Rapids Waterpark

Thirty acres of slides, pools and rivers just north of West Palm Beach make this the largest water park in Florida, with more than thirty-five attractions packed in among palms, shade structures and boardwalks. It has been a fixture of South Florida summers for decades.

Big Thunder sends four-person rafts down a long, twisting descent. Riptide Raftin' and the Brain Drain bowl handle the tube thrills, a bank of speed slides drops almost vertically, and body slides wind through enclosed tubes in the dark. The wave pool switches between calm water and a swell big enough to lift you off your feet.

Circling all of it is a quarter-mile lazy river, which is where most people end up eventually, drifting past the noise on an inner tube. Splash Isle and the shallow interactive play structures cover younger children with their own fountains, small slides and tipping buckets.