Travel Review: Six Flag Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Variety of fun slides for all ages

Cons: Wave pool frequent closures, tube rentals

The Bottom Line:

A fun water park

With plenty of slides you'll enjoy

Can be expensive

You'll Have a Wet and Wild Time and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles

Considering how much I love the water, it is no surprise that I love water parks.  And I'm fortunate to live close to the Los Angeles version of Six Flags Hurricane Harbor.  Unfortunately, I find I get so busy, I don't head there as much as I would like.  But when I do get there, it is fun.

The park is literally located next door to Six Flags Magic Mountain just off the 5 freeway in Santa Clarita.  You use the same parking lot ($15 fee) and tram service, and the entrances are across a courtyard from each other.  Admission is $24.95 for adults and kids are $19.99.  Discounts are available (online for starters) as are season passes.

Lockers are available to rent.  $5 gets you a standard size locker while $6 gets you one that is about one and a half times the size.  I've always gone with the standard size and been fine.  Both options include a $3 key deposit you get back at the end of the day if you turn in your key.  If you are with a group that includes people who are just planning to sit, lounge chairs are available scattered all over the park.  But since I can do that at home, I tend to focus on the slides.

The park may seem small, but there are a total of 23 slides designed for all ages.

There are two group slides.  One involves a giant raft and pretty standard twists and turns.  The other is tornado and well worth any wait.  In fact, you can see it from the parking lot.  It's a giant funnel tipped on its side.  You and up to three friends get in a clover leaf shaped inner tube and slide down one side and up the other.  Depending on the weight in the tube, you can get going quite fast and slide up quite high.  I've made it just about half way before.

If those thrills aren't quite your style, they do have regular tube slides located throughout the park.  One tower allows double or single tubes, while the other two only allow single riders.  There are a total of eight of these slides scattered around the park.  The three that allow double tubes are open to the outside air, while the other five are covered, four of them almost completely in the dark.  Racing down a slide in the complete dark is rather fun, I've got to tell you.

And yes, they've got body, aka speed, slides.  The mildest set is located right by the entrance, and these slides dump you into a pool.  I love to start my day on these because they are a fun way to get wet.  The rest of the speed slides are located on two towers about half the park away.  There are three that are completely in the dark and involve plenty of twists and turns.  The other three are more straight drops down or drops with one or two dips in them.  All of these slides end in standing water in the tube you've been sliding down.  Honestly, that worries me a bit.  I prefer landing in a real pool.  However, since I am afraid of heights to begin with, these speed slides aren't for me and I usually avoid them.  I've been on all of them once, and that's usually enough.

Finally, if you want to truly race, head over to Bamboo Racer.  This one looks like a giant slide you might see at the local fair.  You grab a mat and head down face first trying to beat your friends to the bottom.  This can be fun, but again it isn't one of my favorites, mainly because of the falling face first thing.

All of these slides have height restrictions.  But are 48 inches, but two are only 42 inches.

If thrills aren't your thing, you can just relax in the wave pool.  The waves, which are more like a sea at storm than waves you can surf in, come along in 15 minute cycles or so.  There's also the River Cruise, three feet of water with jets on the side to give you a lazy drip in a continuous circle.  This is also a fun way to get from one end of the park to another.

In the middle of the river is the area aimed at kids.  There are two play sets on this island.  One is only for kids under 54 inches, while anyone can play on the other.  I must admit I've had fun on the second a time or two.  These areas include small slides and places to climb while water falls on you.  You can even squirt water on other people.

There is one food court in the park that sells stuff like burgers, chicken nuggets, and pizza.  Typical theme park fast food.  It's a tad more expensive than I really think it should be, but they have a captive audience and they know it.  The food is tasty enough, however, to fill you up for more fun.

I have generally only been at the park on slow days.  Not sure if that means they never get crowded or if I've just been lucky by going early in the season or after school was back in session.  As a result, wait times have never been too bad, but I can see where they could get quite long.

The park does have inner tubes you can rent.  On my visit this last week, they were $7 for a single tube and $14 for a double tube.  I've never rented them, however.  For the tube slides, they provide a limited number at the bottom.  What that can mean is you wait for a tube, then take it up to the line part way up the tower for that particular slide.  If I rented a tube, I could skip one line, but I'm rather cheap.  The only tubes in the wave pool or the endless river are rented tubes.  If you are cheap, you have to just use your body.  I've had plenty of fun doing that over the years, so it isn't a big deal.

The problem with the tubes is keeping track of them all day.  If you want to ride the non-tube slides, you have to leave them at the bottom and hope they don't walk off.  Not my idea of a good use of money.

They also close the wave pool quite regularly.  The idea I've heard is to make sure guests don't tire themselves out.  But it seems like half the time I walk by, they've got everyone out and it's just sitting there.  Since it is supposed to be closed only 15 minutes every hour, I guess I'm just lucky.  I did see them using it for training exercises recently, but that's an exception.  Normally, it just sits there empty.

A final piece of advise, bring water shoes or sandals you don't mind getting wet.  True, you have to take them off before going on the speed slides, but it is worth it.  The ground can be quite rough in spots.  It's a feature to keep you from slipping, but if you are a tender foot like me, your feet with be a tad painful by the end of the day.  The bigger reason is how hot the cement can get.  The areas that regularly get wet or are in the shade are fine.  But the area that is out in the sun, ie. the area by the lockers and food court, can get hot enough to burn your feet.

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor isn't perfect, but it is loads of fun.  If you get a chance to stop by while in Los Angeles, you'll have a great time.