When the weather’s hot, one of the best cooling off options is to get in the water, whatever form it’s in, and get wet.
If you’ve come to stay in one of our Isle of Palms rentals, the ocean is your obvious choice. It’s one of the main reasons folks come to the Isle of Palms. This particular stretch of the Atlantic Ocean is particularly beautiful, peaceful and temperate.
As I covered in the previous blog, many of our Isle of Palms homes are oceanfront or close to it. The ocean is literally steps away, waiting there like a good old friend, just ready for a leisurely visit whenever the spirit moves you.
Pools galore
Another great option is to hit the pool. Many of our luxury Isle of Palms homes have private pools, your own personal cool blue oasis.
Some are dramatic deck-level infinity pools that look as if you could swim straight into the Atlantic toward the horizon. Others are large in-ground ones with special kiddie pools, perfect for the little ones to play safely alongside the rest of the family. Many have large fenced-in areas with plenty of space and places for lounging by the pool, as well as luxurious hot tubs for relaxing.
Waterpark Fun!
Sometimes you want to take things up a level in your get-in-the-water experience, especially if you have kids in tow who are up for an adventure. For this, you’ll need to head off the Isle of Palms.
The Lowcountry has some terrific waterparks. The main three are part of the fabulous Charleston County Parks system and are sure to be a hit, especially with kids.
Splash Island in Mount Pleasant
Splash Island waterpark is tucked within the 943 lush acres of Palmetto Island County Park, just across the water from Boone Hall Plantation.
It’s overflowing with all kinds of fun water features like sprays, geysers, raindrop waterfalls, a 16-foot otter slide, a cyclone swirling water ride, and a spacious activity pool. Oh, and then there’s the 200-foot body flume. This is a great place to go if your kids like to be around other kids. Knowing how nice people are here in the Lowcountry, they are sure to make some new friends.
Splash Island has lifeguards, lounge chairs, restrooms, shower and changing areas, locker rentals, plus food and drinks for sale on site.
Word to the wise: Palmetto Island County Park also has paddleboats and bikes for rent, plenty of picnic areas, paths, boardwalks over the marsh, large open fields to play in, an off-leash dog park (with separate areas for large and small dogs) plus a very large kids playground.
Splash Zone on James Island
Like Splash Island, Splash Zone is located within one of Charleston County’s parks (in this case, James Island County Park). It too has lifeguards, shower areas, concessions and all those conveniences.
Now for the fun part: check out their 200-foot long open slide, 200-foot tube slide, and the lazy river that’s 500 feet in length. It even has an adventure channel with waterwalls and sprays to drift through. There’s also a large leisure pool as well as a rainforest section overflowing with buckets, slides, and sprays.
Whirlin’ Waters in North Charleston
Whirlin’ Waters is a whopper of a waterpark, stretching over 15 whole acres within North Charleston’s Wannamaker County Park.
Their water features have great names… like, The Big Kahuna - a massive wave pool that’s over 27,000 sq. ft. Jump on a mat and race your friends on the waterslide called Rip Tide Run. There’s a 870-foot long lazy Rollin’ River, as well as the Tubular Twister, which is composed of three intertwining water slides that are 300 feet long each. Then there’s The Washout, which they describe like this: “Two slides, 65-feet in the air, and full of breathless, near-vertical climbs, plunges twists, and turns!”
Big Splash Tree House is filled with interactive play features, almost 70 in all. Inside the tree house you’ll find body slides, pinwheels, jets, troughs, waterwheels and a humongous water dump bucket. The little kids can have plenty of safe fun in the Lily Pad Lagoon and Otter Bay.
New Kid on the Block: Charleston Aqua Park
There’s a new waterpark in town, and it looks like fun, especially if you have kids with an adventurous spirit or those with special needs.
Charleston Aqua Park is located on Trophy Lakes on Johns Island. It’s a little different than the other waterparks in that it’s comprised of a large floating water course with plenty of features to climb over, under and through.
Basically, you book a session that lasts 45 minutes, and you are free to explore all the fun. Kids must be 6 or older to take part, and they must be able to swim. The park provides life vests and helmets, and there are lifeguards. They offer sessions for kids with special needs, and parents can tag along at no charge.
Charleston Aqua Park also hosts either full or half day summer camps with aqua park, wakeboarding and stand-up paddleboard activities. They also offer boogie board rides along their cable park zipline.
So when it’s hot, cool off the fun way, and get wet. There are plenty of great options here in the Lowcountry.
All best,
Lowcountry Lisa
your Isle of Palms vacation blogger