Holiday Club Saimaa, Imatra Spa and Flamingo are Finland’s best water park spas. Below are ten destinations and the ages their slides are built for.
10 spas
What decides a water park spa is the age range of the slides, not how many there are. A single fast slide is too frightening for a five-year-old and too dull for a twelve-year-old.
Holiday Club Saimaa covers the widest range: the circus-themed pool world has a baby pool, slides sized for different ages and a jumping pool with docks. Imatra Spa is in the same class — Taikametsä has a toddler pool, a shallow wading pool with a small slide and fast slides for older children. Flamingo in Vantaa is the capital region’s largest, and its advantage is the split between a family water park and an adults-only section.
Every place on this list has a water park, and at all of them it is included in the room rate for overnight guests. Below you will also find which ones work best with the youngest children.
What separates a good water park
Water park means very different things at different Finnish properties. Some have a genuinely separate water park area; others have a single slide at the edge of a pool — and both are marketed with the same word.
The age range of the slides decides it, not how many there are. One fast slide is too frightening for a five-year-old and too dull for a twelve-year-old. A good water park has a small slide for a toddler, a medium one for a pre-schooler and a fast one for a school-age child.
A dedicated children’s pool area matters more to a parent than any feature. A shallow pool where a child can stand up extends a visit by hours.
Water temperature decides things with the youngest. A cool pool halves the length of a visit. Children’s pools are usually warmer than the main pool, so stay there with the smallest.
Activities beyond the pools rescue the rest of the day. Children last a few hours in a water park, so check for bowling, a playroom or an activity park in advance.
The 10 best water park spas
Ranked by the age range of the slides, the children’s pool area and water temperature.
Holiday Club Saimaa’s circus-themed pool world is Finland’s most varied. It has fountains, slides sized for different ages, a baby pool for first dips and a jumping pool with docks. The sauna world holds four saunas plus a children’s igloo sauna with its own programme. The Angry Birds activity park and bowling centre rescue a rainy day.
Best for:
Families with both toddlers and school-age children.
Good to know:
The Angry Birds park needs a separate ticket. The water park is included in the room rate for hotel guests.
Imatra Spa’s Taikametsä is built around an enchanted-forest theme. The youngest get a toddler pool and a shallow wading pool with its own small slide; older children get fast slides, a waterfall pool and a hot pool. For wet weather there is a playroom, a games area and bowling lanes. It works unusually well when children are different ages.
Best for:
A first water park holiday with small children.
Good to know:
The water park is busiest during school holidays. The Imatrankoski rapids shows run nearby in summer.
Flamingo in Vantaa has the capital region’s largest water park, split into two separate halves. The family side is a water park with slides; the adults-only side has eight saunas and three pools. The split means families and people seeking quiet are not competing for the same space. The Jumbo shopping centre is in the same building.
Best for:
Day trips in the capital region and stopovers around a flight.
Good to know:
You can visit the water park on a day ticket without staying overnight. The adults-only section is open Sunday to Thursday 10–21.
Katinkulta has more than 20 separate pools: whirlpools, counter-current pools, massage jets and a fountain. Children get their own warm pool with a slide, plus floats and swimming mats. Water and air are both held at 32 °C, the most useful detail here if you have small children. The sauna world’s cave sauna is a children’s favourite.
Best for:
Travelling with pre-school children.
Good to know:
In summer the outdoor pool, hot tub and slide draw the crowds; in winter it is the sauna world.
Holiday Club Caribia in Turku is the city’s largest water park and one of Finland’s most-reviewed spas with over 3,600 reviews. Its tropical theme, slides and warm pools work well year-round, and the city location means Turku’s services are on hand. It combines well with a city break.
Best for:
Turku city breaks and year-round weekends.
Good to know:
Day tickets are available. Turku city centre and the riverside are a short distance away.
Holiday Club Tampereen Kylpylä is the largest water park spa in the Pirkanmaa region and close to Tampere city centre. The pool area has slides and warm pools, and the sauna section serves adults. Its city location makes it easy: Särkänniemi, the museums and Tampere’s services are all a short distance away.
Best for:
Tampere city breaks and short weekends.
