Last Updated on 8 April 2024 by Colette
When booking a holiday, we always have a look at what water parks there are nearby – as a family we love nothing more than a day of cool water slides in the sunshine! Our campsite in Toreilles had five slides on site, though only one of them was open for most of the week, so we were really excited to find that not only was Drop-in Argelès within reasonable driving distance of where we were staying but would actually open on the last day of our holiday. (We have previously booked to stay at a campsite based on proximity to a water park that didn’t open till the week after we’d gone home – lesson learned!)
So let’s start with the answers to some frequently asked questions about Drop-in Argeles and then I’ll crack on with letting you know what we thought of it!
What is Drop-in Argelès Water Jump Park?
Drop-in is one for the thrill seekers. Drop-in is a really different sort of waterpark featuring 18 straight drop slides and water jumps – it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for years!
The water slides are graded according to three levels of difficulty – easy, medium and hard – and these are colour coded for ease though it’s fairly obvious from looking at them which ones are going to be the most adrenaline fuelled! The beginner and intermediate slides (which were the ones our girls, as under 14s, were allowed to access) were in a separate pool with the advanced slides being for over 14s only. There is one “very hard” track which Ben and Uncle Chris were brave enough to tackle. Some of the slide are over 15m high – which apparently feels much higher when you’re at the top of them than it does on the videos Dave made!
Some of the rides you go down on a body board, some in a rubber ring and some just in your swimwear.
This isn’t a water park where you’ll find a tube slide or wave pool – Drop-in is about steep drops and ski-jump style slides which leave your soaring (or flailing) through the air! If you’re looking for an adrenaline rush, you’ll probably find it here!
Where is Drop-in Argelès Water Jump Park?
You’ll find Drop-in at Espace de Loisirs, 5 Imp. Copernic, 66700 Argelès-sur-Mer, France
When is Drop-in Argelès Water Jump Park open?
Drop-in water park is open seasonally, from 1st June 2023 until 16th September 2023.
How much does Drop-in Argelès Water Jump Park cost?
Prices start from 22 Euros for adults and 16 Euros for children – family tickets are also available.
You can book 1, 2 or 4 hour packages – on the day our gang went there was a promotion which meant they got four hours for the price of two however they were all absolutely done in after three hours. Because they visited on the first day of the season, it was really quiet so they didn’t have to queue for anything – Dave said two hours would probably be enough but had it been busier they might have struggled to get everything done.
Parking at Drop-in is free of charge
You can book your tickets for Drop-in here or pay on the door.
Who is Drop-in Argelès Water Jump Park for?
Drop-in is suitable from children age 5+ however children aged 5 to 9 must be accompanied by an adult who is also taking part.
I would suggest you’re going to need a reasonable level of fitness to enjoy Drop-in – there’s plenty of steps to climb and rubber rings to carry, you obviously need to be able to swim and get yourself back out of the drop pools – having recently been hospitalised with a prolapsed disc, we made the decision that this wasn’t a day out for me to take part in this time! All five of our team were absolutely shattered by the time they’d finished at the park with plenty of scrapes and bruises to show for it.
What should I wear for my session at Drop-in Waterpark?
You’re going to want to wear a one piece swimming costume or trunks, or possibly a short neoprene suit. This is not a park for bikinis or swimming costumes that aren’t holding your bits and bobs securely – the last thing you want to worry about mid air is that you’ve accidentally exposed yourself. For safety reasons, burkinis are not allowed.
Dave and Ben wore rash vest initially to protect them from the sun but found these were really slowing them down on the rides so soon ditched them.
You are provided with life vests (if required) and helmets. Amy chose to wear a life vest and said it made her feel more confident knowing that it would help pull her to the surface again!
What if I just want to watch?
Because I’ve had issues with my back recently, I decided that an afternoon messing about on the mega slides at Drop-in would not be a sensible move. We couldn’t actually find any information on the website about spectators – if there was anywhere to sit and watch or if you have to pay an entrance fee. Of course I didn’t want to end up paying full price to not be allowed to go on anything so I stayed by the pool at the campsite. As it was, yes you are allowed to just go and watch at Drop-in – there is a place for spectators to watch all the fun without having to pay which is great if you’re taking teens and don’t want to have to get involved yourself!
Are dogs allowed at Drop-in?
You are welcome to take your dog to Drop-in (though I’m not sure why you would) – they must be kept on a lead at all times.
What Dave thought about Drop-in
Drop-in was very different to anything we had ever done before and was a definitely a great experience although it was far more physically draining than I had expected.
If you are going to Drop-in, I would advise having a few goes on the smaller jumps to fine tune your form in the air as each type of slide requires you to position yourself differently to make sure you enter the water correctly. Messing this up results in some epic belly flops or splashes. I repeatedly messed up the dismount from the rubber ring on the smaller jumps and kept landing on my back which was one of the reasons why I skipped the largest rubber ring jump.
My first attempt on one of the larger jumps saw me over rotate and crash into the water chest and face first. I honestly thought I had broken my nose and expected a commotion when I surfaced but luckily I hadn’t. I felt battered and bruised following this and further attempts didn’t improve matters though my form was better following the first attempt. It was this aching that also convinced me to skip the largest rubber ring jump (the only black level jump on the park). I felt sore for a good two days after our time at Drop-in!
All that being said it was good fun. You just knew you’d had fun afterwards!
Our top tips for making the most of your time at Drop-in
- Don’t book your visit to Drop-in for the last day of your holidays – its exhausting and you will likely leave the experience feeling battered and bruised so will want a bit of recovery time before the journey home.
- Don’t wear your best swimming costume!
- Make sure you’ve applied plenty of waterproof sun cream – you’re exposed to the sun the whole time you’re there. You can wear a rash vest but you’ll find this slows you down!
- The standard booking time is 2 hours – if it’s busy you’ll probably want more than that but 4 hours is a lot.
- Don’t bother taking your goggles as you won’t be allowed to wear them – but Ben says to tell you that the water doesn’t sting your nose / eyes anyway at Drop-in
By the time the gang left Drop-in, they were all feeling decidedly battered and bruised and Uncle Chris said he definitely wanted to go to a waterpark with a lazy river next time! The general consensus was that they loved it and were really glad they’d been, but that it was a bit of a “box-ticked, don’t need to do it again” type waterpark – Ben and Chris reckoned you’d go every two or three years rather than multiple times in one season.
Have a look at these posts next:
Where are the best waterparks in Europe?
Driving to the south of France with kids
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