EXPECT flumes, fairground rides and fun for all on the Aegean coast.
I’m desperately trying to hide my nerves as I step gingerly into the inflatable ring and prepare to launch myself down a waterslide called King Cobra.
My six-year-old daughter Poppy and I are five storeys high, and soon winding our way around the aqua park’s tower fairly sedately – until the slide disappears from beneath us and we drop.
Shooting up the other side, we are then unceremoniously sprayed in the face by the cobra’s fangs.
“I love it!” shouts Poppy, and if I’m honest, so do I.
We are at the all-inclusive, box-fresh Anda Barut resort, which opened last year near Didim on Turkey’s Aegean coast, and it’s proving pretty dreamy.
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Water thrill
There are eight big slides and six smaller ones, plus a splash pad, so we’re kept busy.
Poppy has just hit 120cm tall, so can ride them all apart from one.
The two Black Hole slides prove to be faves, especially one that thrusts us up and spins us around like we’re in a plughole.
And, even in peak summer holidays, we rarely have to queue, especially in the mornings.
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Although this place is big, with more than 500 rooms and villas, we always bag a lounger by our favourite pool too, a lagoon-style one bordered by (shipped-in) golden sand and where the bar serves moreish, Campari-based Jungle Bird cocktails.
This place is all about the glorious pools – there are eight, including a large indoor one at the serene spa.
Plus, pricier rooms have private ones.
Our deluxe room is spacious, with a rain shower, dressing room and a minibar stacked with snacks, beer, wine, canned cocktails and soft drinks.
At Olivae Patisserie, iced coffees, handmade truffles and huge bowls of chocolate almonds prove addictive each morning and evening.
Fun of the fair
Talking of evenings – walking into Anda Barut’s carnival area as the sun sets feels like stepping into a celebrity kids’ birthday party.
Candyfloss scents the air along the festoon-lit pathways that lead to a chic white carousel, a caterpillar rollercoaster and a pastel-striped spinning balloon ride.
There’s a stage with Sonic and friends hosting the children’s disco, wooden carnival games and dodgems, too.
Although, being driven by a six year old in said dodgem is an experience in itself – my whiplash claim being quickly settled with a fistful of fresh popcorn.
It’s a real game of fastest finger first each morning to book one of the eight à la carte restaurants on the app.
The two worth the virtual bun fight are Tiger, serving up treats like sushi, beef gyoza and sweet and sour chicken, and Cape Beach Lounge – for its sea bass ceviche and Peruvian chicken.
A sea cucumber cocktail with gin here slips down nicely, too.
Meanwhile, a Turkish breakfast spread served with sea views at Fish Camp makes a nice change of scene from the buffet one morning, and we dig into wood-fired pizzas at Italian eatery No Se most lunchtimes.
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I’d like to see the nearby Temple of Apollo ruins, once the ancient world’s second largest temple, but the site is closed for refurbishment the month we visit, so instead we settle for a paddle in the sea, before an alfresco gig by flamenco Latin band Gipsy Kings.
As we boogie under the stars to Bamboléo, I look forward to many more moments dancing in the moonlight together.
FYI
Double rooms at Anda Barut cost from £231 per night, all-inclusive (Barutanda.com).
UK return flights to Bodrum, an 80-minute drive away, cost from £128.