Good to know:
This is a city spa, so the outdoor areas are more limited than at the resorts.
Peurunka in Laukaa is a former rehabilitation centre, and it still shows in how the pools are designed. The children’s pool has a climbing course, and its best-known feature is a long water slide, exceptional by Finnish standards. Thanks to that background the pool range also serves adults who want to move rather than float.
Best for:
Active families and trips in Central Finland.
Good to know:
Jyväskylä is about half an hour away. The rehabilitation side operates in the same building, so on weekdays there are other guests too.
Kuusamon Tropiikki is the largest spa in the Koillismaa region and effectively the only sizeable water park near Ruka. The water park works well as an extension of a ski day, and Ruka is a short drive away. Oulanka National Park and the Karhunkierros trail make summer as good a time to visit as winter.
Best for:
Ruka ski holidays and summer hiking trips.
Good to know:
Winter is busiest, and the school holiday weeks are worth booking well ahead.
Kunnonpaikka in Vuorela, Kuopio, brings a children’s water park area and adult wellness under one roof. The shore of Lake Kallavesi is right there, which extends a summer holiday beyond the pools. Over 2,700 reviews point to consistent quality, and the guided classes also work for older children.
Best for:
A calmer family holiday where the adults have a programme too.
Ikaalinen Spa is the largest spa in the Pirkanmaa region and a long-established family destination. The pool area has a water park section and a children’s area, and the grounds include a ski slope and a golf course. The scale is manageable: children do not have to walk far from pool to room.
Best for:
Weekend breaks around Tampere.
Good to know:
Tampere is about an hour’s drive. In summer the beach and outdoor areas add to the offering.
How well a water park works depends on the child’s age, and the same place can be perfect for a three-year-old and dull for an eleven-year-old.
Babies and toddlers (0–3) need warmth and shallow water more than features. Katinkulta is best here, with water and air both at 32 °C so nobody gets cold climbing out. Holiday Club Saimaa’s baby pool and Imatra’s toddler pool follow the same logic.
Pre-schoolers (4–7) are the core audience for water parks. A shallow wading pool with its own small slide often keeps them going for hours, and big slides are not needed. Imatra’s Taikametsä is designed for exactly this age.
School-age children (8–12) want speed and height. Holiday Club Saimaa’s jumping pool and large slides, and Peurunka’s long slide, are strongest. At this age a rainy-day activity park or bowling alley matters as much as the pools.
Teenagers tire of a water park fastest. They do best where there is something else: the slopes at Katinkulta and Kuusamo, golf at Ikaalinen or Caribia’s city location all give the day alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Which Finnish spa has the best water park?
Holiday Club Saimaa is the most varied: the circus-themed pool world has a baby pool, slides sized for different ages and a jumping pool. Imatra Spa’s Taikametsä is nearly as extensive, and Flamingo in Vantaa has the capital region’s largest water park.
Is the water park included in the room rate?
Yes — at every place on this list, water park access is included in the room rate for overnight guests for the whole stay. Separate activity parks, such as Angry Birds at Holiday Club Saimaa, need their own ticket.
Can you visit a water park without staying overnight?
At most of them, yes. Flamingo, Holiday Club Caribia and Tampereen Kylpylä take day visitors regularly, and a day ticket is a much cheaper way to try a place than staying over. Opening hours for day visitors are often narrower than for hotel guests.
Which water park has the warmest water?
At Holiday Club Katinkulta both water and air are held at 32 °C, which makes long soaks comfortable even with small children. Elsewhere the children’s pools are usually warmer than the main pool, so stay there with the youngest.
When are water parks quietest?
April to May and September are the quietest months. Within the week, Tuesday to Thursday is noticeably less crowded than the weekend, and the first hours of the morning are the calmest of the day. The busiest periods are the winter school holidays and Christmas.
Do water park spas have a quiet adults’ area?
Some do. Flamingo has a fully separate adults-only section with eight saunas and three pools. At most others the sauna section is noticeably calmer than the pool world, and at Kunnonpaikka the adult wellness offering is a separate entity.
How long should one water park session be?
Two hours at a time works best for most children. Two shorter sessions a day, morning and afternoon, are less tiring than one long stretch, with a meal and a rest in between.
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