At WaTiki Indoor Waterpark Resort in Rapid City, you can celebrate summer all year long with over 30,000 square feet of swimming pools and waterslides. The facility is open 365 days a year and is always a balmy 84 degrees.

“In essence, it’s a large—for lack of a better term—atrium. All of the windows allow all of the natural light from outside,” said WaTiki general manager Lauren Ebert. “Even on a gloomy day, it’s going to seem nice and bright and beautiful inside the park and capture a lot of that solar energy available to us to in order to keep the space nice and warm.”

The waterpark, which is on North Elk Vale Road off of I-90, includes three giant waterslides that require the use of tubes (with the exception of the Seahorse Slide), and all connect to the Lazy River. Koko Kingdom is an area where kids can play, climb, shoot water, and slide down three mini slides. The Kingdom has a Big Bucket of water that dumps every 8-10 minutes, and one of the mini slides goes through the bar at Sliders Bar & Grill, which is a full service bar and restaurant in the facility.

“The name Sliders plays off WaTiki’s surfer vibes and has bar food, pizzas, sliders, salads, and hot wings— things of that nature,” said Angela Avila, director of sales and marketing for WaTiki and The Box Elder Events Center. “The waterpark itself is for the kids and Sliders are for the parents, but serve kids food as well. Parents can enjoy their time while the kids are enjoying their time.”


Special Events & Hours

Winter Hours
August 30, 2022-May 26, 2023
Monday-Friday // 4-9 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday // 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Winter Recess
December 17-30 // 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Under the Sea New Year’s Eve
Check out WaTiki’s New Year’s Eve Bash with an East Coast ball drop at 10 p.m., a Koko dance party with the house DJ, prize giveaways, a dinner buffet, and more.
New Year’s Eve Regular Guests & Walk-Ins
8 a.m. – 4 p.m. // New Year’s Eve
Package Purchasers // 4-10 p.m.

Food can be served directly to the guest’s table inside the waterpark as well, making it easier to jump in and out of the water while grabbing a bite or beverage.

Another way to relax is to slip into the Oasis Hot Tub. For more action-packed activities, guests can go into the Activity Pool with water cannons, lily pads, and basketball rings. Tiki Towels are available for purchase or guests can bring their own. WaTiki also provides lifejackets in the lifejacket bin for those who need them, and locker rooms and changing rooms are also available.


Slider’s Bar & Grill Menu

A taste of available dishes at Slider’s Bar & Grill.
COCKTAILS
Fruit Sensation

Triple Sec, Peach Schnapps, orange juice, & pineapple juice.

WaTiki Bloody Mary

Vodka, tomato juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, & Sliders secret dressing.

SALADS
Taco Salad

Lettuce, ground beef, black olives, red onions, green peppers, & tomatoes.

Crazy Chef

Lettuce, ham, turkey, provolone cheese, red onion, tomatoes, black olives, & croutons.

FINGER FOOD
Bone-In or Boneless Chicken Wings

Choice of BBQ, Buffalo, Sweet Chili, Orange Teriyaki, Applebutter BBQ, or Hot Sriracha Pepper.

Potato Skins

Fried potato skins topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, & chives. Served with a side of sour cream.

SPECIALTY PIZZA

10″ Individual, 12″ Couples, or 14″ Family Size

Meaty Monsoon

Pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, beef, bacon, & three-cheese blend.

Koko’s Supreme

Pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, onion, & three-cheese blend.


The waterpark has five Liv Hospitality hotels on campus for easy accessibility.

“WaTiki is connected to four of our properties: Fairfield by Marriott, La Quinta by Wyndam, Home2 Suites by Hilton, and Residence Inn & Suites. The Courtyard by Marriott is a short walk away and will be connected to The Box Elder Events Center.”

“Some of the waterslides go outside the building and come back in. The slides are definitely the most popular feature.” -Angela Avila

The Box Elder Events Center, otherwise known as “The Box,” will be a private public partnership between the city of Box Elder and Liv Hospitality in Rapid City and is anticipated to open May of 2023.

“Our primary focus is bringing youth sporting events to the area and having another event space the entire Black Hills community can use,” said Avila.

While The Box is a new addition to the campus, WaTiki has been in operation for 16 years. Though the largest waterpark in the Midwest has been around for over a decade, the facility looks like new due to recent renovations.

“We resurfaced all of our pools, resurfaced all of the flooring, and slides were sanded down and resurfaced as well,” said WaTiki assistant general manager Joshua Ries.

The entire facility also made experiential upgrades, like a chipped wristband system that can be used for things like day-of waterpark entry, locker rentals, and to load up TikiCash.

“We can load up what we call Tiki Cash, which is good for Sliders. The WaTiki cash system also allows for you to come up and purchase a drink from the marketplace upstairs in Koko’s Arcade and load arcade credits onto it,” said Ebert.


Make Your Birthday a Splash

KOKO’S EXTREME PACKAGE
Includes full access waterpark passes, reserved decorated table, additional spectator passes, birthday child shirt & gift bag, all birthday guests receive a $10 arcade card, goody bag, Tiki Towel, pizzas & beverages.
PARTY WAVE PACKAGE
Includes full access waterpark passes, reserved decorated table, additional spectator passes, birthday child shirt & Tiki Towel, all birthday guests receive a $5 arcade card, & a goody bag.
BOUNCE HOUSE
Looking for a way to burn a little energy after pizza & cake? Rent a bounce house.
BRING KOKO TO YOU
Celebrate the birthday party with WaTiki’s favorite lifeguard, Koko.

Ries added, “Our main thing with the renovation is that we wanted to offer something more than just fresh paint. We are offering our guests a new experience.”

WaTiki can also host a wide range of private events, like birthday parties, family reunions, and holiday gatherings. Each event package is custom designed.

“We also do something called Keys to WaTiki, where for a reasonable fee you can rent out the entire facility. This is great for company corporate parties, a giant family reunion, weddings, parties, or anything of that nature,” said Avila. “Then we obviously do smaller private birthday parties during open hours.”

When it comes to naming her favorite thing about WaTiki, Ebert says it’s tough to nail down.

“I think in general we are super special because we offer a lot of amenities for people who are traveling here from all over the world,” said Ebert. “And for locals, we’re here year round and offer them the opportunity to come in on the awful winter days where it’s negative 20 outside to what I like to refer to as a tropical paradise right here in the middle of South Dakota.”

For more information, visit WATIKIWATERPARK.COM.
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