Located on the NSW South Coast at the Dapto Showground, this exciting new attraction is just a a few minutes drive from Wollongong, and a couple of hours drive from both Canberra and Sydney.

The water park is made up of several themed pools and slides. They range from a baby pool (no big kids allowed!), right up to a super-fast giant Polar slide!

Some of the other fun pools on  offer  include a dinosaur pool, an Ice Age fun park pool and an African themed pool. All have different fun features, and are generous in size. There’s plenty of room for everyone at this super-fun family attraction.

Laid out in a lovely shady setting, there are plenty of picnic areas surrounding the swimming pools. Bring your own picnic along with you, or you can purchase meals, snacks and coffee from the on-site cafe.

The water park caters to all ages – from babies and toddlers, to school aged children, teenagers and adults. This is a great summer school holiday activity for the whole family to enjoy together!

Check out the fun – watch our Wollongong inflatable water park video

Play the video below to see what the Dapto inflatable water park is like…

Safety first!

Trained life guards and attendants are on duty at all times to make sure children and adults are using the equipment safely, but as always, parents do need to supervise their children.

Where to get tickets

Sessions run for two or four hours depending on the day you go, and online discounts do apply. So be sure to book online before you go for the best ticket price.

A four hour ticket (in the form of a wrist band on the day) is $23.80 for children (aged 4 and up) or adults.

Children 3 and under are free, but must be accompanied by a paying adult.

Spectators receive free entry.

You can book or find out more information about the Waliscags Water Worx inflatable water park at their official website here.

All prices are correct at December 2017. Check supplied website links for any price and availability changes.
Let’s go Mum were hosted guests of the Waliscags Water Worx. All opinions remain firmly our own.
Swimwear – Speedo Australia – Let’s go Mum are proud ambassadors for Speedo Australia.

Have you ever been to an inflatable fun park? Tell us in the comments below!

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We headed to Wollongong this week to attend an event being held at the WIN Entertainment Centre, located in Wollongong city-centre.

I only had a week’s notice to book my accommodation, and according to the usual hotel comparison websites there were no rooms available inside of twenty minutes drive of Wollongong. However experience had taught me that these websites are only allocated a certain number of rooms to sell, and so the actual hotels may still have have vacancies tucked away – it was time to start phoning around!

I Google-Map searched for hotels surrounding the Wollongong Entertainment Centre and started calling them – no luck, all full! The City Beach Motel, rated 3 stars, had been my final call, and I had left my phone number with them on the off-chance they might get a last-minute cancellation. Luck was finally on our side – the lovely staff called me back within an hour with a cancellation. We were finally accommodated – phew!

Literally right across the road from the WIN Entertainment Centre and WIN Stadium and just one short block from the gorgeous Wollongong City Beach, location is they City Beach Motel’s major asset. It actually turned out to be perfect for our two-night Wollongong stay – mainly because it saved us hours of mucking around commuting and parking over the weekend. It is the only motel so close to the beach AND the WIN Entertainment Centre. There’s a great kid’s playground on the way to the beach too – both are just one short block (or two minute’s walk) away.

The Wollongong City Beach is a beautiful beach with white sand and big surf. The majestic Wollongong lighthouse located at one end and Port Kembla steel works a direct contrast in the distance at the other. It’s well worth the five-minute stroll to take in the gorgeous vistas.

On the day of our arrival at the City Beach Motel we were running quite late, but reception staff couldn’t have been more polite or welcoming. This excellent standard of service continued right throughout our stay. In no time at all we were parked under the building (no worries about finding parking at the Entertainment Centre for us tomorrow!) and provided with our room key and some milk for tea and coffee.

I assumed that with the City Beach Motel being a three-star motel, we would be staying in a tiny room with no cooking facilities, however when we entered our room I realised that this wasn’t to be the case at all.

The room was large, and there was even a small kitchen complete with full oven/stove, microwave, bar fridge and toaster. There was crockery including plates, cups and glasses, plus cutlery. A hot water jug and tea-making accessories, including tea, coffee, sugar, milk and biscuits were all supplied.

Reassessing our weekend set-up, we dashed off to the supermarket (10 minutes walk) to stock up on a few breakfast items – now we didn’t need to go out and search for breakfast in the morning – we were set!

The rooms at the City Beach Motel were a little dated, which given the price-point was to be expected, however they were also spotlessly clean and comfortable, and serviced our needs very well over the weekend.

