Making a splash – Salalah’s first Aqua Park comes to town

All of Oman’s top government officials were assembled behind them. Engaged in earnest conversation, it was great to see HE Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mehrizi, the Sultanate’s Minister of Tourism, hold forth as the minutes ticked down to Hawana’s official inauguration. Mehrizi, though, was only one of two chief guests who’d preside over the much-awaited ribbon cutting ceremony.

The other was Mohammed bin Sultan Al Busaidi, Oman’s Minister for State and the Governor of Dhofar. Truth be told, I felt a bit goosepimply in that room. It wasn’t due to the air-conditioning (there wasn’t need for any, because the constant cool winds from the sea meant Hawana Salalah always remained cool), but because here I was, on yet another momentous step on Oman’s historical ladder of development.

Hawana Salalah is Oman’s newest aqua park, and ensures there is something for everyone in the family to enjoy.

Before the festivities began, though, we’d been given a chance to see the park for ourselves, and like most things Omani, there is a certain understated appeal to Hawana Salalah that grows on you over time. Hawana have ensured there is something for everybody at their new water park: from the twisting, turning slides that ensure people have a thrill of a lifetime without quite knowing when they’re going to hit the water with an almighty splash and the slip-and-slides which make you feel weightless for just that split second before coming back to earth and repeat that a few more times before you’re deposited, grinning from ear to ear, in a pool that you just can’t help but lounge around in for a few more seconds than you know is appropriate.

But that’s the charm of Dhofar’s first water park. It’s so enticingly welcoming – and I mean that in a good way – that you just don’t want to leave. Their kiddie pool, a vast water feature complete with a plethora of fun water features, including one of those big buckets that splashes water on you every few minutes, occupies a good quarter of Hawana, with a cabana that’s set slightly away from the rest of the property providing both privacy and relaxation to families.

You might feel a bit jittery if you’ve come unprepared, but Hawana has taken care of that as well: their shop, conveniently located at the entrance, right next to the aqua park’s food court, which caters to a plethora of local and international tastes, serving everything from appetisers to ice cream to pizza and everything in between.