Adventure Island

About

Adventure Island is a water park in Tampa, Florida, next to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay on North McKinley Drive. The park is built around water slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river, with a separate area of smaller slides and splash features for younger kids.

Most of the larger slides start at towers reached by stairs. Riders climb up, then sit in a tube or lie down in a trough for the drop, and some slides need two or more people on a raft together. The lazy river runs a loop around the park; guests grab a tube at the entry point and float the full circuit before getting out near where they started. The wave pool cycles between calm water and rolling swells on a schedule posted at the pool. The children's area has its own smaller slides and shallow pools sized for young kids, set apart from the taller rides.

A visit can run from a few hours to a full day. Lines for the tallest slides tend to build by early afternoon on weekends and during the summer months, so some guests ride the tall slides first and save the lazy river and wave pool, which usually move faster, for later. Lockers near the entrance hold phones, wallets, and bags while guests are in the water.

The park sits beside Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and shares its parking lot, so guests visiting both parks on the same trip can park once and walk between them. Food stands are spread through the park near the wave pool and along Duval Street, the park's main path, and a gift shop sits near the entrance.

Accessibility

Adventure Island is wheelchair accessible, though many of the water slides require transferring out of your wheelchair or ECV, with help from someone in your group, before you ride.

Parking: Accessible spaces are in the lot near the main entrance, and many of them are sized for vans, according to the park's accessibility guide.

Entrance and getting around: Wheelchair users can join any ticket or turnstile line at the gate. Guest Relations sits just inside the entrance, and it is where you sign up for the park's Ride Accessibility Program and pick up a rental wheelchair if you need one; rentals go on a first come, first served basis. Rollator walkers are allowed on the park's paths, but the park does not allow guests to be pushed while seated in one, and a rollator cannot stand in for a wheelchair when boarding a ride.

Restrooms: Every restroom in the park is wheelchair accessible. Family and companion restrooms sit at Duval Street near Colossal Curl and at Castaway Falls next to Riptide, and both locations offer manual flush toilets for guests who find automatic sensors difficult.

Services: The park provides a free American Sign Language interpreter if you request one at least 14 days ahead of your visit. Guests who are blind or have low vision and are not traveling with someone who can describe rides can ask Guest Relations for help. Service animals, limited to dogs and miniature horses, are welcome on a leash throughout the park, though they are not allowed in the pools, rivers, or other water attractions.

Practical tips: Bring up the accessibility guide from the park's website before you go. It lists the physical requirements for each ride, since several slides and attractions are not open to riders who cannot transfer on their own.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Florida

• ZooTampa at Lowry Park (Tampa)
• The Florida Aquarium (Tampa)
• The Dalí Museum (St. Petersburg)
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables)
• Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (Sarasota)
• Big Cypress National Preserve (Ochopee)

Photo credits

• Adventure Island water park pool deck with lounge chairs, palm trees and thatched umbrellas.: rickpilot_2000, CC BY 2.0 (source)
• Sand volleyball court at Adventure Island water park with palm trees and lounge areas nearby.: U.S. Navy photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward, Public domain (source)