Calypso water park sneak peek and giveaway!!

Are you ready? Less than 50 days remain until Ottawa’s hottest summer ticket opens: the Calypso Water Park east of Ottawa near Limoges. We’ve been waiting (im)patiently for more than two years for this park to open — did you know it will be Canada’s largest water park? And on a warm day late in April, I got a special sneak peek of the park to share with you!

436:1000 Calypso tour - Pirate's Aquaplay TtV

I was excited when I heard a new water park was coming, but honestly? I had no idea it would be this awesome. It’s not just a couple of waterslides — it’s really a giant water theme park, with more than 35 waterslides, separate toddler and kiddie play areas, Canada’s largest wave pool, a whole bunch of places to eat — it’s truly amazing.

From a recent Citizen article:

When the park opens, visitors will find 80-foot long extreme-style waterslides, a half-kilometre jungle river winding past a 52,000-square-foot wave pool, a beach, restaurants, shops, splash pads and pools for toddlers, and enough picnic tables and green space for 12,000 visitors a day. Calypso’s millions of litres of water will be kept at a constant 27 C and filtered every 90 minutes — every 30 minutes in toddler areas.

Calypso is located to the east of the city right off the 417, in the town of Limoges. It was a little less than an hour’s drive from Barrhaven. This is the front entrance, just getting its last touches of paint before the grand opening in six weeks.

Calypso tour - front gate

The park is enormous. The parking lot alone has capacity for 3,000 cars, and if I remember correctly, the park itself has a capacity for something like 15,000 people. You enter through a lovely little “main street” type area with a few different types of restaurants (from a cafeteria to an ice cream shop to a more formal sit-down dinner kind of place) and a souvenir shop. The water attractions are arrayed in well-spaced clusters around the grounds, with vast amounts of green space and picnic tables in between.

Moving clockwise through the park, the first cluster of slides is the Zoomerang, the Black Hole and Turbulence. “Thrilling rides with steep chutes, 360 degree curves in total darkness!” promises the park flyer.

Calypso tour - Zoomerang, Black Hole and Turbulence

Next is this giant water playground, the Pirate’s Aquaplay. It has tamer slides for smaller riders, and fun things like water cannons. The giant bucket at the top fills and dumps every few minutes. Perfect for the 5 to 10 year old crowd, I’d say.

Calypso tour - Pirate's Aquaplay

And for the littlest park visitors, there is a toddler park called the Zoo Lagoon.

Calypso tour - Zoo Lagoon

Calypso tour - Zoo Lagoon TtV

This will give you an idea of the scope of the park. I’ve just stepped away from the Zoo Lagoon, and turned my camera to the next cluster of slides. You can see the steep drop of the Fast Track on the left, the Boomerango and the White Water Extreme in the far middle, the Jungle Run river-raft ride in the foreground and the Turbo Lab at the far right. Behind me is the Pirate Aquaplay area for the kiddies, and the super-giant Calypso Palace wave pool is beside the Turbo Lab, with the entrance and "main street" bistro and restaurant area off camera to my right.

Calypso tour - Jungle Run

It’s HUGE!!!

I’m sure there is a perfectly good reason they’ve named this cluster of slides the Fast Track, Adrenaline and Vertigo. Not for the faint of heart! I think they should have called that skinny one with the near-freefall vertical drop “the Wedgie”. Yikes!

Calypso tour - The Fast Track, Adrenaline and Vertigo

This one of the Boomerango and the White Water Extreme is a shade out of focus (sorry about that!) but I wanted to show you what looks like a wicked-fun ending to the slide. You come flying out of the yellow Boomerango slide and it flings you up the blue and yellow striped wall until gravity yanks you back down again. Wheeeeeee!

Calypso tour - Boomerango

And yes, that’s a motorized lift, but only for the rafts. Your quads will get a workout when you visit the Calypso water park with all those stairs to climb!!

I didn’t get a good picture of the giant Calypso Palace wave pool, but it’s the size of three NHL rinks. There’s nothing rinky-dink about this park! Apparently it will be Canada’s largest wave pool (appropriate, considering this will be Canada’s largest water park!) and will have five different types of waves. And it’s good for all ages, as the depth starts at nothing and slopes gradually down.

I was impressed by every single facet of this park. From small details to big thrills, they’ve got a lot to offer. There’s a really neat biometric payment system described in the Citizen article:

One innovation […] will allow visitors to make purchases at restaurants or other facilities without having to carry money or cards. All they need is their fingerprint. If they choose, a person can put funds into an account at the park, either with cash, credit card, or debit card, and then have a fingerprint recorded electronically. Then, all that is needed to make any type of purchase in the park is to have the fingerprint scanned again to access the account.

