Escape Penang is an adventure and water park in Teluk Bahang, the far end of Batu Ferringhi. Friends have been raving about it especially since the water park opened last year so when we headed to Penang we made sure to reserve a day for visiting it.
We had planned to visit on a Monday to avoid crowds, but luckily bumped into friends at the hotel breakfast, who knew to tell us it is closed on Mondays. Quick change of plans and gear, and off we went.
A total packing failure had left me without sports clothes or trainers, but apparently this is a common mistake – rental shoes are available from the adventure park’s gift shop.
We started off in the adventure park, full of climbing structures, zip lines and other muscle-powered activities. We started off with the Monkey Business, figuring it would be best to get up there before the park would get busy. The staff was at hand to help choose the most suitable of the tracks to start with. Some of the routes include little zip lines, always a hit with brave kids.
The activities are marked according to age and height required. While most of the activities are suitable for bigger kids, there is enough for the younger ones to do, too, if you have little siblings. If not, we’d recommend the park for kids aged 5 and up to get the most out of it.
We jumped off Atan’s leap, a mini bungee jump, tried our luck climbing up a coconut tree (no luck but got a coconut as a prize for trying really hard!) and got lucky when a member of the staff offered to take us through the Flying Lemur zip line track even if the kids were under the required 40 kg limit. The weight limit is there to ensure the kids don’t get stuck between stations – thankfully they didn’t! Some adults did, however, but the rescue was never far away.
There are lockers for all your valuables and we recommend locking away your phones and concentrating on having fun!
Long past lunchtime we finished off with panning gold from the stream and using the cool machine to mold the “gold” into coins, and headed over to the water park across the road.
Water park of Escape Penang
Before we had uttered the words “hot dogs and fries” the kids were in the slides!
We visited on Sunday during the fasting month and had plenty of space to frolic. Still fairly new, the park is in tip top shape and we particularly loved the greenery. The concrete pools give the whole park a very cool look! There are two large play areas with slides an sprays for the younger ones.
There are enough slides for the whole family, with the ones where you use tubes or mats exciting enough for our bunch of brave kids aged 6-10. Mega Drop and Banana Flip were too much for the kids, but some adults tried them – only once. In general, there aren’t that many rides for thrill-seekers, but our bunch was well entertained.
The lazy river here is quite lazy, with a few sprays in between. The greenery along the route is very soothing!
This track that looks straight out of a Japanese game show provided endless entertainment and proved to be one of those things where kids can beat their parents, easy-peasy.
We ended the day by watching the staff – escape artists – perform some daring jumps, followed by competitions for the audience. Perfect time to have an ice-cream, too!
We spent practically the whole day in Escape. We didn’t manage to try out all the activities on the adventure side of the park, because the watermark was just too tempting on a hot, sunny day. We loved the well organised and beautiful parks, the super friendly and professional staff and the environmental message! This truly is a world class park and we will definitely come back next time we are in Penang. Don’t take just our word for it, have a look at the Tripadvisor reviews.
Tips for visiting Escape Penang
- There are lockers in the water-park for all your stuff. Memorise the number of your locker, in case the receipt gets wet and the ink gets washed away!
- Some rides in the water park operate at certain hours only, check the times when you get there.
- There is simple fast food available in the water park, we did not check the food on the other side. No outside food is allowed. Have a hearty breakfast before heading there!
- Wear closed shoes for the adventure park, with preferably sports attire – it is hot and sweaty!
- The cashless system allows you to put money on your wrist band.
- The park is closed on Mondays! More info on their website.
Escape Penang is right down the road from Entopia, although you’d have to be super human to do then in the same day. Read all our tips on things to do in Penang with kids!
