West Coast Aqua Park has opened for its second successive summer this year, offering families and friends the chance to go island hopping on a twenty-two-piece inflatable aqua park in the Kilrush Marina.
Following an expansion from last year, the park can now accommodate large groups whilst implementing social distancing and this year is leading with a specialised disability friendly service to cater for all individuals that are looking to get out on the water.
Boasting a total of five inflatable islands containing a number of swings, slides and blast bags, owner Wayne Slattery reveals that the park has been designed to get families into the water, irrespective of any level of physical fitness. The park employs both a land and a water team, made up of young lifeguards within the community. The land team checks people in and ensures all safety procedures and administrative work is carried out. The water team then takes over, once wet suits and buoyancy aids have been assigned to individuals and safely bringing everyone to their inflatable islands.
On this year’s expansion and its grounding in health and safety, Wayne contends, “I have envisioned to turn the park into a water sport recreational park, with activities like kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. I had to put off the extended expansion due to Covid-19, but the park is much bigger than last year. We usually open up in May, with school tours booked in for April. We missed those this year, resulting in the loss of half of our season of trade.”
“The bigger park this year means there is much more space. We have bought three times more wet suits and buoyancy aids as well as sterilizing everything after use and putting in outdoor changing and shower facilities. We are trying to do much more than the guidelines this year, it’s all about the safety of families. Trust is number one for people and businesses this year and we are giving people a chance to get out and get active safely”.
