’re coming down with blazing speeds that make this waterslide one of the fastest in the world as well, with a top speed of 57 mph!
You can find this insane monster of a waterslide at a resort in Rodovia, which is about 85 miles outside of Rio de Janeiro. This thing is so big and so tall that it takes a whopping 234 steps to reach the top; all that time to think means that about one in 20 people who summon the courage to make it to the top walk straight back down.
A waterslide called Verruckt (which means ‘insane’) was built in America a few years back. It broke Kilimanjaro’s record, but it closed quickly after a fatality. When it comes to waterslides, it seems like it literally cannot get bigger or better than Kilimanjaro unless you put yourself in mortal danger.
Slide-Wheel, China
This one doesn’t have the size of a Kilimanjaro, but it can still wow you as the world’s first rotating waterslide. This gem can be found at Chimelong Waterpark, about a half-hour drive from Guangzhou, or a two-hour trek from Hong Kong.
You won’t know what’s going on or where you’re going when you’re on this wild ride. If you’re brave enough to face the challenge, the slide tosses you into a zero-gravity spin in a hamster wheel, before you get spat out the other side. It’s almost unbelievable, even after you’ve just experienced it.
This 24-meter tall monster of a waterslide, weighing 130 tons, can allow up to 12 people to enjoy the dizzying, washing-machine ride at about 25 mph for a minute and a half, repeating every 30 seconds.
X-Treme Faser, Germany
We’ve got a weird one here, folks. This ride has catered only to men since 2012 because of a bunch of incidents that saw female riders sent to the hospital for injuries to their private parts. Not even joking here, this is completely serious. That’s how ferocious the X-Treme Faser is.
Located at Galaxy-Erding Tropical Spa and Waterpark just over 35km north of Munich, this ridiculous waterslide drops you down a 67-meter flume and reaches scorching speeds of over 45mph. We wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of men chose to avoid this one, along with their ladies.
You begin in utter darkness, which makes figuring out which way is up pretty much impossible and the whole ordeal even more frightening. X-Treme Faser will give you just a few seconds of adventure, but you can guarantee that those precious seconds will be some of the most terrifying and adrenaline-pumping of your life.
MASSIV Monster Blaster, USA
This one right here is a doozy. Not only does the MASSIV Monster Blaster bring you screaming down to earth, but it goes up too. Found in Schlitterbahn Waterpark on the Galveston Islands about an hour south of Houston, you can’t pass up a chance at this insane waterslide if you’re an adrenaline junkie passing through the Lonestar State.
Standing 21 meters high, the MASSIV is the world’s tallest ‘water coaster,’ and a ride on it is sure to bring on a massive adrenaline rush. This thing goes up four times as well as down; you’re twisting, you’re turning, you’re spiraling, and then you get the big drops and splashes.
Six state-of-the-art jets are what allow riders to experience the ride of their life on the 300 meters of the MASSIV, which ends in a triple drop that might make this the most insane water slide in the world.
Although not quite as fun as taking a trip to Texas, there’s a somewhat similar style ride located at Butlins, Minehead called the Master Blaster.
Space Twister, Austria
Get ready to touch another planet when you hop into the Space Twister. Well, it’s really in Sonnentherme, about an hour from Vienna, but you will surely feel like you’re in another world while you’re riding this water slide, not only because the ride is taking advantage of the demand for virtual reality.
Virtual reality is taking everything to the next level, and water slides did not miss the boat. With Space Twister, you’re twisting over 200 meters around the whole park, and at the same time, taking in a 360-degree view of whatever world you’ve chosen; whether it be dragons, aliens, or fantasy, you’re going to get a breathtaking experience that you will not soon forget.
Leap Of Faith, Bahamas
If height and speed aren’t enough to grab your interest, how about literal SHARKS? At the Atlantis Waterpark on Paradise Island, about 20 minutes from Nassau, you will find Leap Of Faith, a waterslide complete with steep drops and sharp-toothed sharks, the likes of which you probably thought you’d only ever see in cartoons.
Riders careen 18 meters almost straight down the side of a faux Mayan temple in a transparent acrylic tunnel, then shot through a lagoon filled with sharks. Yes: Real. Life. Sharks. One of the reef sharks actually leapt out of its enclosure and onto the waterslide back in 2008. No one was hurt, but the possibility alone makes Leap Of Faith one of the wildest, most insane water slide rides you can find in the world.
L2, Austria
We head back to Austria to find L2, the world’s first double loop water slide, which is a sight for sore daredevil eyes if there ever was one. Worgler Wasserwelt Waterpark, about 20 minutes from Hannover, is where you find this beast waiting to wow you.
This ride doesn’t waste any time getting riders riled up, as the official warning sign essentially says that L2 is not for the faint of heart. Loop-the-loop-the-loop you go on this winding waterslide, which calls itself the most extreme in the world. With a 14-meter straight freefall accelerating you to over 40mph on the world’s first double-loop, do you think they’re lying?
