In 1995, the first Six Flags Water Park was born. Adjacent to Six Flags Magic Mountain a brand new water park was constructed with the name Hurricane Harbor. The success of the water park led to the creation, and re-branding, of other water parks in to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, and it all started with Six Flags Hurricane Harbor LA. Here’s a 2015, complete walk-through, and review of the water park, including images and reviews of each individual slide complex.
After guests enter the gates of Hurricane Harbor, they’ll make their way down a slight downward ramp passing under the Lost Temple Rapids. As soon as they really seem to have entered the water park, a directory is right in front of them. The directory is missing some popular slides, such as Tornado and Bonzai Pipelines, which were added in 2003 and 2014 respectively. 
Let’s head to the right first. The park is essentially a big circle with a ‘lower lot’. First up, one of the park’s most popular slides, and the only one that has a conveyor belt lift for the tubes, Lost Temple Rapids. 
With a maximum of four riders per raft, this raft ride is very popular among families. It’s mild, and looks huge. The ride, though very large, isn’t all that big. It’s a fun slide, and the downstairs line is in the shade. The lines can get quite long, so we advice you check it out early in the day, or towards the end of the day. 
As we mentioned before, the slide towers and swings over the paths beneath. In addition, it also flashes by several trees.
The ending of the slide is in a very shallow pool that, in a way, resembles a small beach. Watch out with getting out of the tube, try to immediately stand on your feet, as the bottom of the shallow pool is very rough, and landing on your knees can actually hurt quite a bit. The rafts will then be brought back up the tower by a conveyor belt lift. 
Down the path, another white slide structure arises. Named Lighting Falls. Containing three slides, Thunder Through, Typhoon Tube, and Tornado Tube. One of the three starts enclosed and then finishes in the open-air. 
From all tube-slides in the park, this is the only one that lets riders ride in double-tubes. So you can ride with another friend. – Though this means that when you rent tubes from the park, we advice you rent single tubes instead of double tubes. Because single tubes are allowed on all tube slides, doubles are not. – Lightning Falls is very quick and has a lot of turns, many riders will find themselves riding backwards for some time on the ride, due to the quick transitions in the track’s layout. We personally love these tube slides, and would advice you to check out each slide as all layouts are quite different! (New this season, the line is now shaded!) 
Walking down the same path in the same counter-clockwise direction, we’ll find Taboo Tower, Black Snake Summit, and Bonzai Pipelines next! 
Starting with another all-white slide complex, Taboo Tower. Themed after old ruins, Taboo Tower’s structure and line are surrounded by ‘ruin-like’ walls. The tower houses three slides. Let’s start with the Secret Passage, the only enclosed bodyslide on the tower. Secret Passage starts off on the side of the tower and immediately makes a sharp turn to the right, after which riders will spiral along the slide at high speeds. It’s a short but quick slide, all enclosed and pitch-black. The Secret Passage winds below the other two slides on the tower, such as Daredevil Plunge and Escape Chute. Starting with Daredevil’s Plunge, riders have a small enclosed straight section of slide before the slide opens up and goes straight down (45′ degrees really) and essentially is just one big drop. Be aware you catch some good air on Daredevil’s Plunge. Last but definitely not least on the Taboo Tower, is the Escape Chute, where riders fall the same height as Daredevil but do so in three parts. Three bumps seems like it’s not that frightening, but those who think that are seriously mistaken. The last two humps give so much air, you really think (and might 😛 ) you’re going to fly off. It’s a simple slide that gives you incredible air, and throws you off the hills. The best slide on the Taboo Tower. 
The next slide structure, of which the slides interact with the Taboo Tower slides, is the Black Snake Summit. The Black Snake Summit houses three sets of slides, Bonzai Pipelines, the Black Snake Summit Speed Slides, and the Black Snake Tube Slides. 
Starting off with the two black speed slides, named Coiled Cobra and Twisted Fang. The set of slides is the longest and tallest enclosed water slides in Southern California, and generate some serious forces. Entirely in the dark, riders will be slammed to the slide most of the ride due to the speed and tight spirals. It’s starting to show its age, nonetheless it’s a can’t miss at the park. Note that one of the slides takes wider turns and the other one has sets of very ‘coiled’ turns. (You also get a good look at the Taboo slides). 
