Fins Up Water Park – Fun for the Whole Family

For a fantastic summer experience that is great for the whole family from teens to little kids and parents, and two hours from the Upstate, check out Fins Up Water Park at Margaritaville at Lanier Islands, Georgia. We checked it out and have all the details!

Thanks to Discover Lanier Islands for providing media tickets for this review. 

If there’s anything that will have me packing up the car and kids and hitting the road during the summer, it’s a good water park, preferably one with some heart-pounding slides, a big wave pool, and places to hang out and relax. Fins Up Water Park at Lanier Islands, Georgia hits all those marks plus went beyond my expectations!

This place is a lot of fun and it’s really the perfect place to spend a weekend or summer trip with your family because it has something for everyone – little kids, teens, and parents. 

About Fins Up Water Park

Fins Up is part of Margaritaville at Lanier Islands and if you’ve read any of our other stories about our trips to Margaritaville properties, you know they are our favorite places to visit. The atmosphere at Margaritaville properties is just one that really encourages you to relax and enjoy your family. It’s chill and easy-going and all the things that your regular life at home isn’t (for the most part). 

I really didn’t know what to expect with the water park because it wasn’t one that was on my radar. I had heard about Lanier Islands and had hoped to go but did not know much about the water park – boy was I pleasantly surprised. 

Wave Pool at Fins Up Water Park

The wave pool is huge and the waves are exactly like the ocean except way better because no sharks. 

There is plenty of seating available if you want to just hang out and watch your kids. We saw some people reading books and looking happy. They had reason to be – it was a beautiful day at a beautiful spot. 

The wave pool stops producing waves every few minutes and then starts up again. It’s a blast. 

Rides at Fins Up Water Park

New for 2024 is Apocalypso—Georgia’s first adrenaline-fueled waterslide coaster. It has two big drops where your stomach goes up into your heart and you fly up a giant wall and then slide back back. It’s 418 feet of fantastic fun. We did it a couple of times and absolutely loved it. 

There are several waterslides, including three new ones: Serpentine Storm, Dreamsicle Dive, and Mango Mania. These are in the same area as Apocalypso and you can choose to go down them when you get to the top of the platform. 

The Apocalypso is definitely one of the more heart-pounding ones but there are a couple others I dared not try like the Racing Water, Intimidator, and Triple Threat. These are slides where you do some kind of free fall water slide action that would probably give me a near fear of heights and falling. I’ll do all the other ones though! 

My oldest daughter and I loved the mat waterslide, Splashdown, where we rode headfirst down a slide on a mat. It was awesome. 

Cat 4 is a tubing adventure near the LandShark Bar & Grill and past the Aquatic Adventure where you can race your friends and family to the lake on a giant tube. 

Both my daughters and I loved Raging River, an old-school water slide with lots of twists and turns and some smaller drops. You end up getting dunked in a small pool at the end. 

Aquatic Adventure

I had to hold my daughters back from sprinting towards the aqua park – Aquatic Adventure – as soon as they saw it when we walked into the park. We absolutely love these floating obstacle courses and have done all the ones we could find in South Carolina and North Georgia so we were more than happy to add this one to the list. This one was by far the largest aqua course we have ever done in terms of how many pieces of equipment there were there.

I was completely exhausted after 15 minutes or so because these things, while fun, are so hard to not slip around and climb on the obstacles. It’s such a blast though and we loved every minute. You can go on as many times as you like. 

Kids have to be 48″ for the floating obstacle course. Children under 10 must be accompanied by a guardian and be at least 48″ tall. Life jackets are required and are provided.

Areas of the Water Park for Smaller Kids

Little kids will certainly enjoy the wave pool, even if they stay by the entrance and just play in the water. But if they want to get a little more action in, there is Parakeet Springs, which has mini-waterslides, splash fountains, and Wiggles Waves (a mini wave pool). 

