The 8 Longest Water Slides In The World

There are few travel experiences that can turn grown adults into grinning children quite as efficiently as a water slide. And some slides take the thrill of the plunge, splashes, and slippery turns and extend them as far as possible. No less audacious than the longest roller coasters in the world, the world's longest slides coil for what feels like an expedition, twisting through forests and snaking down mountainsides for hundreds or even thousands of feet. 

Several slides stretch close to 1,000 feet in length, and a handful go beyond that. One record-holder covers a whopping distance of over 2 miles. The very longest of these hide in less-traveled corners of the world, where you'd have to make a dedicated pilgrimage to reach them. But several slides at major water parks and resorts are easier to fit into a conventional trip.

No definitive database ranks the world's longest water slides, but we compiled this list by comparing published slide-length measurements to make a research-based selection. We gathered contenders for the longest water slides across ranking sites like Guinness World Records, WillyGoat Playgrounds, and Funworld Bangalore. We cross-checked with measurements published by attraction operators and parks themselves, as well as tourism organizations for attraction details. For the sake of this ranking, we focused specifically on permanent, conventional water slides, excluding temporary or inflatable slides, water coasters, and lazy rivers. Here are the eight longest waterslides in the world.

At about 14,054 feet (more than 2.6 miles), the water slide in Sichuan, China holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest glass-bottomed water slide in the world, and tops the distance covered by any other slide on this list. The slide hangs above the red-leaf forest of Guangwu Mountain (as an informational panel shown in this YouTube video explains), with continuous bends and views over the valley. The slide also sits within the Guangwushan Scenic Area. It's an outlying mountain destination — the closest major airport, the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, is nearly 240 miles away.

The Puhuayuan Mountain water slide in Lishui, China was certified by Guinness World Records in 2019 as the world's longest mountain/hillside water slide, covering over 8,900 feet (over 1.5 miles). A YouTube video published by Guinness World Records shows riders boarding two-person rafts, gliding down long stretches of the mountainside, and passing through tunnels. The attraction is in the rural Jinyun County, where the nearest commercial airport is Lishui Airport (with arrivals from Beijing), just over a three-hour drive away.

Of the world's exceptionally long water slides, one named The Longest is easier to incorporate into a proper vacation. At 3,645 feet long, the Guinness World Record holder is a meandering waterslide at the family-friendly ESCAPE Penang park in Malaysia. The slide shoots through a tropical forest canopy that hugs its edges, with a sprawling succession of twists and turns that you ride on an inflatable tube-raft. Unlike some of the more remote mountain slides in China, The Longest is in a well-established tourist destination, with the Penang International Airport about an hour away by car.

Jungle Slide is the Costa Rican answer to a splashy ride through rainforest scenery. Buena Vista Del Rincon Eco Adventure Park, where the water slide is located, lists the slide's length at 420 meters, or nearly 1,400 feet, and Guinness World Records also recognizes it as the longest body slide. Rather than sitting suspended over the ground, the track is built into the land like a luge. Buena Vista Del Rincon is in Guanacaste, about an hour's drive from the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport.

If you want to fit a thousand-plus-foot water slide into a European getaway, Magic Eye is the answer. The 360-meter (1,181-foot) water slide is the longest tube slide in the world, the centerpiece of Therme Erding's 28-piece water slide complex in southern Germany. Riders climb into a tube, then disappear into a long, fully enclosed tunnel lined with psychedelic patterns. If you're visiting Munich, a lively European gem with walkable charm, it's easy to fit Therme Erding into a trip — it's under an hour from the city by train.

While Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Indiana boasts the world's longest water coaster, it also has an impressive conventional water slide. Topping off the longest water slides in the U.S. is the park's ZOOMbabwe at 887 feet. The slide begins by disappearing into the darkness of a 10-story-high drop. It remains in a fully enclosed, dark chute, punctuated by openings shaped like African masks, until bursting riders into the finishing splash pool. The park is in Santa Claus, Indiana, just over an hour's drive from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

Aquazoid Amped turns a water slide into a neon-lit joyride through the dark. The slide winds for 864 feet in Virginia's Water Country USA, sending riders up to 20 feet per second through an enclosed tube. The splashy journey is accompanied by color-changing lights, music, and special effects, as you hurtle in a raft that can hold multiple riders. The water park sits about a 20-minute drive from Newport News, where the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport serves as an easy gateway.

Constrictor lets travelers see Bali from a unique vantage point: inside a water slide, high above the tropical gardens of Kuta. At Waterbom Bali, the slide sends riders twisting through tropical greenery for 250 meters (about 820 feet). The slide has the appearance of a giant green snake, flinging riders through lots of sharp turns. It also comes with Bali's broader vacation appeal: Kuta, where the water park is located, is a popular beach hub in Bali, with Ngurah Rai International Airport on its doorstep.