Valley park and rec center pools offer fun water features beyond the usual

It’s a stifling 111 degrees outside on a Wednesday afternoon, but the children act like they aren’t bothered by it.

While the thick heat surrounds the parents who lounge on chairs nearby, their children are too busy swimming, diving and sliding their way through water features at aquatic centers around town.

Parks and recreation centers have opened places throughout the valley that offer more than the traditional rectangular pool.

With play structures, double- and triple-loop slides, waterfalls and splash and spray pads, these facilities have turned a normal day at the pool into a trip to a watery oasis in the desert.

Where can people go to find these facilities?

According to Mindy Meyers, the parks and recreation manager for Clark County, there are seven facilities that have special attractions including Cambridge Water Park, Desert Breeze Aquatic Facility, Walnut Water Park, Parkdale Water Park, Hollywood Aquatic Center and Paradise Water Park.

Entrance costs $1 to $2 per person.

“The one thing we ask is for people to wear manufactured swimwear,” Meyers says. “No basketball shorts or cutoffs.”

Meyers says Clark County tries to stay on top of spreading awareness about the aquatic areas when they open for the season.

“Every summer, we send out information,” she says. “But we’ve been around a long time. Most people are aware we exist.”

She says these facilities attract a lot of people.

During 2013, Meyers says 121,818 people visited the various pools. Of those, about 22,000 attended Desert Breeze and 27,000 at the Hollywood facility.

“Those are our most popular ones,” she adds.

Jamie Whitson lays under the hot sun in her bathing suit watching as her children play less than 20 feet away at Desert Breeze Aquatic Facility.

“They never get tired of this place,” she says. “As long as they find other kids to play with, they’re fine.”

Despite the oppressive heat, the facility isn’t too crowded this July afternoon as three dozen youths of various ages run around the area taking turns on the slide or running under a mushroomlike structure spouting water.

Whitson has used recreation centers like Desert Breeze for the past five years.

“I’ve been to different ones all over town, just depending where I am living at the time,” she says.

With her three children in tow, along with nieces and nephews at times, a trip to the Desert Breeze Aquatic Center happens at least two times a week.

Kimberly Scott, flanked with family members, also enjoys her occasional day at the pool.

“We come a couple times a month,” she says.

She has lived in Las Vegas off and on her entire life. When she is here during the summer, she knows to come to aquatic centers to escape the heat.

“It’s nice to have them so close,” she says.

In addition to convenience, both families say they like the ability to bring in outside food and drinks.

While Clark County runs many aquatic centers, the city of Henderson offers three activity pools — in addition to regular indoor and outdoor pools — with special water features.

The Whitney Ranch Activity Pool, the Henderson Multigenerational Activity Pool and the Black Mountain Aquatic Complex open their activity pools during the summer.

Henderson facilities cost $3 to $4 per person.

Depending on the pool, extra features include 25-foot-tall slides, a raindrop waterfall or water structures — equipment made for water play.

Kim Becker, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson, says the pool areas are a zero-depth entry.

“This is ideal for smaller children and those who just want to sit or wade,” she says

Becker says the people who attend the pools usually come regularly.

“We have kids who have literally grown up visiting these pools who have gone on to become lifeguards here as teens and young adults,” she says. “I think our pools are very neighborhood oriented.”

The city of Las Vegas also has slides and other water features at Carlos L Martinez and Darrio J. Hall Family Pool and Doolittle Pool.

Entrance costs $1 to $2 per person.

The Garside Pool opened June 27, adding to the list of facilities the city of Las Vegas operates.

The fossil-themed center features a zero-depth play area with a play structure, a splash pad and two 19-foot-tall slides along with a four-lane lap pool.

As much as these places seem to please the masses, Meyers says it’s still important to listen to customer feedback and make adjustments if need be.

“But we receive great reviews from the people who give us feedback,” she says.

With the opening of Wet ‘n’ Wild in 2013 and Cowabunga Bay, which opened this summer, there are more opportunities for people to choose from.

However, Meyers says giant water parks and community centers with water features are two separate things.

“It’s comparing apples and oranges,” she says.

Becker adds the city had a lot of questions about attendance when Wet ‘n’ Wild first opened.

“I’m sure we’ll get more of the same once Cowabunga Bay is in full swing,” she says. “We’ve seen no drop in attendance at all. I think this is due in part to the fact that those two water parks offer a different experience than we do.”

She adds that the recreation centers complement the water parks.

“You might not go to those kinds of parks a few times a week, but you will come to your neighborhood pool.”

Meyers says most clients reserve going to the larger parks only for a couple of times during the summer.

Audra Martinez, another mother who brings her children to the recreation centers, says bringing her entire family to a place like Wet ‘n’ Wild isn’t really viable.

“(Desert Breeze) is reasonable,” Scott says. “Otherwise, we could be paying more than $150 for all of us. That’s not worth it.”

Water parks such as Wet ‘n’ Wild — where admission prices cost $29 for people 42 inches and lower and $39 for those 42 inches and higher — can be costly for people who have bigger families. They become special occasion spots.

Some people, like Whitson, say they enjoy the smaller facilities. She adds she hasn’t been to a water park since the original Wet ’n Wild closed in 2004.

“They are overcrowded,” she says. “It’s just too much for me.”

In addition to the aquatic and activity centers, there are also free water features such as splash and spray pads around town — located anywhere from city and county parks to Town Square Las Vegas.

“They are free of charge,” Meyers says. “This way, people can stay cool for free. People come out in droves to those.”

Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle