For a while it was branded as “the biggest free water park in North America”, and while we’re not sure if that was ever objectively true, Granville Island’s water park is objectively awesome. 

The biggest attraction, of course, is the mini-waterslide, and while it’s not particularly fast, it is a FREE MINI WATERSLIDE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, IF YOU’RE SIX AND NOT EXCITED BY THIS WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

Sorry, got a little excited there. 

But there’s also a little tunnel and tons of hoses, a large expanse of more generic water park features, all in one of the most unique urban areas in all of Canada. If your kid doesn’t like water? Well they are a coward have other options, with a standard playground that has slides and a tiny climbing structure that rotates. 

So, yes, best park for kids in the city (though you could make an argument for a few others, if you wanted). There’s not a lot of reason for adults to stop here if they’re not with young ones, but there’s a number of convenient places to watch over the young ones — including a huge covered picnic area right next to the park, which we may have taken advantage of once or twice during the pandemic.   

That pandemic meant the waterslide part of the park was closed the last two years — may it be once again be open in 2022, and with it the sound of screaming kids getting to delight in one of the city’s best free attractions, largest in North America or not.