Water Parks in Malaysia

The most accessible of the big parks, twenty minutes from central Kuala Lumpur and attached to a mall and hotels, which makes it the easy choice if you are not driving. It holds the largest surf pool in Malaysia alongside a wave pool and a set of slides running from gentle to genuinely steep, with a shallow zone for young children. It sits inside a much larger complex, so buy the water park ticket on its own unless you want the whole day there.

The water park sits beside LEGOLAND Malaysia at Iskandar Puteri, about an hour from Singapore and four from Kuala Lumpur, and it is the biggest in the country. More than twenty slides and attractions are built around the Lego theme, including a wave pool, a lazy river where you float on a raft you build yourself, and a shallow build-a-boat area for small children. It works best as a second day added to a LEGOLAND theme park ticket rather than as a trip on its own.

Escape at Teluk Bahang, on Penang's north coast, sells a dry adventure park and a water park on one ticket. The water side has what the park says is the world's longest water slide, running more than a kilometre down the hillside through the trees, plus a wave pool and tube rides. The dry side is ziplines, rope courses and a giant slide. Best for older children and adults; there is less here for toddlers than at the city parks.

Built into a limestone valley outside Ipoh, and the only water park in the country where the day ends in natural hot springs. The water side is mid-sized, with slides, a wave pool and a lazy river, but the setting under the karst cliffs is the reason to come, and the geothermal pools stay open into the evening. Pair it with Ipoh's cave temples and old town rather than treating it as a full day.

Part of the A'Famosa resort at Alor Gajah, about half an hour north of Melaka town, and the closest big water park to the historic centre. Slides, a wave pool, a lazy river and a large children's play structure make up the water side, with hotels on site if you want to stay over. Convenient if you are already in Melaka, but not worth a special trip from Kuala Lumpur when Sunway Lagoon is far closer.

A straightforward, municipal-scale water park in Shah Alam, west of Kuala Lumpur, and a fraction of the price of Sunway Lagoon. Expect pools, slides, a wave pool and plenty of shade rather than headline rides. This is where local families go, so weekends are busy and weekdays are quiet. Worth knowing if you are travelling with small children and would rather not pay resort prices for the day.

Attached to the Bayou Lagoon Park Resort at Ayer Keroh, and the smaller of Melaka's two water parks. It is built around a family pool complex with slides, a wave pool and a lazy river, and day tickets are sold to people not staying there. Choose it over A'Famosa if you want somewhere quieter and closer to Melaka town, or if you are already booked into the resort.