Scorpion’s Tail, USA
The first water slide to feature a loop-the-loop in America, the Scorpion’s Tail has not lost any of its skill for fright and fear over the years. Found at Noah’s Ark Waterpark a couple of hours from Milwaukee, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more vertical loop than this one.
The 60-degree angle is almost unthinkable, giving you about as close to a full inversion as is probably safe. And to make matters even more exciting, this waterslide gets you started by dropping you through a trap door into a 16-meter freefall, bringing riders to a frantic speed of 40mph, with enough centrifugal force to flip them on their heads theoretically. Imagine flipping while going down a waterslide? These things are starting to get genuinely insane, aren’t they?
Zero-G, USA
Remaining in the USA, we now come to Zero-G, a big, bad slide that just so happens to have the world’s tallest double loops. No big deal. Just an hour from downtown New York City at Mountain Creek Waterpark in Vernon, this is one of the easiest to find of any on the list.
You start with another trap-door—Americans seem to like these don’t they?—which leads you to a 30-meter straight drop before sending you into a high-speed thrill ride so intense it almost feels like you’re floating in zero gravity as you pass through those record-breaking double-loops. And all this at 65mph speeds that would put nearly every other water slide on the planet to shame.
Captain Spacemaker, Italy
If you’re looking for some adrenaline-pumping fun, but you don’t want to venture too far from the UK, you can make your way to Venezia, where you’ll find Captain Spacemaker, the tallest waterslide in Europe.
Found at Aqualandia Waterpark, this water slide stands over 42 meters tall, with a crazy 60-degree slope before an even more insane drop that can bring your four-person raft up to almost unreasonable speeds of over 62mph. Only once you’ve found yourself intact in the pool below the Spacemaker will you finally be able to take a breath and begin to understand just how you made it through all of that frantic insanity.
Insano, Brazil
Truly living up to its name, Insano is a waterslide like no other. You’re pretty much flying down through the air, barely touching the slide because of how steep it is, which is why you can only ride this one on your back with arms and legs crossed.
Located at the Beach Park in Aquiraz near Brazil’s northeastern coast, the insanity of Insano is evident when you see it towering over the landscape at 41 meters high, about the size of a 14-story building. When you see the steep drop sending people from 40 meters down to the ground at 65mph in under five seconds, the fact that Insano leaves tourists in tears daily at the apex of the waterslide is no surprise. And you could be one of them!
Everest, Canada
For some adrenaline junkies, waterslides aren’t even enough anymore. Well, these folks need look no further than Canada’s whacky Everest waterslide, which converts into an even more insane snow inner-tube slide come wintertime.
Housed at the Vacances Valcartier Resort in Quebec, this double belly mat waterslide rises over 33 meters tall to dominate the surrounding landscape. Take your nerves of steel to ‘La Belle Province’ and see if they can withstand the shock and awe that the highest accelerating slide in North America gives you as you come blazing down the slide face first at nearly 50 mph.
Daredevil’s Peak, Bahamas
Who would have thought that the Bahamas was a secret haven for waterslide junkies? Daredevil’s Peak, found at CocoCay, is not only the tallest water slide in North America, but it also overtook Brazil’s Insano as the tallest body-sliding freestanding slide in the world.
The records are all nice, but does this thing truly test your nerves or what? Measuring in at over 41 meters in height, this tour de G-force will have riders laughing in happiness just as likely as it is to have them laughing in fear at the steepest of steep drops. It’s such a perfect mix of fun and fear that you’ll find yourself rushing for the stairs to try it again mere moments after finishing your 35-second run.
Meteor, Brazil
If it’s not clear yet, you’re going to have to try an insane waterslide if you’re ever in Brazil. The Meteor, located at the Wet’n’Wild Water Park in Sao Paolo, is the world’s tallest drop capsule slide and fourth-tallest overall waterslide in the world.
Its 40-meter height is enough to make even the bravest of us think twice, but the 70-degree slope the Meteor puts you on after dropping you through the trap-door is just plain silly. There’s no ‘nearly’ freefalling here; with a 70-degree slope from that height, you’re literally freefalling at 60mph through the air.
Jumeirah Sceirah, UAE
Last but not least, our list of the biggest and most insane waterslides takes us to the desert, not exactly somewhere you’d expect to find a waterpark, right? Located in the most modern of cities, Dubai, this trap-door style body waterslide even encourages riders to take their GoPros with them on the wild ride.
Starting from the top of a 32-meter tower, you and your racing buddy drop through the door and race each other to the bottom at hair-raising speeds of over 49 miles per hour. Dubai’s got tons of beautiful places to see, but Jumeirah Sceirah is a must-visit for any daredevil, as there aren’t many other waterslides in the desert.
