South African Water Slide Makes Waves around the World

One of the most popular videos on Facebook at the moment features a brilliant water park in South Africa, although most people don’t realise it’s in SA. They think it’s in Wisconsin, or Tennessee or even Brazil, maybe Sweden.

The video, which has been shared by over a quarter of a million Facebook users in the last couple of months, was actually filmed at the Wild Waves Water Park at the Wild Coast Sun in the Eastern Cape (just a kilometre south of the KwaZulu-Natal border). *

It was uploaded to Facebook on 7 August by an American radio station with the heading ‘Crazy Water Slide’ and a message saying “would you do it? I might lose my lunch.”

Since then finding out the location of the video has been the most common question from people all around the world on that post…but nobody has given the correct answer…although a few have guessed it’s Africa, maybe because of the accents. We recognised the beach, and so we searched and found the original video on YouTube where it has enjoyed over 1.8-million views since South African Brian Ortner uploaded it over a year ago.

With the use of a Go Pro HD Hero 2 on a head strap, Brian takes viewers along for the ride – giving us a view from inside a Loop-the-Loop water slide.

As Brian steps into the capsule he says “lekker lekker” before giving us a first-hand view of the “ultimate body slide adventure in a capsule”. Apart from the risk of ‘wedgies’ there’s also the feeling, according to one viewer, that “your soul actually stays in that capsule while your body slides away”!

When asked on YouTube about the ride, Brian said “it’s a long wait but totally worth it”. He said it wasn’t scary, but when one user mentioned he had got stuck on a ride like that, Brian did admit “it’s a problem if you aren’t heavy enough as you then tend to get stuck in the loop, and they use the trapdoor to get you out…I can imagine it ain’t fun!”

Brian himself used the ‘cross your legs’ technique which reduces friction and makes you go faster!

For others who want to take similar video footage he advises using a head-mounted strap looking forward “then when you are on the slide you end up looking at your feet anyway! My advice – point it to where you are looking….good luck!”

Watch Video: POV Go Pro down a Loop-The-Loop Water slide at Wild Waves

Brian gets into the capsule at approximately 1:55.

As far as the water slides looking very similar, if not identical, to many overseas resorts, the Wild Coast Sun’s website says “several of the world’s best rides have been imported from Canada to the Wild Coast Sun Resort and Casino, and all Wild Waves rides are guaranteed to thrill.”

Brian regularly uploads similar videos including other water rides, the bungee jump at Orlando Towers and being dragged along Pumula Beach by a Flexifoil Power Kite. There’s one video that’s had over 10-million views but that could be because of the three young girls in front of him in the queue and not because of his filming of the fast slide!

*Editor’s Note: For those who believe the Wild Coast Sun is in KZN…technically it is now in the Eastern Cape since the Transkei was reintegrated into South Africa in 1994 and became part of  the Eastern Cape. Here’s the word from the Wild Coast Sun’s website: “Although it is in the Eastern Cape, it’s only a kilometre south of KwaZulu-Natal, so it receives a lot of support from local KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape residents.” Go KZN!