Atlantis Marine Park - Perth's Abandoned Theme Park

Atlantis Marine Park - Perth's Abandoned Theme Park

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Posted 2012-04-26 by Tomfollow
Yes, you read that correctly - Perth has an abandoned theme park. Before you read on don't get your hopes up about seeing decrepit roller coasters, ghostlike stalls or run-down slides (you can go to Adventure World to see all that). The old Two Rocks marine park is an overgrown water world that was once the jewel in Perth's tourism crown.



So let me set the scene: in the 1980s Two Rocks was earmarked as a tourism hotspot. The Atlantis Marine Park was opened by Japanese investors to capitalize on the rapid population expansion - they captured and trained six dolphins as well as included many fun swimming pools and water activities. Unfortunately the tourism boom never happened and in 1990 Atlantis shut its doors.

These days Atlantis has been almost completely retaken by nature, unlike many of Perth's abandoned places (Freo powerhouse, grayland's mental hospital etc.)

It's in an open - yet overgrown - parkland that anyone can access. There is still a few old statues scattered around the area, with broken walls, bridges, staircases and vast concrete pools all still visible under the wildlife.

Interestingly enough, as you walk around you will notice many exotic plants that do not belong in Australia. These plants have survived over the decades and thrive around the park yet have not been spotted anywhere outside of the grounds.



Atlantis is a lot more user friendly than the others on the abandoned list too. There's no homeless people seeking refuge here, and no stories of drugged axe wielders lurking its depths. We have visited Neptune at night a few times without any problems, although apparently its' a favourite drinking hideout for the local youth - as is evident by the bottles inside King Neptune.

Atlantis is a very nice place to walk around, there is something cool to inspect behind almost every bush and in parts you can still find advertising, old water tanks and logos faded into the stone carvings. If you are around Yanchep or Two Rocks and notice any limestone statues it is more than likely that they were originally part of the marine park - many of these statues have
ended up at Club Capricorn .

Recently there has been a push to take action and restore Atlantis to its former glory with groups and petitions on Facebook attracting thousands of respondents. Currently it looks like the area will be developed into mixed residential and retail whilst maintaining the King Neptune statue. Whether it's revived to its hay day or consolidated to urban sprawl it looks as if at least King Neptune will be looking over Two Rocks for a long time to come.



#adventure
#day_trips
#environment
#escape_the_city
#free
#fun_things_to_do
#greater_perth
#history
#outdoor
#theme_parks
#things_to_see
#two_rocks
#walks
%wnperth
172988 - 2023-06-15 11:33:37

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