More viral TikTok videos reveal the sorry state of Big Splash

Another week, another TikTok video has revealed the derelict state of the Big Splash Waterpark in Belconnen.

User abbeybest managed to access the closed outdoor waterpark and shared what she found in a series of videos, which have attracted thousands of views on the social media platform.

In the videos, she explores the kids’ pool (complete with the now faded and peeling pink kangaroo and purple elephant sculptures) and climbs the stairs to the top of the two main waterslides, noting along the way how wobbly they are.

@_abbeybest

this doesn’t pass WHS🧍🏼#waterpark #rust #closed #canberra #dangerous #abandoned #urbanexploring #urbex #bigsplash #footage

♬ original sound – abbey best

“I feel like this f****** thing is going to fall, and I’m going to fall through the floor,” she says.

“This is f*****. These [the stairs] are rusting through. I can’t emphasise enough to you this place was technically open three or four months ago.”

So far, the first one, entitled ‘Waterpark left abandoned in Canberra, Aus’, has racked up more than 83,000 views.

Big Splash has been closed all season, despite posting to its Facebook page in November 2024 that it would be “open for the school holidays” and that an “opening date will be up soon”.

The Big Splash Facebook page has since been deleted, the phone disconnected, and the website updated to read “under maintenance”.

Attempts by the government and the media to receive word from the owners about their plans for the site have been met with near radio silence.

Only in late December did management finally reply to Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry by letter.

“It is our intention to continue to run [Big Splash] … but currently we are working through significant rectification and maintenance work required for the safe operation of the park,” it wrote.

“These include, but are not limited to, fixing cracking in the pools, repainting and tiling of the pool as needed, repairing the old slide, renovating the change rooms, the kitchen and café area, as well as improving the landscaping with more seating and table areas.”

The ACT Greens then sponsored a petition, calling for the government to step in and “bring Big Splash back”.

“Investigate all possible avenues to keep this important community facility open for use this summer and for future generations of Canberrans, including buying the facility and operating it as a public pool,” the petition read.

The petition closed at 442 signatures in late February and was referred to the minister for a response.

Earlier this month, TikTok removed a video from the account ‘raincloudexplore’ entitled ‘Abandoned/vacant waterpark Canberra’, which also revealed the state of the waterpark from inside the fence.

It attracted more than 41,000 views before it was removed.

In a subsequent post, the user said they had spoken to a staff member from the waterpark who had reiterated “plans to open again, hopefully soon”.

“Basically, long story short, is we were getting ready to open, but last year, our general manager, assistant and maintenance manager, they had to leave with valid reason,” the worker reportedly said.

“With trying to find new staff and the slides not working this past season, the owners felt unfit to open. She’ll be open this summer, hopefully.”

Raincloudexplore later posted to their TikTok account a message, pleading for others to not follow suit and “come here like we did”.

“I didn’t expect the video to go viral, I have a passion for urbex [urban exploring] and documenting abandoned places and believed it to be abandoned at the time, now I know otherwise, so please don’t make the same mistake,” the post read.

The ACT Government was contacted for comment.