Isn’t that brilliant? So you don’t have to carry your purse or wallet around with you or have someone watching it at all times. Hmmm, wonder if they could do that with my camera equipment?! And, you can bring your own picnic basket and blankets into the park, as long as you don’t bring any glass containers. I love that!

So the sneak peek was a lot of fun for me — thank you to the media relations director at Calypso for making me feel like a respectable journalist. And guess what? I’ve got two free day passes to give away to you! I was going to give them away as a pair, but I think I’ll split them up to spread the love around. (Actually, I was thinking of making you take me if you’re the winner! Am I allowed to enter my own draw?!)

Edited to add: sorry, the draw has ended, but if you’re looking for more ideas on great places to visit and things to do in Ottawa, check my “Ottawa Family Fun” archives! Or, you can read about our first visit to Calypso water park the very week it opened — so much fun!!

And if you’re wondering what’s up with the pictures with the black frame and the distortion — that’s “through the viewfinder” photography. The images are taken with my digital SLR camera, but through the viewfinder (ttv) of a 50-year-old Kodak Duaflex camera. Interested in knowing more? Check out this TtV tutorial!

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

90 thoughts on “Calypso water park sneak peek and giveaway!!”

  1. I like to go to Mont Cascades waterpark, play golf in one of the regions many courses, bike along paths, or drive to Meach Lake.

    Awesome pics can’t wait for this place to open.

  2. I love to bike on the NCC paths in the summer sun. I also like to attend the farmer’s markets and Blues Fest. Can’t wait to check out the new water park!

  3. Hi, I didn’t intend the above comment to be anonymous. I clicked submit a little too quickly. Please disregard it. I wanted to say: I love to bike on the NCC paths in the summer sun. I also like to attend the farmer’s markets and Blues Fest. Can’t wait to check out the new water park! Thanks, Alexandra. 🙂

  4. i like packing a picnic and finding a great park (Walter Baker Park in Kanata, for instance) that has a playground and a splashpad and some shade. A great way to spend a day with the kids.

    This water park looks amazing, and so close to home, too!

  5. Okay, my favourite day in ottawa ever was during the power outage in 2003. My best friend and I went to Camp Fortune and spent the day on the water slides. This looks so much FUNNER than that! FUNNER!!

    Favourite thing to do: walk/bike to dairy queen, eat dairy queen, wipe melted dairy queen off my hands, walk/bike home. Did I mention that I really like dairy queen?

  6. I love going to Meech Lake with the family swimming and canoe time! I also love the arboretum with le chien and a picnic.

  7. Last year was our first summer as parents and we loved taking the kid to the splash pad and park at Brewer Park in Old Ottawa South. Hoping to do that alot this year (the kids is just like his dad and is a complete water baby!)

    We also love WESTFEST. Love it. Love it. Love it.

  8. Besides skating on the Rideau Canal, starting in May, I have enjoyed taking in the Tulip Festival, Canada Day, taking my grand-daughter to some of the many playgrounds around the city, driving in every 6-8 weeks for a good haircut, shopping at the Parkdale Market, people watching on Wellington Street, having season tickets one year to the Great Canadian Theatre Company, going to events at the now closed due to the rebuild, Congress Centre and last but not least and what makes me proudest to be Canadian is being able to attend on occasion, Remembrance Day Ceremonies in our nation’s capital. So happy that it is getting more attendance every year.
    p.s. Great post, glad you loved the park and believe me…you ARE a respectable journalist 🙂

  9. I hadn’t heard of this place before, but it looks awesome! We like to head over to Andrew Hayden Park and playing in the water and sand park.

  10. I’m afraid I have to repeat what Ala said about Andrew Hayden Park. I have 6 grandchidren and I think it is a great place to take the little ones and walk the paths along the river after playing in the water park. They have a great time chasing seagulls and basically running off steam.

  11. One of my favourite activities is to go to Mont Cascade with a group of friends. I’m looking forward to trying out a new park on this side of the border!

  12. We like to spend our mornings at the local park, lunch in the shade in the backyard, a little siesta and then head over to a neighbour’s pool in the afternoon to cool off before supper.

  13. My kids love picnics. We often pack a lunch and head over to our local park and splash pad, or sometimes we venture further and find a sunny spot by the water somewhere. In fact, we got a jump start on summer today with an impromptu picnic (we stopped at Subway since I hadn’t thought ahead!)

