Safari Lagoon in Selangor
Among the collection of bygone attractions in Malaysia, Safari Lagoon is one that’s especially difficult to erase from memory. The once-bustling water theme park was uniquely located on the rooftop of a shopping mall in Pandan Indah, Selangor.
It operated between 1998 and 2007. Today, it rests quietly in the corridors of nostalgia, now left abandoned with only faint memories of visits from former patrons.
The third largest theme park in SEA
Image credit: Heart Patrick
Safari Lagoon opened in the late 1990s with a unique concept – it was a water theme park covering 120,000 square feet of area on the 7th floor of the now-defunct Pandan Safari Shopping Complex. It reportedly cost its developers Dirga Niaga Sdn Bhd around RM28 million to build, and was the third largest theme park in Southeast Asia.
Image credit: Heart Patrick
When it was still around, the park was a popular weekend destination for families. It had a variety of attractions that appealed to all ages, from daring water slides to gentle wave pools. The centrepiece was a massive wave pool that mimicked ocean tides.
Apart from water park thrills, Safari Lagoon was also themed to mimic a tropical oasis. Palm trees lined its landscape, while the sounds of water mingled with exotic bird calls from speakers, altogether creating an immersive safari-like space in the city centre.
Image credit: Heart Patrick
A freak accident led to the water park’s closure
Despite its early acclaim, Safari Lagoon’s popularity began to dwindle by the early 2000s. Several factors sparked its decline, including maintenance issues that surfaced frequently, resulting in visitor complaints about ride safety and water cleanliness, and financial constraints that came with maintaining the park’s unique infrastructure.
Image credit: @kennethank_ via Instagram
In 2007, tragedy struck and dealt the final blow to the park. A freak accident saw an employee drown after he was trapped in a high-pressure water tank while attempting to retrieve a visitor’s lost item. During investigations, Safari Lagoon was found to be operating without a license from Ampang Jaya Municipal Council for nine years and was ordered to close its doors in 2005.
What is left of Safari Lagoon
Part of the water park briefly operated as a steamboat restaurant, Anjung Kajangan, that opened until 2am. The mall below would continue to welcome shoppers until 2015, when the whole place was left deserted. The once-lively space descended into disrepair, leaving nothing but a ghostly testament to its energetic past.
In 2022, it was reported that the mall and water theme park, with a total of 147 units, was being bought over for RM9.07 million by Ingenieur Gudang Bhd (IGB).
Cover image adapted from: Heart Patrick