Walk at Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Park- the Blog

The Dinosaurs have invaded Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Park

I first tried to visit Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Park with Carl in December before I flew to Dubai for Christmas. However, the security guard told us it was closed until the National Day. When I returned to Bahrain Mid- February I walked there again ( see vlog Walk at Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Park - YouTube) and was told it did not open until 4 pm. Finally, I returned at 5pm on a cold windy day in March with Rew and was told it was now a DINO PARK and we had to pay 300 fills to get in!

The free skate park back in 2016 where my friends used to skate

I remember back in 2015 when the park first opened being there the day before it opened as it had the first skate park in Bahrain and my friends Adam, Salman, Noor wanted to be the first to use the new skate ramps. The guard told us it would open the next day and we returned and the guys spent the morning skating before we adjourned to Juffair Pizza Hutt for lunch. The park cost "around six million dinars to create the 80,000 square metre park and it was one of the biggest of its kind in Bahrain."

Source: https://www.timeoutbahrain.com/things-to-do/things-to-do-features/68555-prince-khalifa-bin-salman-park-in-bahrain ) accessed 27.3.22

The restaurant at the top of the tower has now closed

In the last 5 years I have been to a couple of “Bahrain for all” events there where all the different countries showed off their cuisine, dance and costume. So the Park has a special place in my heart.

Phil and Di at the top of the tower in the park in 2016

There used to be a café at the top of a tower in the park with spectacular views of the Iconic Manama skyline and many of my Tours of Bahrain for visiting guests included a soft drink in the tower so we could get some good photos of the sunset. I remember taking Phil and Di in 2016 and also my good friend Riel when he was slim.

Riel at the viewing platform above the café

Hopefully you can see why I was so keen to return to the park having been turned away more times than I was allowed in! You can also probably understand that I was upset at having to pay to use a free park created in the name of the sadly departed Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa Bin Salman, for the people of Bahrain. For some reason Rew and I were only wearing shorts and tee shirts and as soon as we got out of the car, we realised our mistake. The temperature had dropped and there was a strong cold wind (the park is by the sea) and we did not spend much time by the park’s marina and water transport jetties. It was sad to see how much plastic and rubbish was washed up on the park wall. You can see the vlog by clicking on the image below- my apologies for the poor sound quality at the start due to the high winds!

All the plastic waste on the wall of the park

Instead, we headed towards the tower to get hot drink in the café, but that was closed. I remembered on a previous walk visiting a café opposite the park and the owner told me he also had one on the park and when we saw the signs, we headed there. However, that too was closed and by the state of it had been closed for a long time. We found a few stalls selling popcorn and soft drinks but neither could change my 10 bd note so we ended going back to the car for coins. I was tempted to stay in the warm of the car and drive off without paying for my popcorn (which scared me that I had finally become a mean Awali expat – no correction, no one in Awali would drive to Hidd to go for a walk in the park!). However, having paid 600 fills for Rew and I to get in we wanted to see the dinosaurs! Eventually we found them and they looked a bit like the ones we saw in Mall of Oman in Muscat when it opened (see my blog about the Dinosaurs in Oman by clicking on the link https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2021/09/tbk-travels-week-9-muscat-oman.html)

Bahrain sunset from the park by Phil Gregory in 2016

I am really not sure how they are making any money from the 300 fills entrance as each set of Dinosaurs has its own security guard and rather than being in one place, they are dotted all over the park. There are three Dinosaurs playing instruments in a band, a big Dinosaur who looks like he is about to eat the Café tower, some baby Dinosaurs in eggs, and a couple of Dinosaurs sunbathing on the grass!

The Dinosaurs in Mall of Oman , September 2021

Sadly, the old free skate park has gone (probably not such a bad thing as the last time I saw it the ramps had been vandalised and had holes in creating a hazard for the kids) and been replaced by motorised vehicles which the kids have to pay to use. There is also a massive inflatable castle which the kids pay to bounce on (long queues) and a play area (for which the surface badly needs repairing) and a boating lake. A new attraction is Paintball where you can dress in army camouflage kit and shoot each other with paint capsules, for a small fee, of course! We eventually saw two brothers having a go but with only two fighters one shot the other and the game was over pretty fast!

My shot of the park back in 2016 from the Tower - see how it's changed?

After paying for our popcorn and drinking our fizzy drinks and watching the sun go down over Manama across the bay, we decided to cut our losses and get in the car and take Rew home and then I went to do my shopping.

Overall verdict- one to miss unless you have two Dinasour loving sons!