Desert dwellers know the best way to keep cool in our summer months is to find water, as they drink a lot of it and spend a lot of time in it.
Even if you have your own backyard pool or community pool complex, the kids like an adventure and a change of scene. In our neighborhood, we have lots of options for cooling off in water. Each is close by and reasonably priced.
Cool off in City of Mesa aquatics programs and pools. Of the city’s nine locations, two are just minutes away. Fremont Aquatics Complex is located at 1101 N. Power Road. For information, call (480) 644-2369. The Shepherd Aquatic Complex is at 1407 N. Alta Mesa Drive. Call (480) 644-3037.
Both locations offer water slides and diving boards, and Fremont even has grills for family cookouts. Travel a little further to experience the new Lazy River at Mesa Aquatic Complex, located at 1630 E. Southern Ave. For additional information, call (480) 644-3036.
All-day pool admission is $2 for ages 17 and younger, and $4 for adults. Individual and family summer pool passes also are available. Pools are open Monday through Friday, from 1 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, from 1 to 6 p.m.
For water thrills and excitement, check out the FlowRider surf machine at Rhodes Aquatic Complex, 1860 S. Longmore St. Call (480) 644-2550. If you wakeboard, skateboard or snowboard, this ride is for you. Ride sessions, consisting of 55 minutes of heart-pounding thrills and spills, cost $5.50 per child, and $11 per adult. Visit mesaaz.gov/flowrider, or watch it on YouTube.
The Rhodes Aquatic Complex also is open on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
Mesa aquatic programs include swimming lessons and junior lifeguard training, as well as aquatic sports teams, for ages 5 through 17, in swimming, springboard diving, synchronized swimming and water polo.
In addition, Northeast Mesa residents are less than a 30-minute drive from the Salt River and Saguaro Lake recreation areas. With a $6 daily Tonto Pass per car, the whole family can picnic, grill, boat, swim, fish or even camp.
For an exciting outing, which is an Arizona tradition, tube the Salt River for a two- to five-hour float through beautiful desert habitat, rapids and calm water. You might even see some wild horses or desert bighorn sheep. And it’s a fun party and picnic on the river.
Salt River Tubing provides tube rental and shuttle bus pass for $17 per person, or a bus pass for $14 per person, starting at 9 a.m. daily. Last rental is at 2 p.m., and last bus pickup is at 6:30 p.m. A driver’s license is required per every five tube rentals, and payment is cash only. The rental center is located seven miles north of the Power Road exit of the East Loop 202, at 9200 Bush Highway.
For more information on Mesa pool passes, lessons and fees, call (480) 644-4271, or visit www.mesaaz.gov/pools. For more information on Salt River Tubing, call (480) 984-3305, or visit www.saltrivertubing.com. For information about Saguaro Lake, visit www.saguarolakemarina.com.