Fin Dunker Bucket is a cute area next to the LandShark Bar & Grill where kids wait to get dumped on by a huge bucket of water. It’s hilarious to watch. 

Kids also will love the sandy beach. There are small areas of the lake to splash around in but the beach is enormous with plenty of space to run around or just hang out and relax in beach chairs. 

Food at Fins Up Water Park

There are plenty of food and drink options at the water park. You can get everything from burgers to chicken tenders to nachos to a famous margarita at the Tiki Bar on the beach. 

Ice cream is also easy to come across! You really don’t need to leave the water park at all since there is a lot to do and you can eat there. 

Tips on Enjoying Fins Up Water Park

Even though I’ve only gone one time, I have a few tips to share on how to enjoy this awesome park. 

Look at the height requirements beforehand for the rides you’d like go on or that your kids would like to go on. Then you can plan where to go and no one will be surprised. 

Look at the map of the water park beforehand and when you get there. I’m embarrassed to say this but my daughters and I completely missed like five water slides because we thought the water park ended at the beach at the Aquatic Adventure. It didn’t. It kept going and we didn’t even find out until later on when we went to have dinner at the LandShark Grill.

Locker rentals are available. We didn’t do this but we usually rent lockers when we go to water parks. There weren’t a lot of people there so I figured I’d take my chances with a towel and beach chair. If it was more crowded, I would have rented a locker. Rentals are between $12-$20.

Be prepared to walk. While the park isn’t as big as a theme park, it does require a lot of walking, especially when you’re carrying tubes up hills to get to the launch point. Some of these hills are steep so take breaks if you need. 

Parking is $20. Guests entering Margaritaville at Lanier Islands are required to pay $20 for parking. That fee is waived for season pass holders. 

Make sure you have a credit card or some other cashless way to pay at the park. Cash is not accepted there. 

Try to go during the week or early/late in the season. We went the second day of their 2024 season and were able to ride as many rides as we wanted without hardly any wait times. I imagine this place will be a lot busier as summer fully hits and on weekends and holidays.

You can reenter on the same day. If you want to leave the park for any reason and come back, you can certainly do that as long as you still have your wristband on.

Honest Mom Review: Fins Up Water Park

I just love water parks and Fins Up Water Park was no different. I really enjoyed the water slides and aqua course and having fun with my daughters was a memory we will get to share for years. Some of the slides were kinds I had not seen before – these were made before the more modern ones of steel and plastic – and while I never felt unsafe, it was just a new and fun experience. 

All the staff was really nice and it was easy to see they were well-trained on safety protocols. They always made sure the slides were clear before sending down the next person or group. And the lifeguards on the Aquatic Adventure were paying attention to everyone to ensure safety. 

My daughters (ages 13 and 9) really had a blast here. It wasn’t as big as some of the other water parks we have been to but that made it all the more charming and fun honestly. We didn’t feel rushed and knew we could hang out at the beach or wave pool if we wanted some downtime. Also, because the water park is part of Lanier Islands, it was such a great place to enjoy as a family as part of our short visit there knowing we only had to drive a few minutes to the lake house where we were staying for a couple nights. 

Tickets and Admission to Fins Up Water Park

You can purchase your tickets online and if you purchase more than 24 hours ahead of time, you’ll receive $10 off adult admission. Regular day-of admission is $59.99+ tax ages 7+ and $44.99+ tax ages 4-7. If you purchase ahead of time, adult tickets are $49.99+ tax. 

Until May 31, 2024, Fins Up Water Park is offering season passes for $99.99 plus a free Pre-K Kid’s Pass for ages 3-5 by purchasing two regular-price passes.

Once Memorial Day Weekend hits, they are open daily until Labor Day Weekend most days 11 am – 7 pm. Check the Fins Up website as some days they have later hours. 

Where to Stay Near Fins Up Water Park

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Fins Up Water Park 
7650 Lanier Islands Pkwy, Buford, GA 
Fins Up Water Park Website | Fins Up Facebook