Bucca Retreat waterslide is for sale as owners close well-known campsite

Looking for the present for someone who has everything? How about a 16m high, five storey waterslide? It’s certainly a great way to get a one up on the family with the jumping castle at kids’ birthday parties. Check it out

For any local who has gone to a Bundaberg school in the past 20 years, there is a very good chance you would have taken a few turns on the waterslide at Bucca Retreat.

If you have been looking for a way to get one up on that family which always hires a jumping castle for their kids’ parties, a once in a lifetime opportunity is here.

For any local who has gone to a Bundaberg school in the past 20 years, there is a very good chance you would have taken a few turns on the waterslide at Bucca Retreat.

A frequent destination for school camps and church groups, canoeing in the Bucca Retreat dam was all well and good, but nothing beat the thrill of running dripping wet up the five flights of wooden stairs, ready to slip and slide down the four loops before slinging around into an unceremonious dumping into the pool at the bottom of the ride.

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Now the family owners of Bucca Retreat are selling the various components of the campsite after two decades of loyal services to the children of Bundaberg, and they are starting with the much-beloved waterslide.

The waterslide is the main attraction at Bucca Retreat, a mainstay of generations of school camps and church groups.

Family spokesman Jamin Fleming said rising costs from inflation and escalating insurance premiums meant the camp was making a loss over the past three or four years.

“It’s not really worth us keeping it open anymore, unfortunately, so we’re putting it up for sale,” family spokesperson Jamin Fleming said.

“There are multiple items going up over the coming months, but the waterside was the first one we put up just to see what sort of interest is out there.

“It’s quite a spectacle to see.”

Mr Fleming said the waterslide had been regularly maintained since the family acquired it from an amusement park in Caloundra 20 years ago, and there had been no incidents while in operation at Bucca Retreat.

The family are open to any serious offers, as long as the buyer has the will and wherewithal to dismantle and transport the 16m high waterslide complete with diesel Kubota pump and swimming pool.

Buyers can view (and test drive) the slide at an open day on January 14th from 12pm to 4pm, in perfect summer weather.

Interested buyers should be aware the market is hotting up though, with Mr Fleming already receiving enquiries from farm stay operators, tourist parks and school campsites.

The family are open to any serious offers from buyers who can dismantle and transport the 16m high waterslide complete with diesel Kubota pump and swimming pool.

While he has received “a few” enquiries from regular punters thinking of setting up the waterslide on their one acre block, Mr Fleming isn’t sure they are committed buyers.

“There is a few, but I don’t think they’re very serious,” he said.

“It’s definitely not the little one you can set up in your backyard.”

But any prospective buyers, serious or otherwise, should be aware that the tripling of insurance premiums Mr Fleming said he had seen over the past three years is likely to be an ongoing concern.

A spokesman for The Insurance Council of Australia said there had been a tightening of the market for public liability insurance including amusement and water parks with insurers underwriting the sector either exiting or significantly reducing their involvement in the past three years.

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“The Insurance Council and insurers continue to work with representatives of impacted business sectors,” the spokesman said.

“There is no one silver bullet to fix these issues, and often solutions – where they exist – require a concerted effort between insurers, business, and government.”