The Grand Canyon Chiang Mai Waterpark

The Grand Canyon Chiang Mai is an old flooded quarry where people used to swim and cliff jump. It’s now been turned into a full-on waterpark, and it’s a seriously fun place that we highly recommend.

About the park

The waterpark is set in the old quarry where the dirt for most roads around Chiang Mai was dug up from. The water is said to be around 50 meters deep. Up until about 2012 or so, there was nothing here except the flooded quarry, and a few locals used it as a place to swim and cliff jump. As it grew more popular, a small entrance fee was added by the landowner. Little by little over the years, amenities were added (and prices increased), beginning with bathrooms and a few bamboo rafts, then a coffee shop, a climbing wall, and then all the waterpark amenities, wakeboarding and ziplines you’ll find there today.

In Thai the waterpark is called แกรนด์แคนยอนสวนน้ําเชียงใหม่ Grand Canyon Suan Nam Chiang Mai.

What to do at the waterpark

The central feature of the park is the inflatable obstacle course in the middle of the water. This is similar to the courses on the TV show Wipeout, and it’s really fun to play on with friends. You’ll climb, jump, swim, fall, slide, and bounce your way along, and have huge smiles plastered on your faces the whole way. It’s seriously tiring though, so take some breaks to eat, chill out, sunbathe, and check out the park’s other amenities.

• Wakeboarding – The Grand Canyon has a cable-tow wakeboarding area. You start from a platform that makes it much easier than beginning in the water behind a boat. The cable goes back and forth in a straight line, so you have to make a circle at the end around the buoy markers to basically make a 180-degree turn. It can be hard to get this at first, but it’s still pretty fun to try. This costs 450-550 Baht extra (see pricing chart below). If you’re okay with paying that, you’ll have fun. For a better place to learn and spend a day wakeboarding for a better price, check out our guide to Taco Lake Wakeboarding in Bangkok.
• Ziplining – The waterpark has two zip lines that cover a total of 400 meters across the water below. We’re often distrustful of the safety of things like this in Thailand, but they seem professional here and they use quality hardware and harnesses. Included in the entrance price
• Kayaking and paddleboarding – There are kayaks and SUP boards available if you feel like paddling around and getting a different vantage of the waterpark. Included in the entrance price
• Kids play area – Some shallow pools with small waterslides where kids can play safely. These are actual chlorinated swimming pools with clear water, as opposed to the murky green water of the quarry. Included in the entrance price
• Waterslides – The Chiang Mai Grand Canyon does have a few waterslides, the highest of which are 10 meters. Included in the entrance price
• Food and drink – There is a food court area here with pretty good Thai and foreign food for reasonable prices. There is also a coffee shop, and you can buy beer and alcohol as well.
• Other amenities – There are also sunbathing areas, showers and toilets, lockers, shaded seating areas, and parking for cars and motorbikes.

Entrance price and other fees

As we mentioned, the entry fee at the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon has been steadily increasing as they’ve invested more into the waterpark. Currently, the admission price is 950 Baht (~$28 USD) for adults which includes pretty much everything except wakeboarding. The full pricing table is below. We do hear people who’ve been coming here for a while complain about the price increases, but the owners really have done a lot of work on the place. Taken for what it is, and how much fun you can have here in a day, we think the price is pretty fair, and worth paying.

Adult admission: 950 Baht
Children 91-120 cm: 750 Baht
Children 90 cm and under: Free
Wakeboarding: 550 Baht per hour
Locker rental: 50 Baht + refundable 100 Baht key deposit
Towel rental: 70 Baht

You can buy tickets when you get there, but if you arrive during the busy early afternoon, you can skip the queue by buying your tickets in advance online from Get Your Guide: There are also some combo tours further down the page that combine a waterpark visit with other activities.

Get Your Guide Tickets only.

Get Your Guide Transfer and Tickets.

How to get there

The waterpark is in Hang Dong district (ตำบลหางดง), 25 minutes southwest of the city. It can be found at this Google Maps link. The cheapest way to get there is to drive yourself, either on a motorbike or in a car. We only recommend doing this if you are experienced and have an international driver’s license with a motorbike endorsement, if needed.

A lot of people try to go by the red songthaew pickup truck taxis, and that can work, but the driver won’t want to wait for you for a long time, or will charge a lot of money to do so. You may be able to work out a deal with a driver where you set a pickup time and he comes back for you later.

What we recommend is just using the Grab App — Southeast Asia’s version of Uber. This will be the easiest way to get to and from the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon. When you’re leaving, you may meet other people heading back to the city to share with. There might also be taxis waiting outside the waterpark, but if not, just call a Grab car.

To schedule an easy pickup from your hotel, buy tickets including transport from Get Your Guide.

Booking a tour

We almost always travel independently in Thailand and try to help other people do the same. At the same time, we understand there are some circumstances when it just makes sense to book a tour. Plus, the best tours get to places you almost definitely would have missed had you been on your own.

We recommend the company TakeMeTour which operates similarly to Airbnb Experiences; a local guide creates and runs the tours, and the company handles booking and payment. The company protects you from any scams, and the guides rely on maintaining a great rating so the tours almost always go above and beyond.

Cycling Tour in Chiang Mai: Bike to Grand Canyon via a Peaceful Shortcut – Full day tour cycling to the Grand Canyon from Nimman – grabbing some lunch and coffee during the day.

Chiang Mai Tour: Ethical Elephant Sanctuary, Hiking & Grand Canyon Chiang Mai – Great combo of ethical elephant activities, trekking and the Grand Canyon.

Staying Safe

The Chiang Mai Grand Canyon earned a bit of a reputation for being dangerous back when it was a cliff jumping spot with no rules. That has changed now, and they have a good safety record. Everyone must wear a life jacket here while in the water, and they have lifeguards on duty at all times. For wakeboarding and ziplining, helmets are required and provided.

The easiest way to get hurt is on the obstacles that have a risk of belly-flopping into the water. These are the waterslides that are raised up from the water, and “the blob” — the big inflatable cushion that you sit on one end waiting for someone else to jump onto the other and launch you up into the air. The risk is part of the fun of these, and the life jacket gives you some protection, but you should avoid these if you have a bad back.

The children’s play area is safe, and as we mentioned earlier, it is a pool with clear water to help parents and lifeguards keep an eye on the kids.

The water here is a bit murky, but the park claims to have it tested regularly and it seems fine to us. If you are prone to ear infections, you should pick up some ear drops at a pharmacy to use after swimming here.

Lastly, stay well hydrated. It’s easy to forget to drink when you’re playing in the water and don’t feel yourself sweating. Drink extra water if you’re drinking alcohol. And take it easy. You can really wear yourself out here, and you’ll be feeling it the next day.