Water Parks are all the rage in Las Vegas and Cowabunga Bay in nearby Henderson is a local favorite!

Cowabunga Bay water park is our newest water park with it’s arrival to our destination list on July of 2014.

Pretty young, huh?

Cowabunga Bay opened with 25 rides and with several more being added. Fast forward to today, and it’s all done! So if you visited Cowabunga Bay when it first opened, it’s time to go back and see what they have added!

Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas

Cowabunga Bay water park is 50’s themed and ready to rock! A surfboard waterfall greets guests as you get a sweeping view of all the slides awaiting you. The first thing I have to mention about this water park is that the water is heated. This may not sound like a big deal in Las Vegas much less Henderson (pretty much the same thing weather-wise) with the average summer temperatures hitting 105, but it is. The warmer water makes easing into the lazy river so much easier and relaxing. I mean, it’s a lazy river after all. No reason to try to balance on a huge inter-tube (yes, we all watch each other attempt to get on these things without looking too hilariously awkward) when the water is heated!

[irp posts=”48277″ name=”Las Vegas Water Park Guide”]

I think the best place it’s heated is in the kid’s play area which is a friendly 80-83 degrees. Sure we can run all over the structures with our kids, dodging water buckets and spray pipes, but who’s going to take the pictures? Me. I am. Sitting in the graduated water entry getting all the action shots and smiles as the shoot down the several slide selections. But that’s just me 🙂 The slides do not have heated water, but what fun would that be? It just adds to the excitement, right?

Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas

Have bigger kids who may not find the 6 years and under section as fun? That’s cool. Point them towards the wave pool first, it gets crazy fun in there! Kids under a certain height have to bring their own life jacket (must be coast guard approved) or can use one of the several they have on hand. Just grab one, and go! If you smaller kids don’t want to wear a life jacket, the only other approved flotation is the coast guard approved Puddle Jumpers. These beauties are awesome and are under $20 to start. Plus they are comfortable, or so my kids claim.

For the bigger kids, grab an inter-tube and wait for the big waves! If you’d like to sunbathe in the wave pool, you totally can. The entrance is graduated making it easy to decide just how much of you will be in the water. That is until the big waves come, then you may want to stand up or let the waves just take you away! Make sure you’re adding your sunscreen throughout the day, you’ll enjoy the days after much more.

Make sure you check out Cowabunga Bay’s Facebook page and website for their movies in the pool schedule too!

[irp posts=”48239″ name=”What to Take to a Splash Pad”]

When planning your visit to Cowabunga Bay water park, keep these tips in mind:

Apply your sunscreen often
Wear water shoes or flip flops – it’s a must!
Goggles are a good idea but not allowed on the bigger slides.
No food or drink is allowed to be brought in, factory sealed bottles of water or baby food is okay
You can leave and re-enter but keep your parking pass and get a stamp before you go.
Kids 2 years and younger are Free.
If you have little ones that are not yet potty trained, they are required to use swim diapers.