There was a large flat screen tv, plenty of wardrobe hanging space, lighting, power points (for my six thousand charge cords) and a powerful reverse-cycle air conditioner – even this early in Spring it was certainly appreciated!

The bathroom was clean and serviceable, with a full-sized bath and a strong, hot shower. A range of complimentary toiletries were supplied too.

As the City Beach Motel is located on a corner of a busy intersection in the Wollongong city centre, it was not without the expected traffic and pedestrian noise. That said, being Wollongong this wasn’t constant and it did quieten down later in the night – perhaps after 10/11pm. There was still the odd tyre-screeching episode a couple of times through the night.

The intersection became an attraction of sorts in our room – the kid’s favourite thing was to sit at the floor to ceiling window and watch the world go by, two floors down! All motel rooms at the City Beach Motel are located on the first or second floor, so up one or two flights of stairs. For this reason this motel wouldn’t suit anyone who may be in a wheel chair, or is significantly mobility-impaired.

For us, being on the 2nd floor did give me a feeling of us being more secure – plus we were surrounded by other families staying for the weekend. It was possibly a little quieter too.

At just *$155 for the three of us per night this motel was a real bargain (weekend rate – cheaper off-peak at around *$129), with the nearby large hotels charging *$450 per night.

It you are a beach-goer or attending an event at the WIN Wollongong Entertainment Centre or Wollongong Stadium and are on a budget, then the City Beach Motel is a solid option that will save you some cash, and time. I know I would book here again if we have another event at the entertainment centre – it’s just too convenient to pass up!

City Beach Motel useful info

Suits – budget conscious travellers / families

Parking – undercover parking
Stairs – no wheelchair access
Rating – three-star rating
Food – accommodation only – room service is currently unavailable

Beachfront/park – 2 minutes walk
Shopping/Woolworths supermarket – 10 minutes walk
Restaurants and cafe’s – 5 minutes walk
McDonald’s family restaurant – 5 minutes walk

*All prices are correct as at October 2015

Have you ever visited Wollongong, NSW? What did you enjoy doing there? Tell us in the comments below…

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Jamberoo is a family water park, and a great fun way to spend a day!

We headed off on our hour or so drive to Jamberoo with sunny skies, but by the time we arrived it was unseasonably cold! However being die-hard family fun-seekers that we are, Brooke (9), Samantha (7) and myself voted to brave the weather and go swimming and water-sliding anyhow – and we’re very glad we did!

One of the great things about Jamberoo is that apart from buying food, you can practically put your wallet away as everything is covered in the entry price. So the first thing we did when we arrived was to hire a locker for the day for our gear ($10 locker hire). Now we could wander around the park carrying nothing at all and simply hop from one ride to another with no worries.

The shortest of us, Samantha, met the height minimum for all rides, and thanks to the chilly conditions there were barely any queues – so we managed to cover every ride in the whole park in just a few fun hours. Here is our ride-by-ride guide to Jamberoo…

The Bobsled – two rides in one

You need to take a chairlift up to the start of the Bobsled run. This was a bit of a worry for me as it only fit two people, and so I needed to send Brooke, my 9yo, on her own. She rode ahead of Samantha and I, with me periodically calling out to her “Just sit still! Are you okay? Keep the safety bar down!” like the embarrassing mother I am – we all made it to the top safe and sound of course, and ready for our run down the hill.

The Bobsleds were very heavy and you needed to lift it down off a rack and carry it to the track by yourself which I found quite difficult – there was no chance the kids could lift them on their own. Then we climbed aboard and set off down the mountain, which was as safe and as slow as you wanted to make it. We did find that the sleds kept stopping here and there – so you then had to push them along with your hands which was a challenge – especially as I had my 7yo on my double one. The track was very bumpy on the joins which made the ride quite uncomfortable. Maybe it was just that we had chosen the slower track, or that we were going too slow, but in any case, at the bottom we all decided that one run was enough, and we thankfully headed off to try something else.

The Taipan water slide – lots of fun

With no queues to speak of, we walked up to the Taipan water slide and could get straight on each time we rode. This ride was a lot of fun for all of us! We all sat in a big rubber ring which headed off into a dark water tunnel lit up just a little here and there, making it a bit spooky – but in a fun way! Slightly thrilling, but not too much to handle for our little crew – we rode the Taipan three times – thumbs up!

