Located inside Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Buccaneer Bay features two water slides into natural Weeki Wachee Springs.
Thrill-seeking water slide enthusiasts will enjoy the exhilarating, fun-filled Cannonball and Pirate's Revenge slides. These slides will make you feel a rush of excitement and have you eager to ride over and over again.
Take in some sun on our sandy white beach or enjoy a refreshing dip in the crystal-clear spring waters, the ideal spot for swimming. To really kick back and relax, rent an inner tube for a cool, lazy float on our natural river that flows around the swimming area. To ensure visitor safety, certified lifeguards are stationed throughout the area.
Little ones will enjoy Lil’ Mates Caribbean Cove. The exciting water play area and wading pool was created especially for children 6 years and younger. When you need to take a snack break, picnic tables are available to enjoy. Refreshments can be purchased at our concessions or you can enjoy a delicious meal at our seasonal restaurant.
00:10For this video I'm taking you on a guided walking tour around Buccaneer Bay Water Park.
00:15For those that aren't familiar with this park, it is a water park that's located adjacent to Wikiwachi Spring State Park.
00:22You're going to notice that this is probably one of my shortest walking tours because it's not a particularly big water park.
00:29If you haven't been to this park in quite a while, a couple of the slides are now missing.
00:36The state of Florida actually runs this park now and they do operate it on the cheap.
00:43So when a piece of equipment like a water slide wears out, they just tear it down and pretend like it never existed.
00:49And that's actually part of the reason why I'm filming it today.
00:52I like to treat this channel almost like an archival time capsule, capturing a lot of these attractions that are kind of slowly fading away.
01:00And I think Buccaneer Bay might be in that category.
01:03Now don't get me wrong, if you go to Buccaneer Bay today, you'll still have a very pleasant experience.
01:08It's still a pretty nice water park, but it's just not as good as it once was.
01:13It's just kind of like a shell of its former self.
01:16One of the things that makes this park truly unique, and is probably why the state of Florida is still running it,
01:21is it's the only water park in the entire state of Florida that is spring fed, which is very rare.
01:27Everything else, whether you're talking about the Disney water parks or Adventure Island or Volcano Bay, any of those,
01:36they all use chlorinated water.
01:38So it's pretty rare to have an experience like this where you basically can swim in spring water
01:45and all the splash pools for the water slides go into Wikiwachi Springs.
01:50So as you're walking through the park, one of the first things you're going to see on the left-hand side is the tube area.
01:56And now this is an upcharge attraction, it's not included with the park admission.
02:00You have to pay an additional $10 for the wristband, and then you can ride the lazy river.
02:05And, you know, basically it's just a slow tube ride down the Wikiwachi River.
02:11It's definitely a fun experience, but I do prefer the river tubing that's at Rainbow Springs Park.
02:18The Rainbow River is just a wider river, and I just think it's more scenic than Wikiwachi, although Wikiwachi is nice too.
02:25The problem with Wikiwachi is it's a very narrow river, and in quite a few places between all the kayaks
02:34and the people who bring bass boats and everything, it's a little nerve-wracking to be in the tube.
02:39And the Rainbow River definitely has, it's just a wider river, and it's just easier to navigate.
02:44So the very next attraction coming up on the left-hand side is the Buccaneer Bay swimming area.
02:49And that's basically an artificial beach. It's very nice and scenic, and it's a great place to lounge just sitting on the beach or, you know, obviously swimming.
02:59Now keep in mind, in the peak season, like in the summertime when school is out, this place gets packed.
03:06So if you're planning to spend time in that beach area, you might want to arrive early and try to reserve a spot or something,
03:14or get the swimming out of the way early and, you know, explore the rest of Wikiwachi Park.
03:20That's one of the other things I'd like to mention, too, is it's just one gate for both attractions, the Wikiwachi Springs State Park as well as Buccaneer Bay.
03:31The admission price is about $13, and it gets you access to both the water park as well as all the attractions at the state park,
03:40including, like, the underwater mermaid show and, you know, the animal attractions and everything.
03:45So for $13, it's a great value, and I really do love coming to this park.
03:50It is definitely one of my top three favorite Florida State Parks.
