Some Serious Sun Splashin'

Mesa's (Part of Phoenix) Golfland SunSplash is a decent waterpark, although a bit crammed (not in the sense that it's crowded), but it can be difficult to navigate. It's part of an entertainment center, with mini-golf and laser tag.

The water park itself doesn't have much of a theme, although the whole place has a medieval theme.

As I went alone, I didn't go on the Thunder Falls or the Storm Rider, although both looked fun but had longer lines. I also didn't go on The Cauldron. It looked pretty much like the Hurricane Hole in Splash Lagoon (Erie, PA), and I didn't feel like getting dunked into six feet of water that day.

The rides I did go on include:

The Sidewinder - a half-pipe ride, which was one of the scariest things I've been on. It looks like fun (and is), but the initial drop is really scary. You get on a tube and fall down, then go up, repeat in slower movement, until the ride ends.

Splash Water Harbor Slides - Some pretty fast tube slides which were fun, although I did notice quite a bit of dirt on them when I was there, but it didn't interfere with the ride. Still, they probably should clean it up.

Master Blaster Water Coaster - I was looking forward to this ride. I remember doing a similar ride in Wisconsin Dells' "Noah's Ark" (I haven't posted this one because I don't remember it well enough). I was disappointed with it, however. It wasn't that fast, just felt like a bunch of bumps up and down.

Dragon Tail Slides - good body slides, but at the end, water can get up your nose.

Bonzi Speed Slides - also body slides. They go straight down. Pretty exciting.

Overall, it was a decent water park, but it got tiring after a while because the body slides kept getting water up my nose and some of the rides were either too intense or not intense enough. Additionally, the Arizona heat makes the ground really hot, so wearing sandals is mandatory if you don't want to burn your feet.

Transportation: Fly into PHX (the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport). A number of busses can take you to the water park, such as 112 and the AZ Avenue Link Bus, depending on where you're starting from. (If you're near PHX, take the light rail to the last stop (eastbound), and then the AZAV bus.) You can also fly into IWA (Phoenix-Mesa airport), but I'm not sure what the transportation situation is like there since I haven't used that one.

Food: Has a snack bar that's inside, that has pizza, nachos, hot dogs, etc.

Official Website: http://www.golfland.com/mesa/index.asp

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.