Cowabunga Bay Water Park — Attraction in Henderson

OK so I’ve only been here twice. Once in 08/2024 & just recently in 08/2025, both times for the Country In The Cove music festival. Other than for this I don’t think that I would ever go just to ride the water slides as I’m no longer a kid & too afraid of getting hurt…lol

This is a credit card/debit card only business, NO CASH. You can pay cash to park which was $10 for this music festival. They do check your bags upon arrival so make sure to check their website on what you’re allowed & not allowed to bring inside. You are allowed to leave the park & go out to your car in the parking lot so if you want to leave a cooler inside your car with food for lunch they do allow this. They do sell food inside if you’d rather buy something to eat. One of my friends bought a large pizza that he shared & it was really good.

They do allow you to bring inside a cooler but no bigger than 16 quarts. I got a nice one with wheels for this year @ Target on-line. You’re allowed to bring in unopened bottles of water inside. I wasn’t sure if I would be allowed to bring in my metal water bottle that keeps my water nice & cold in this Vegas heat but I did see people in the park with their metal/plastic water bottles.

The line gets long before the park opens for the music festival so if you want to grab some seats for you & your party I’d arrive early. They do have lockers inside the park that you can use but you have to pay for them. You can get buckets of beer/seltzers but buying them by the bucket doesn’t save you any money. I would buy two high noons @ a time (about $25 for 2) & I had told the cashier that I was going to put one in my cooler & she opened one & left the other one unopened so I was able to stick it in my cooler to keep cold for later. They do have a water station but I actually had gone to their soda dispenser to get ice & water. They have Pepsi products (yuck, but I don’t drink soda anymore). They didn’t have a soda water spout on their soda machine which is what I like to drink.

When we go for this music festival I LOVE floating around & around in their lazy river. It’s so relaxing & fun. They have floats out for you to use while there, you can’t bring in your own pool floats into the park.

Their life guards are very attentive. I never saw one not paying attention to everyone in the water. Their eyes were on everyone in the water. They weren’t on their cell phones, they weren’t chatting with their co-workers & most kept whistles in their mouth the whole time. I spoke with a young female life guard & told her how impressed I was with this & really appreciated it…not sure if you know or not it only takes a second for someone to drown, it can happen in a blink of an eye. She told me that they’re not allowed to do anything but pay attention to the water. There are certain whistle blows for certain situations. Love that they take their job seriously & are looking out for everyone in the water. Thank you!

You’re not allowed to smoke or vape inside the park which I did witness this going on. Not sure if these people didn’t know or just didn’t care. There is a spot outside the park for smoker’s.

My friends & I also enjoy hanging out in the wave pool. There is a stage right there where the musicians performed. The only thing that I was disappointed in was the waves were really small. Not sure if they tone them down for the concert or if this is how it always is?

My friend & I decide that we want to make this a yearly event for us as we love it soooo much! I enjoy that there are no kids running around, crying, screaming or splashing us. Sorry parents. It’s a great adults only (21+) event whether you like country music or not. All the water slides that are open during this event are included in your admission to ride. They do have an early bird sale for tickets, which are a little bit cheaper to purchase before the day of the...

If I could give 0 stars for management, I would.

Let me be clear: I don’t blame the staff. They’re doing the best they can with the chaos they’ve been handed. This review is 100% for the leadership and owners of Cowabunga Bay. Whoever is making the decisions behind the scenes—y’all need a serious wake-up call (or a crash course in basic operations).

Let’s start with this: We waited over an hour and 30 minutes for a waterslide. Not because the slide was incredible (spoiler: it wasn’t), but because the process of actually sending people down it was so inefficient it felt like a social experiment in frustration.

Here’s the wild part: It’s a water slide. When one person gets to the bottom, the next goes. That’s it. That’s the whole process. But not at Cowabunga Bay! No, here, we got one rider every four minutes because—get this—people kept getting stuck halfway down the slide. Why? Because apparently this slide doesn’t actually slide. And instead of fixing it (you know, making it slippery, like a slide should be?), they send a poor employee up the world’s sketchiest ladder in soggy shoes to drag people down the rest of the way.

The employee deserves a raise. The management deserves to be replaced.

Then there’s the weigh-in process, which felt more like checking into a rocket launch than getting on a waterslide. They literally have guests step on a scale, and instead of the number just showing up, a staff member has to pull out their phone calculator to manually add up the group’s weight. You can’t make this up. This adds 30 seconds per group, which over an hour equals—you guessed it—misery.

Want to fix this? • When one person finishes the slide, the next goes. Boom. Very single slide had this problem • Fix the slide so people don’t get stuck. It’s literally called a slide. • Invest in a scale that does math. • Teach your staff how to keep the line moving. • And maybe, just maybe, have more than one entrance to the wave pool?

Oh, and the seating situation? I came with a family of six and we got one chair. Not one chair each. One chair… total. For six people. I don’t know who designed the seating layout, but they must think families function like musical chairs.

The entire experience screams: “We don’t care, we already got your money.”

Cowabunga Bay clearly has the budget—so use it to improve the guest experience. This park could be amazing with just a little bit of common sense. Unfortunately, that seems to be in short supply at the top.

I should honestly just buy this place and let my son run it. Within 10 minutes he saw the issues and he is...

Major Disappointment: Avoid This Place!

My visit to this water park was incredibly disappointing. First, we had to pay for parking just to buy a ticket. Charging $10 for parking at a place that is far from Disneyland-level quality feels like a rip-off.

The biggest issue was the cleanliness. It’s the dirtiest water park I’ve ever seen. The water in the lazy river was so filthy you couldn’t see the bottom, and it was filled with debris. There was a layer of scum on the water, and the wave pool had dirty white foam that looked like bacteria. Mold and algae were growing everywhere, from the sides of the water areas to the stairs. The slimy, slippery feeling was constant, making it uncomfortable to touch anything. Rust and dirt were prevalent on dry surfaces, suggesting the place hasn't been cleaned in years. I’m convinced that the water made my kids sick, as they’ve been unwell since our visit.

I’ve been to water parks around the world and understand maintaining them can be challenging. However, this place is on another level of neglect. It’s apparently run by teenagers who don’t seem to care about cleanliness and safety. The lack of effort in cleaning visible areas makes me shudder to think about what’s hidden from guests, which is why I didn’t trust the food there and chose not to buy it. They don't allow outside food, so we had to leave early to feed the kids elsewhere. At a place like this, you expect a certain standard of cleanliness, and this park fails miserably.

Other issues included long lines with no fans or misters, forcing us to bake in the 115-degree sun. Lifeguards blew their whistles constantly, making it impossible to know if there was an actual danger. Food was extremely expensive, and the park is very small with only three slide areas, some of which were broken, resulting in even longer lines. The wave pool was a letdown, barely making any waves, and some stalls in the women's restroom didn’t even have doors.

Overall, this place was a huge waste of money. I’m more worried about catching a fungal infection or something worse than having fun with my kids. Don’t be surprised if your kids get sick or develop a skin rash after visiting. Cowabunga Bay needs to significantly improve its cleanliness to protect its community. I won’t be returning until they make...