03:55Wikiwachi, Rainbow Springs, and Silver Springs are probably my three all-time favorites.
04:01So there is a restaurant at the park. It's just, you know, your standard, you know, hot dogs and french fries and those type of things and sodas.
04:08That's at the Tiki Bar. There is a rental shop also here at Buccaneer Bay,
04:13and you can rent umbrellas. I think the umbrella is like $20.
04:18You can rent an umbrella and a chair for about $25.
04:22The chairs by themselves are, I think, are $10 or $15.
04:25They even have, like, small tents, which I always found kind of weird at a water park, but, you know, that's what they got.
04:31They got the half tent with the one chair that runs about $25.
04:34There is one water slide tower that's still standing.
04:37They used to have more here, but, like I said, they've been kind of tearing them down as they wear out and are no longer safe.
04:44The cannonball slide is the more intense one, and all the riders have to be at least 48 inches to ride that one.
04:50The Pirates Revenge slide is a little tamer, and the height requirement for that particular slide is only 42 inches.
04:58So if you look at small kids that want to ride on the water slides, they have to be at least 42 inches, and they've got to be 48 inches tall to ride both of them.
05:07Buccaneer Bay also has a kiddie pool.
05:10That area is known as the Little Mates Caribbean Cove, and the age restriction on that one is you have to be six years old or younger to actually use that particular area.
05:22Now, the neat thing about Wikiwachi State Park is they do have a lot of activities that you can participate.
05:30For example, they have a ranger experience that you can pay to, I guess, shadow a park ranger.
05:37There's a mermaid experience where kids can dress up as mermaids.
05:41One of my favorite parts of Wikiwachi is the river cruise ride.
05:47I actually have a full POV of that particular ride.
05:50It's about a 20-minute ride that basically also goes up and down the Wikiwachi River.
05:56I do think that it's kind of hard to beat Wikiwachi and Buccaneer Bay together.
06:02I do think some of the other state parks probably are nicer, especially if you're into the more natural type of parks and ecotourism.
06:10But when it comes to a family attraction and a family outing, Buccaneer Bay and Wikiwachi are really a great option.
06:20You can definitely spend all day here exploring all the different things.
06:23Because, I mean, there's, I think, two or three animal shows as well as the mermaid show and the boat ride and the water park.
06:30So you can easily spend the entire day here if you want.
06:33They also have locker rentals if you need to, you know, keep your bathing suit separate or, you know, store your towels away, whatever you want.
06:43Locker rentals run about $7 at the park.
06:46So on the north end of the park, when you just passed the water slides, that's where, like, the main building of Buccaneer Bay is.
06:53So it's kind of counterintuitive.
06:55But there is a gift shop back there where you can buy, like, bathing suits and postcards and those type of things.
07:02There's a snack shack and also some restrooms.
07:06So normally those type of things are usually in the front of a park.
07:09So I don't know why they laid it out the way they did.
07:12They put that all the way in the extreme back of the park.
07:14And I think a lot of people come to Buccaneer Bay and aren't even aware of the restrooms.
07:19So, you know, I wouldn't drink the spring water if you know what I'm saying.
07:25One of the neat perks about Buccaneer Bay is they do have cabana rentals.
07:30You know, that is pretty common in water parks, but, you know, most water parks, I just was at Adventure Island and Aquatica and the cabana rentals are like $50 a day.
07:40Here at Buccaneer Bay, the cabana rentals are like half that price.
07:44So a lot more affordable being here at the state park.
07:47But you got to, you know, you got to take it with a grain of salt.
07:49It's a state park.
07:50The landscaping is nowhere near as nice as the for-profit theme parks.
07:54You really can't compare the attention to detail and execution at like Blizzard Beach or Volcano Bay or Aquatica.
08:03It's just, this is a state park and it looks like a state park.
08:06Well, that pretty much wraps up all my thoughts on Buccaneer Bay.
08:09For the rest of this video, I'm just going to play a little music to wrap up the walking tour.
09:27Thanks for joining me on this walking tour of Buccaneer Bay.
09:33If you enjoyed this episode of Mike Invades the World, don't forget to click on that follow button above.
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