Both Coiled Cobra and Twisted Fang have skim-outs located below the Taboo Slides. The skim-outs are sudden, as there’s no straight section leading into them. It literally interrupts the spiraling movements of the slides. 
As you see in the image above, the structure also houses one of the only slides that has color. Bonzai Pipelines. Bonzai Pipelines are attached to the Black Snake Summit structure, on the same level as the speed slides. Bonzai Pipelines exist out of two trap-door slides, and they are honestly the best slides at the park. The trap-door phenomenon sounds scary enough, but really it’s nerve-wrecking. The blue slide is simply 60 feet straight down and gives you some incredible air, which is way better than normal drop slides, since you’re in mid air and reaching crazy speeds as soon as the floor drops away. Riders speed down the blue slide at 45 mph. Yes, that is fast. On the orange side, the slide drops about 20 feet after which it increases speed due to a downwards slope, which is followed by a very intense downward helix that starts wider and becomes tighter as the speed increases. Both slides are fantastic, if you’re looking for that longer, intenser experience, take the orange side. If you’re looking for the quick air-filled freefall experience, blue is best for you. Oh, and both trap doors have a little windows so you can see the slide below you before you drop. (Which makes getting into the blue slide a whole lot scarier). 
The remaining two Black Snake Summit slides are located on the ‘Lower Lot’ 😛 So we’ll get to those in a little bit.
Making our way around in the same direction, the next thing we’ll pass is the Forgotten Sea Wavepool. Which is… well, a wave pool. It’s a pretty large one, so that’s good. In addition they have a large Jumbo Tron screen above the pool for movies, videos, etc. 
As we continue, the next slides we’ll find are the Tiki Falls slides. (This line has also received shade this season). 
Tiki Falls houses three tube slides, all individual tubes only, and two of the three slides are to be ridden in total darkness. All slides are enclosed, though the third slide is green and transparent, lighting up the tube as you go through.
The Old Shut Eye and Stone Face slides are white/goldish from the outside and pitch-black from within, and include some very tight turns. The slides on this structure don’t descent like most other slides. There’s a ton of little drops in the slides, which combined with the dark turns make it quite hard to hold on and stay in your tube. It is thus a regular occurrence that people fall off their tubes. Hold on! 😀 
The third slide has the same drops and turns kind of pattern, luckily you can see those small drops and tight turns coming, thus it’s easier to turn your tube with the turns and stay in the tubes 😛 All three slides end in the same pool as if you’re being spit out of a stone face. Meaning that the last few seconds of the green slide, named Bright Eyes, is in pitch-blackness as well. 
Once we passed Tiki Falls, there’s the ramp to the ‘Lower Lot’ (yes, I enjoy using Universal Studios Hollywood terminology when talking about Hurricane Harbor)… 
Right down the ramp we find Bamboo Racers, a mat racing slide. Nothing very special, but seems to be loved by the general public. I’m personally not a huge fan of these slides, as a tall guy, I extend far beyond the mat and the bouncing may or may not have hurt my marbles before. Nonetheless, it’s a fun attraction, going down head first.
Right across from Bamboo Racer, we’ll find the line for the Black Snake Summit tube slides. (This slide’s line is also shaded this season). 
Once you waited through the line, you pick up your tube, and enter under this boat on a long journey to the stairs. The stairs are all the way at the slide structure, which is on the other side of the wave pool. You do get a cool backstage look of the wave pool area. 
Once you enter the stairs, you get to the lower level of the Black Snake Summit, where the racing tube slides Sidewinder and Boa Constrictor are located. The slides make their way down all the way back to the other side of the park, stretching behind the wave pool. 
The slides have a lot of twists and turns and several straight sections as well. The slides aren’t very fast, though towards the end they sure feel like they’ve picked up speed. Both slides used to have waterfalls pouring into the tube, soaking riders. These are sadly no longer turned on. And with the slides being all black from both the in and outside… it may get really hot inside these tubes. 
The slides end where the line is, which is (as mentioned before) quite a bit away from the actual slide tower. 
Take another set of stairs down, right next to it, and you’ll find yourself at one of the main attractions of the park. Tornado. Recently, the outside of this funnel slide has been repainted with left-over Scream! paint, so it looks fresh now. 