    We also love heading down to the Carp Farmer’s Market on summer Saturday mornings. We grab some yummy breakfast (and maybe a treat or two) and wander around a bit. There’s always lots to see and a great selection of fresh produce and other goodies to take home.

  14. We love to spend a lot of time at cottages not too far outside of Ottawa. And I think this park looks awesome – can’t wait to check it out!!

  15. My kids love the market. We don’t live in the city but try to make it to the market at least once or twice a year and one of our favorite stops is for strawberry bagels at Continental Bagel…mmmmmmmmmmmm.

  16. Going to the beach – Westboro is my favourite, but Mooney’s Bay is OK if you dont want to go swimming. We used to spend ALOT of time at the local parks, but I think we’ve outgorwn that. Biking on Sundays. Poking around the market. This new water park looks amazing!

  17. Camping is one of the family activities we like during the summer. In fact, there’s a camping ground in Limoges, close to Calypso! We also like to simply hang out in our backyard with family and friends – yummy stuff on the BBQ, kids playing around, camp fire at night with some marshmallow and/or winners!

  18. I love waterparks! Can’t wait to try this one out.

    During the summer we love hanging out with friends at wading pools, or the beach. Gotta love a day at a beach (any beach!).

  19. I really love the McMaze near Cornwall. They have lots of animals and really neat mazes, like the corn maze and the door maze. The “farmers” are funny and they get the whole place set up for Halloween too! The Easter Egg hunt this year was a blast…good clean fun for the whole family.

  20. I’m counting the days til Calypso opens, too.

    My favourite summer activity is the Emergency Services Day at the Cumberland Village Museum. Or at least, that’s what I’m thinking about tonight. I love that they have space for many vehicles, that the emergency services personnel take time to answer questions or just smile at the awestruck kids. Doors Open Ottawa is also very cool.

  21. One of our favorite summer activites is taking a stroll along the Mer Bleue Bog. And, as Mom On The Go mentionned, the Cumberland Village Museum is always a hit, but even more on the Emergency Services Day (which is July 11th this year). We also love a leisurely stroll at the Cumberland Farmer’s market.

    The water park looks awesome- I love that it’s geared towards all age groups! A great family destination for sure.

  22. My favourite summer time activities include strawberry picking at Richmond Nursery, watching my husband cross the marathon finish line at Ottawa Race weekend, letting the kids run free at Valleyview little animal farm and listening to the kidlets squeal as we fill the kiddie pool for the first time every summer.

  23. I can’t even tell you how excited I am for this park to open. And I want to leave my kids at home so I can go on the big rides!!!

    Best thing to do in the summer is camping/swimming for sure. I am a total water baby and would spend my whole day in the lake if I could.

    Great photos/deets, thanks for sharing!!

  24. I was very excited when I heard about the waterpark, I believe it was when you talked about it earlier in the fall that I first heard. We had just been to Six Flags near Chicago and the waterpark was the highlight of the trip and strangely enough the skull island looks very familiar.

    During the summer we host my God-daughter for a week when her daycare is closed and so we make it a theme week. Each day has a different theme, castle day, superhero day, beach day, pirate day, PJ day, etc. We plan all sorts of activities and have a fun-filled week.

    This year my daughter wants to have a crab-apple festival with our crab-apple tree, pick, eat and make apple sauce, apple leather and apple jelly (apparently like the Strawberry Shortcake festival of berries?)

  25. I love to boat in the Ottawa River, just in our little fishing boat. The girls ooh and aah as we pass under the downtown bridges, and I love the new perspective on the city as we pass all the landmarks.

  26. Love going to Upper Canada Village and that area.

    The water park looks amazing! But is there a lot for the under 4 set? Thanks Dani!

  27. can i totally suck up and say hanging at the lake with dani;)???

    heehee…i am planning on taking the kids out of school on the 7th or 8th and hitting that water park! it is a half hour from my house…how cool is that???
    we are very excited:)

    and my favourite thing to do? walk the market with the kids, hitting sugar mountain, beaver tails and that funky t shirt shop for giggles:).

    my big kids love the market and just walking around downtown.

    did i win;)???? i will take you!!

  28. I love the bike trails, just about my speed. I also love the locks down near Manotick – more than once I’ve seen a fox there!
    Thansk for the info on the park. Now to investigate their policies on what they do with the fingerprints once they have them…

  29. I CAN’T WAIT!!!!! Wooohoooo!!!! I’ve been waiting (im)patiently as well. And we are in the East end of town, so it’s that much closer for us.

    One of my favorite things is to walk around the Market, have some gelato and sit under a tree in Majors Hill Park.

