Revel Surf — Attraction in Four Corners States

I’m bummed to say, but Revel Surf turned out to be a pretty big “miss” for us. Here are the reasons why…

I read the website prior to coming, to see what the rules were for what to bring, or not to bring. It specifically said on their site that we could NOT bring outside floatation devices from home, ie: water wings, life vests, etc. We’ve been to places before that require you to use their life jackets instead, so that’s what I figured. When we checked in and I asked about renting life vests for the kids, I was informed that they do not have any there, and there is no rule about bringing in your own. I literally showed her their website on my phone and asked why there was a disconnect from the site to the actual rules, so she grabbed a manager who acted very annoyed and just said, “you can go home and get them?” Which my husband ended up having to do. No apology, and honestly, weird vibes from the beginning. We should’ve just taken that as a sign and left.

The one rule from their site that they do actually stick to, is no outside food. I packed a small bag of crackers for my 2-year which I was told we couldn’t bring in. Kinda wild to expect families to buy food from your restaurant all day and not be able to have snacks on hand for little kids... We did buy lunch there, but how unrealistic to not allow families to bring in a few snacks for toddlers?

Minimal shade. The place was empty so we scored chairs under some umbrellas. However, we were not able to adjust them to create shade throughout the day. All of us ended up extremely sunburned. Please find a better way to shade people, especially if you want them to stay around for the day.

The cliff diving. My 6 year old loved the cliff diving area. (That was actually one of the only things for him to do, besides swim in the water which didn’t have any waves by the way?) anyway, he spent a couple hours jumping off the 1, 2 and 3 rocks and having a lot of fun. After lunch, he was told he couldn’t jump off any but the 1st one because he was wearing a life vest. If that’s the rule, fine, but it was disappointing for him to originally be allowed, and then told he couldn’t. Seems like a disconnect between life guards and rules. And that’s unsettling.

Expensive. And not worth it. We spent $100 to be here for the day. When you have community pools around the corner that cost 10% of that price, but offer so much more: slides, kids area, lazy river, more lifeguards, allow you to bring in food, cleaner, etc. there’s a problem for me. The only “draw” was the sand? Which btw, had trash in it: I had to throw away old margarita cups and trash multiple times in the small area we hung out.

I’ve been asked by several moms, “is it worth the price” and I have been quick to say, “no.” Not at all. Which led me to write this review- I feel a duty to warn other families. There is a massive disconnect with staff here between rules and safety. We actually saw a man get severely hurt on the surf simulator the afternoon we were there and wheeled off in a stretcher. I feel really unsettled by the entire day and hugely disappointed. I really wish we would’ve spent that $100 on something else… anything else would’ve have...

While I concur that it's amazing to have a [new] surf park in Arizona (Big Surf was the first wave pool in the United States, 1969-2019, but was a Covid-19 casualty, RIP), and I agree with other posts that the staff are indeed friendly and helpful - I think that the Revel Surf Park is overpriced for what you get. I think it is worth one visit, to experience the novelty of a 'Desert Beach' - but I don't know if I could justify going a second time. Overall, it feels like it's a buffet of potentially awesome experiences, where each buffet item costs more money than the previous item: You'll pay to get in ($35/adults and $25/kids on weekdays, and $50/adults and $35/kids on weekends) and then complete for the limited shade (this is Arizona, not enough shade seems like a gross planning oversight), unless you pay $500 -$2000 to have a Cabana (which include TV's ... that seem to be a superfluous business expense unless the uber-wealthy really want to watch TV at the beach). Once you're in, you can wait in lines of mostly teenagers+ (depending what time of day/week you visit) to jump off one of the "Revel Rocks" artificial cliffs, use the small surf-skate park, walk in one of the sections of sand, or you can float in the small water section (while you try to figure out how to follow the posted rule to keep the sand, that'll be all over your feet, out of the water). There is also food and drink for purchase. If you want to go more than 5 feet (literally) into the water you can purchase access to the waves (up to $139) for 1 hour installments of surfing, or you can take surf lessons (ranging from $119 -$4000). You can also pay for river wave access ($60-$80) next to the artificial beach. We wanted to go in the evening (cheaper at $20/person), and when the surf sessions ended ... they announced it was open swim for one hour, and boogie-boarding ... and they also confirmed that there are no waves during open swim ... I'm not sure how someone boogie-boards without waves. The life guards yelled at anyone that went to the deeper parts (corners) of the pool, as open swim is only allowed in the parts where you can stand (without the waves, the water is 3-4 feet deep, except around the "Revel Rocks" where the water is 14ft - 16ft deep for the 'cliff jumpers'). As I stated previously, this is a novel experience that is worth a visit ... one visit; but not much more than that. An Arizona Beach is novel, but we are only 5 hours away from California beaches, where you can get a hotel and real beaches for less than one of the more...

In general: My partner and I visited while on vacation and decided to check this place out during the evening ticket hours for $20 (Beach Pass). Honestly, it was a fun experience, but I am glad I didn't pay for the day pass. Swimming is not allowed past the sandbar, but you are allowed to dip your feet in and wade around. There is also a diving pool (16ft) that has 3 dive platforms and a small 1-3ft pool around the dive platform that you can hang out in and watch people dive (this connects to the main pool, so people can move between them). There was also a smaller skate park around as well.

Food and drinks: Tried some sushi and mixed drinks. Honestly, both were a couple dollars more than I felt they were worth, but that is generally the case at recreation facilities like this. Serving staff were mostly friendly at the walk up bar, although it was clear they were probably a bit overworked.

The pool: Firstly, the water was COLD and incredibly refreshing. The main pool is nice and incredibly enjoyable to splash around in. The beach chairs are nice and comfy, they're also situated on the sand. The bottom of the main pool did have some peeling of the pool lining that made a scary tripping hazard while wading around. The liner also was bubbling around throughout the pool, making the bottom incredibly uneven and slippery.

Service: It was clear to me that this facility was run by 1. A lot of teenagers and young adults and 2. A couple of adults. The service at the front desk and by staff around the facility seemed to be a little disorganized, although this is probably a training issue. No one seemed outwardly rude, but more so like they didn't know what they were supposed to do or say.

Overall: Would I come back next time I'm in Arizona? Probably not. For me, the pool liner peeling felt like a major health and safety hazard, and frankly, a little ridiculous considering the age of the facility. The training of staff needed a lot of work, but will probably naturally sort itself out after a season or two. Since I didn't pay to surf, it felt more like I paid for the pleasure of watching people surf. If you surf, want to learn, or want to watch people surf, it seems like a great location. Also, if you just want a local spit to teach your kids how to dive or do some basic swimming, it's also...