This slide is just like any other ‘Tornado’ slide, with its huge funnel. The ride is very popular, and for a good reason. The slide offers some great air, being in that gigantic funnel is pretty sweet too! There’s some serious air on the drop, and some little pops of air in the funnel. My favorite part is going down the drop backwards. Be aware, you do have to carry up those large rafts… If your party has less than three members, you will most likely be paired up with another party of two. The more people, the better. 
Next up, the River Cruise. This is the park’s lazy river that travels around the park’s two children areas. It’s quite refreshing, and actually has quite some scenery to it, from rocks to ancient ruins, to forestry. It’s a great way to get around the park as there are many exits, one at each slide complex, and it’s refreshing. 
In the middle of the reasonably sized River Cruise, guests find the Splash Island and Castaway Cove kiddie areas. Splash Island houses seven smaller slides, and I’m not ashamed to share that I’ve tried all seven before. Yes, they are fun! 😀 In addition, the structure features an insane amount of water guns, buckets, fountains, etc. Including the big famous can’t-be-left-out gigantic bucket that fills up and dumps all of it on guests below every once in a while. 
Right next to it, guests will find the Castaway Cove. Which is a bit dated, but features a few different pint-sized pirate themed attractions. 
I can’t judge much over this little kiddie area, because besides walking around it a few times, I never actually did anything in this area. 
Last but not least, towards the front of the park, literally right next to the entrance we find ourselves in Lizard Lagoon. The park’s recreational pools are located here. Such as their pool with a basket ball hoop. And their volleyball net. 
This area also features a 5-slide slide complex! Named Reptile Ridge, appropriately. The slides on Reptile Ridge are small but very good. On the sides you will find Gator Gorge and Croc Creek. Two similar open-air slides that wind around in very tight turns. Gator Gorge ends in a skim-out, and Croc Creek in a pool. 
Then there are three more slides on the Reptile Ridge! Those blue ones in the back. 
The three speed slides are called Gecko Gully East, Iguana Ravine, and Gecko Gully West. Gecko Gully E and W wind around in a long helix-drop and end on the opposite side that they started from. Iguana Ravine is the straight down drop right in the middle of the two. All three are a lot of fun, a few seconds long, but crazy fast. The outside Gecko Gully slides are disorienting and when surfacing after the splashdown make you wonder how that happened that quickly. I’m a huge fan of those three slides. 
That concludes our wild journey through the Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles. 😛 Since it’s one of the older parks it’s less talked about it seems. It’s one of the better water parks in the state though. They made a lot of great changes lately, and with the addition of Bonzai Pipelines last year have some unique slides too (for SoCal). Come visit this summer I’d say!
Check out our Raging Waters San Jose walk-through and construction update here!
Here are a few popular new park updates:
- Universal Studios Hollywood
- Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
- California’s Great America
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I’m planning on going there one day been going to magic mountain since 1993 when I was 3 and have never set foot in the water park looks like a good park and I think they need to add some of those shade things to the lines in Magic Mountain
They added a lot more shade this year. Before all lines were out in the sun. The only line that have yet to receive shade is the Tornado line.
Have you ever felt on the iguana drop when you get the pool you skit across the water? @ cacoasterkings
YESSS! And you just see your feet create a big splash before they slowly drift into the water and your body follows. Absolutely have felt that, another reason why I love that tiny slide! 😀
For the rides that don’t use tubes, what are you suppose to do with your rental tube while you wait in line? Or do they all use tubes?
When you visit body slides, just leave the rental tubes on a beach chair or something. 🙂
Assuming you go alone, what happens if it’s taken? There’s no other way to secure it? Haven’t been to a water park before, clueless 🙂
Make sure you get a receipt when renting the tubes, if you explain the situation, they’re very helpful and it shouldn’t be difficult to receive a new one. Nonetheless, save yourself time by trying to avoid going through that, and find a spot somewhere out of sight to store your rental tube.
When you get a rental tube you get a wristband with it. You just show the wristband to get another tube.
Great write-up of the park slides. Still pretty much current, although Iguana Ravine is now called Python Plunge. Many of the slides that were tan now have some color to them. The waterfalls in the Black Snake Summit tube slides were working this year.