  30. count me in for the draw…my brother’s family lives in Embrun and they already have their season’s passes…i am sure I will want to join them….I have only seen the park from this highway so far – thanks for the sneak peak!!

  31. Our family is pretty active during the summer doing lots of things in and around this great city. But one of our favorite family outings is just simply going for a stroll through the Byward Market on a warm summer day, seeing the sights, having some lunch, hearing the buskers etc and sitting on a patio with kids in tow that usually means one of the coffee shops. Thanks for the sneak peek and chance to win!

  32. Oh my god, this post got me even more excited (if that’s possible) for the park to open. The pirate place looks AWESOME!!!

    We love spending our summers outside! Biking along the canal, feeding the ducks in Manotick, strolling around downtown, taking walks along Bank St. in the Glebe, visiting neighbourhood parks, going to the experimental farm……

    What a great giveaway!

  33. I have to admit that when I was working full time my favourite thing to do in the summer is just relax in my neighbourhood with my kids and do a bit of gardening.

    I do enjoy going to some of the wonderful festivals around Ottawa. Last summer we went to the Busker festival and it was a blast!

  34. I really just like hanging out in my ‘hood, taking long walks along the river paths and generally soaking it in. Love all the festivals, too – especially the small neighbourhood ones: ArtsPark in Hintonburg, WestFest, Samba Ottawa’s annual visit to McCormick Park…

  35. Thanks so much for this post! I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of this new park, but you gave me all sorts of info I didn’t know before – like the overall size of the place, the fact that it’s the largest wavepool in Canada – and that you can pay for stuff using fingerprints!! I am so excited.
    What do I like to do around Ottawa in the summer? I like to hang out in one of Ottawa’s many pretty parks, I like to go camping, hiking in Gatineau park, and definitely swimming.

  36. Love the fingerprint idea. Lucky you to get a preview and thanks for sharing it with us. 🙂

    I love to go kayaking on the Ottawa river in the summer, usually from Dick Bell to Britannia Beach, play a bit, have a picnic, then back again. We have a new local park with a funky splash pad that I really like, too.

  37. I’m particularly fond of biking/rollerblading along the parkway, or Colonel By Drive on Sundays when they close them to automobile traffic. Great for whole family!

  38. We love exploring this city in the summer but our absolute favourite spot is the Fairy Pond at the arboretum.

  39. I love anything to do with water in the summer. We can walk to centrepointe playground and splash pad. Unfortunatley there’s no pool within walking distance so after work we often drive to corkstown pool. On Sunday morning we load up the bikes and go to Britannia beach, early before it gets too hot and crowded. That’s a fabulous place, lots of sun and sand and shaded picnic areas.

    to the poster Joannne , where is the fairy pond at the arboretum?

  40. Hi Danigirl,

    First of all I want to Thank you for the status report and pics but most impotantly I want to know how you got an early look at the park? I drive to Montreal on a regular basis so I have been keeping track of the construction with eager anticipation. My kids and I have made annual trips to CWL so Calypso is a BIG deal in our home.

    Now back to your question….we bike along the Ottawa River Parkway, visit every museum in the city (at least once) and now that baseball is coming back to Ottawa we will be found at the ball park!!!

  41. It seems right to answer on behalf of Sam, who will faint when he sees that Pirate structure: Fave summer memory from last year? chasing hot air balloons across the city to touchdown. I say it’s heading to the water. Any water. Mooney’s Bay, the canal, a nearby Lake, a public pool, a water feature… 🙂

  42. we live nears mooney’s bay and i love packing up a picnic on a hot summer night and heading over there. there is so much activity, so many different people from so many different cultures, cooking up dinners on the outdoof bbq’s, it is truly a happy happy place.

  43. Last year was our first full summer as parents and we really just enjoyed visiting our local parks and splashpads.

  44. My favourite things to do in Ottawa during the summer are Bluesfest and Canada Day on the Hill. Thanks for sharing your pics, this will be another great summer activity to enjoy.

  45. Thanks for the look at the park. Me and my 3 year old have been looking at the web site already and getting very excited. Looks like a great place for a family outing. There are so many great things to do around Ottawa in the summer as it is such an outside town. but my favourite is enjoying all the walking trails, especially with the 2 kids. whether it be at dow’s lake to see the tulips, along the canal enjoying the hustle and bustle or the quiet of the pink lake trail in Gatineau park, the walks in this area are just amazing. Thanks again for the sneak peak.

