Off the coast of Hon Thom Island, near Phu Quoc Island in southern Vietnam, an unusual water slide started running on June 25, 2026. Rather than the conventional type where you slide straight down a slope, it's an experiential attraction where you're swept along by the very flow of the water. Because the movement changes each time even on the same course, the maker is billing it as \"a new genre of water attraction.\" For anyone considering a family trip to Phu Quoc, it adds one more option to their list of destinations. It's worth sorting out why it's worth the trip out to a remote island, along with practical points like how to get there and tickets.<\/p>\n
The new arrival is \"Wavy Whirl \u2013 Tropical Cyclone\" inside Aquatopia Water Park, operated by Sun World Hon Thom. You board a single- or multi-person boat and enjoy the irregular speed, sudden direction changes, and swirling motion created by the flow of water. Unlike a typical slider that accelerates by drop, the flow switches partway along the course, so you spin or suddenly speed up\u2014the selling point being that no two rides are ever the same.<\/p>\n
It's designed to handle up to 1,440 people per hour, with the next boat departing every 10\u201320 seconds. Even in peak season, turnover is fast, making it a type where wait times are easy to predict. With a minimum height of 1 meter to ride, everyone from elementary-school-aged children to adults can enjoy it together\u2014another point that suits family trips.<\/p>\n
This attraction is drawing attention because the \"PowerRapids\" technology it uses is the first of its kind put into practical operation in the world. It was designed and manufactured by Canada's ProSlide Technology, which positions the installation on Hon Thom Island as a world debut. The company's president, Rick Hunter, commented, \"Technologies that change the water park experience come along now and then, and PowerRapids is one of them.\"<\/p>\n
Technically, it's said to incorporate dynamic shallow-water channels into multiple sections of the course, alternately linking rapids-descent-like sections with conventional slide sections. Blooloop, an industry trade outlet, also introduced this method as \"signaling a new category of water attraction.\" While water parks around the world line up similar slides, the fact that a remote Southeast Asian island was chosen as the first site for the latest technology hints at Phu Quoc's growth potential as a tourist destination.<\/p>\n
Hon Thom Island is accessed by cable car from the southern part of Phu Quoc's main island. This cable car stretches about 7,900 meters and is considered among the world's longest three-wire systems crossing over the sea. The trip takes roughly 15\u201320 minutes each way, with the waters of the An Thoi archipelago spreading out below. It's the type where the journey itself becomes a highlight of the trip.<\/p>\n