Huge water park planned for KZN South Coast

02-03-2015
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The Mercury
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A major development on the cards for KwaZulu-Natal will see the largest water park in South Africa built on the South Coast.

The construction of the multimillion-rand project is set to start in January next year and be completed in December 2016.

The Amazon Alley Water Park, set to be positioned 150m from the Indian Ocean, will be close to the Happy Wanderers Holiday Resort in Kelso.

The park's developer, Peter Meyer, said adventurers could expect a water park very different from the ones the country had at the moment.

He said it would be modelled along the lines of those in the US.

"We are using the American water parks as the benchmark, not the South African ones. The water park would look much like the Typhoon Lagoon (at Disney World in Florida, in the US)," he said.

Meyer said the property was about 5km south of Scottburgh. They had not finalised how much the project was going to cost as architects and engineers were still working on the sketches. The entire project was going to be privately funded.

Meyer said the park would include 23 family slides, tube slides and wave rides.

Some of the slides would be unique.

It would also include 80 sites for caravans, restaurants, takeaway franchises, a children's play park, an animal farm and canopy tours. There would also be lodge accommodation and venues for weddings and other functions.

Meyer said the railway line was also part of the development, as a train would stop on the park's doorstep.

There was plenty of parking space and the parking lot would be able to accommodate a minimum of 500 cars.

KZN has water parks at uShaka Marine World on Durban's beachfront and the Wild Waves Water Park at the Wild Coast Sun Resort and Casino, near Port Edward.

There have been previous proposals to build a water park on the South Coast, but those proved to be "pipe dreams".

Different views were expressed about the plan on social media, with the majority giving the news a warm reception.

On Facebook, Lynn Espitalier said: "Great idea and it's good to hear that there will still be a caravan park."

Andre Crous wrote: "This is absolutely fantastic for our area wow."

A different view came from Ian Holtzhausen, who said: "While the beachfront in Scottburgh rots."

Bruce Pyle said: "Fantastic news! Gonna be an epic adventure."

The area falls under the Hibiscus Coast Municipality. Municipal spokesman Simon Soboyisa did not responded to questions about municipal approval and the environmental impact assessment process.

The Mercury