Surf Hill – like the big slide at fun fairs – just add water!

Surf Hill was rows of fast, straight downhill slides on mats. The girls did this one alone while I watched. They said it was fun but only did it once – they wanted to move on!

Splash Out – good old-fashioned fun

These two classic twisty-turn-y blue open air water slides were fun for everyone – not scary unless you can’t swim – one little girl behind me clearly couldn’t swim when she hit the deep water at the end of the slow slide, and I raced back towards her as the life guard offered her his float which she clearly couldn’t grab – he finally jumped in to fish the poor thing out, coughing and spluttering. My kids had harmlessly swum out when finding themselves in the deep water, thank goodness. We did ride this one a few times – it was good fun.

The Rock – high-jumping thrills

The kids thought this was really fun, or at least Brooke did. Samantha and I just liked hanging out in the warm pool underneath, as by this point we were pretty cold out of the water! You could choose from three jump points – one short slide with a long drop into the water and two rock jump-offs, one higher than the other. Most older kids loved jumping off The Rock – I was happy to just watch this one, and Samantha said jumping off hurt when she hit the water, so she just did it the once (even that surprised me – she’s a brave one!). I took her down to a little kids area below The Rock where she was much happier playing with the squirting frogs, little slides, raining mushrooms and lilly-pads!

Outback Bay – catch a wave

Outback Bay is the first thing you see when you walk into Jamberoo – a massive hard-bottomed wave pool fringed by a sandy beach with deck chairs. There is a toddler pool to one side and a huge tv screen belting out the latest hit videos and counting down the wave sets. The waves are set off around every half hour and are a lot of fun. My girls are both good swimmers, but I needed to be with them in the waves if they were not right near the edge, as wave water depth can be very deceptive for little kids. Outback Bay is also where we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch overlooking the bay. The “Bombora Seafood” café had absolutely delicious food – don’t miss the fish and tempura prawns, plus Churros from the snack bar there too – yummy!

Mini Golf – for something different!

Not what you’d expect in a water park, but a bit of fun on the side, just the same. All you need is a $2 deposit for your putter and ball and you’re in business. Both girls enjoyed taking a Mini Putt-Putt time out here at the end of the day.

Rapid River – not really so rapid…

Even for a mum with two young kids, this ride was pretty slow. You sat on a blow up ring and drifted around in a big circle, getting sprayed by what felt like random hoses. In the end we all jumped off the rings (it’s only around a metre deep) so we could walk it faster and get out sooner, which everyone seemed to be doing. Perhaps it’s more suited to parents pushing toddlers on the rings – or it’s more fun on a hot day when you just want some relaxing chill-out time.

Billabong Beach – fun for the under-tens

Billabong Beach  is a cute little area for kids to climb, slide and play. We practically had the place to ourselves, and it was a nice spot for me to lie on a lounge and relax whilst the kids raced around, splashed, slid and played safely.

Banjo’s Billabong – a big splash!

Banjo’s Billabong is like the big brother of Billabong Beach – it is another climbing structure, just bigger with longer slides coming down off of it, and an enormous bucket that fills and dunks periodically. All the kids eagerly wait for this, as it’s quite the massive splash! Lots of young-to-older kid fun to be had here.

The Funnel Web – as thrilling as it gets

The Funnel Web is clearly the big-gun ride of Jamberoo. A huge, twisty covered water slide that at one point spits it’s riders out into the most massive funnel (that spectators can watch from a viewing deck) before sucking the screaming occupants back into a tube. Unfortunately Samantha, made the height minimum so I had no excuses not to go on it, however luckily the kids suddenly had second thoughts at the top and we all scarpered back down the path and left it to the braver folks – phew! Well, maybe next time…

The Jamberoo Action Park has a lot going for it – we really enjoyed our time there. If the kids are getting bored in the holidays or on those long hot Summer weekends, Jamberoo Action Park is a great family activity that will give you and the kids a fun day out!

Jamberoo Action Park is located on the South Coast of NSW, around an hour’s drive South from Sydney, two hours from Canberra and twenty minutes from Wollongong. Public transport is via train to Kiama Station then (seasonal) connection bus.
Admission is $49.99 per adult, $41.99 per child. Season passes are available for $109 online. Prices are correct at 21/01/2015.
Check the Jamberoo website here for further details.

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