  46. Hitting the splash pads with a picnic. And on lazy Sunday mornings….feeding the ducks!

  47. I don’t live in Ottawa, so I can’t answer that question. I guess if I visited Ottawa, I would have a look at your Ottawa hidden treasures tag and would do them one by one 🙂
    That’s actually what I’m planning on as we’re supposed to visit the capital city this summer

  48. We love hitting all the sites, Parliament Hill, The Mint, Canadian War Museum, The Gallery, The Science and Technology Museum, and many others. We also enjoy walking/running/riding along Rockcliffe Parkway and the Rideau Canal. We can’t wait for Canada Day and for the Jazz and Blues festivals as well as hitting a beach in the summer.

  49. Going to Westboro Beach on a Friday evening for Newport pizza and a relaxing swim with the kids. Heavenly.
    Love the post too. I am so impressed that they are allowing picnic baskets on site. It really helps with the costs of these kinds of outings if you can bring your own food.

  50. This looks amazing! We’re putting the toddler Zoo Lagoon on our list of things to do with our daughter this summer. We try to take advantage of summer in Ottawa as much as possible (the usual BBQs, Canada Day festivities, sitting on patios and soaking up the sunshine) and now that Abigail is a bit older we’ll be getting out and doing more family-friendly things like the Tulip Festival etc.

  51. In Ottawa (and area); I love going to all the beaches with my children and grandchildren. We enjoy the water and a family picnic. We also love heading up in the Gatineaus to enjoy all the great trails and scenery up there. Anything we can enjoy as a family (three generations worth); then we are up to trying out.

  52. Where to start? Gardening, biking the river trails and stopping in New Edinburgh for a cool drink or ice cream. Trips to Meech Lake beach or a relaxing float. This year I will be enjoying my summer with a toddler so thanks for all the great ideas.

  53. We really love hitting our local wave pool with some swim toys. And nothing beats a Blizzard from the outdoor DQ stand at Clyde and Merivale! Or driving up to the cottage on a whim for a BBQ and dip in the lake. Potato wedges from the Ottawa Farmers’ Market. Is it summer yet? Dani, thanks for the AWESOME tour. We can’t wait!!!

  54. Wow, I love so much about Ottawa in the summer. Meech Lake, riding our bikes by the canal, the Agriculture Museum and I’m looking forward to the new splash pad in Glebe Memorial Park, but after driving by this water park, I’m sure this will be a new favorite place. Their memberships are really reasonable!

    Thank you!

  55. We all love the children’s museum and the local kids parks that have the water features. This new waterpark sounds fnatastic I am definitely looking forward to checking this one out !! This will be great for Otawa tourism too 🙂

  56. Playing in/on/and around the river and canal…picnics, kayaking, fishing, biking and all around playing. My boys love water and sun!

  57. We love playing tourist in our own city and hitting all the hot spots including the Children’s Museum. That is a huge hit in our family.

    Can’t wait to try out this new waterpark!

  58. We love swimming! We swam more last year than the three prior years combined! Being newish out here, the humidity KILLS us. Do you have any idea what the price of admission is going to be when the park opens?

  59. Waterparks on Quebec side, it will be nice to go to one in our own city. Love camping and going to the splash pads( especially the one at Brewer park) can’t wait for this waterpark to open, my almost 3 year old will love it and my 11 month old loves water, so I’m sure there will be lots for her to do as well 🙂

  60. I had heard about this place but never knew where it was. i saw something in the paper and decided to read up on it more, and its only half an hour away!!!! and for the draw, favourite thing to do in the summer is go to parliment for canada day and watch the fireworks afterwards 🙂 thanks again for the info

    -Jon

  61. I love going for walks in the parks at night…watching the sound & light show at Parliament, hitting all the cafes and strolling through the Byward Market & Rideau Centre

  62. I can already see my two grandaughters (6 and 8) at this park. They will have the time of their life. It is a wonderful place for them to go. I will go with them and their parents. Thank you for building a place like this.

    France Logan

  63. My 5 yr old daughter has been asking me weekly and sometimes daily all winter; how many days till summer so that we can go to Calypso??

    Well, we are counting down the days to opening week, can’t wait myself!

    Sylvain

  64. Do you have a campsite close by? I want to stay 2 nights with my grandkids. I have a 35 foot motorhome. Thanks gary

  65. yhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa whooooooooooo
    i am totally excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  66. i am soooooooo :U totally excited me+friends are totally going to be going alotttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  67. think of this
    3000 parking capacity
    5 $ parking fee
    30$ entrance fee 32 including taxes
    roughly 3 peoples in a car on avrage
    equals
    to
    290,000$ the park makes!!!!

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