DOHA: The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, officially opened the first phase of the Aqua Park Qatar, yesterday.
The Prime Minister led the ceremonial ribbon cutting assisted by Justice Minister H E Hassan bin Abdulla Al Ghanim to mark the formal opening last night with several prominent public figures and businessmen attending the event.
Aqua Park Qatar has already opened its doors to the public last month and the visit of the Prime Minister made it special for the management to formally open Qatar's first water theme park.
Muhammad Khoursheed, General Manager of Kuwait-based Al Jazera Entertainment Enterprises Company which manages the Aqua Park, welcomed the Prime Minister and all the other guests and made a brief presentation on the various stages of the ongoing development phases of the project. The short programme also saw Aqua Park owner Abdallah bin Hassan Al Ghanim, Chairman of the Board of Hala Enterprises, speak a on the memorable occasion followed by his invitation to Ibrahim Rashid Al Haroon, Executive Director of Al Jazera Entertainment Enterprises Company.
The guests were also briefed with a video documentary about the various stages and development of the Aqua Park. They were also entertained with various shows while being taken on a guided tour around the park's exciting facilities.
Park officials said the Aqua Park Qatar is considered as a best destination to spend quality fun time for family and friends and an ideal place to host family picnics, birthday parties, corporate fun days or open days.
Located off Salwa Road and 15km from the Industrial Area, the Aqua Park is spread across 50,000 sq m.
Themed on legends of the sea pirates, Aqua Park Qatar acts as an oasis in the desert.
Visitors can encounter the one eyed pirate on the children's play area under the supervision of experienced guards. Children's play area has lot to offer than just a pirate, it has various water rides and slides, with water guns, climbing area and water cannons.
The Aqua Park Qatar is very simple to navigate with one main ride, slides and pools in each of the corners, and a lazy river which is an open tube ride navigated via a rubber ring, in addition to the cafes, restaurant and wet bar.
Designed to accommodate up to 3,000 visitors, the Aqua Park Qatar also provides a complete range of food and beverage choices to visitors.
The slide complex has various slides, among which the most thrilling is the sliding tube where visitors to Aqua Park accelerate 20 metres down one side of a steep chute and then up the other, with a speed of up to 60 km/h.
This ride can be enjoyed by any thrill seeker with the minimum height of 1.2 metres and less than 100kg although is not recommended for the faint hearted and pregnant women.
The park offers lagoon pool and a wave pool of which the artificial wave pool is suitable for seasoned swimmers as well as for the amateurs and the lazy river also gives guests a start to their quiet and lazy journey for relaxation. Since the Aqua Park Qatar is considered as a complete family destination for a pure fun, excitement and relaxation, the management has Fridays as dedicated only for families and Tuesdays exclusively for women so they can have privacy.
Chris V Panganiban
© The Peninsula 2010
