H2OBX Waterpark Highlights [Video / Photo Gallery]
After a brief delay on Wednesday due to weather, the much anticipated H2OBX Waterpark officially opened to the public on Thursday (June 22) in Currituck County, welcoming guests to one of the most innovatively designed and uniquely located waterparks in the world.
OBX Entertainment was lucky enough to be among the first to experience all that this new attraction has to offer, and we had a great at what is sure to be the biggest splash in the history of Currituck.
Located in Powells Point about six miles from the Wright Memorial, H2OBX could ultimately grow to be the largest waterpark in the country. The development could eventually expand to cover its entire 95 acres, which would then dwarf Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Va., which is the largest along the mid-Atlantic at 43 acres, and would even be bigger than Noah’s Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin, which is hailed as the largest in the nation at 70 acres.
H2OBX Waterpark is expecting a daily attendance of around 5,000 people this summer.
The 30-acre first phase that opened includes about 30 slides.
Some of the various slides you will find at the waterpark include Dune Runner, a 70-foot tall tube ride for up to two people that features three adrenaline-charged drops; Wild Horse Run, at almost 1,500-foot long and standing 50-foot high with tight corners and high-banking turns; and Storm Chaser, where you’ll be set afloat down a aqua lucent lit, enclosed flume before being launched into a cavernous basin.
Other thrill rides at the park include The Plank, where the floor drops from under you and an exhilarating 90-foot free-fall follows; Rip Tide, a 50-foot tall tube slide that features dark twists with aqua lucent lighting, steep drops, and a near-vertical 35-foot wall that boomerangs riders back and forth; Paradise Plunge, a nine-story free-fall slide where riders are dropped from the launch capsule from 90 feet up and experience a near free-fall before being launched into a 360-degree horizontal translucent enclosed loop; and Midnight Marauder, a seven-story slide that features three drops through an enclosed tube and runs more than 500 feet in length.
Family rides include the six-story Rogue Wave raft ride, the Blackbeard-themed Queen Anne’s Revenge and Teach’s Tides Adventure River, and various wave pools and play areas.
For smaller kids, there is Sand Pail Beach, featuring four looping body slides that are open and enclosed with fun turns and loops, and a three-lane racer.
And then there’s the awesome Flowrider, a perpetual wave that you can body board or surf on until you wipe out (and then get in line and do it again).
Check out some of our video highlights below (check back and refresh this page for additional videos currently being processed), and then scroll down to view our exclusive images from inside the waterpark in our photo gallery below, and be sure to check back on Monday for even more of H2OBX in a special on location episode of OBXE TV!
(Click an image to enlarge and view in gallery browser.)
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