Smith Lake Waterpark — Attraction in Texas

Horrible Experience. Unsafe and Negligent Lifeguards.

Our visit was terrifying. The lifeguards were not paying attention, and with the water being so dark, it’s very easy for a child to drown. My son was playing on an island with other kids who were roughhousing, pretending to wrestle, and swimming underneath the platform. I had to step in to stop the horseplay.

Moments later, we couldn’t find my son. My wife panicked, and I began yelling his name. (I’m a former Marine, so when I say yelling, I mean loud.) The lifeguard stationed on the island did absolutely nothing. She just sat there talking with her friends—no whistle, no movement, not even turning toward the water. I swam to the island myself, standing up, scanning the water, and still, she did nothing but give me attitude.

I told her to do her job, because children can and do drown in situations like this. The owner (possibly her mother) told me I was being excessive. That is insulting. Every other parent nearby agreed I was acting as any parent would if they couldn’t find their child.

Eventually, we finally found my son on the Zipline tower, but it probably took about 3-5 minutes.

I remained calm, but this was an incredibly dangerous situation. I am also a former firefighter with extensive experience performing CPR on children and adults. Trust me, drowning happens fast and it’s not something you ever want to experience.

If you’re a lifeguard, and a parent is frantically searching for their child in dark water, you should immediately help. If you can’t take that responsibility seriously, then you should not be in that job.

We will never return. This was negligent and unacceptable. Since the owner chose to “clarify,” I’ll add clarification as well. I’m shocked you found my behavior inappropriate but not your lifeguard’s. She stayed seated, facing away from the water, while I swam to the island, climbed up, and searched for my son calling his name the entire time.

I did not cuss at the children or staff, however I probably said some bad words. I'm sorry, I was looking for my son while my wife was in tears thinking her son had drown.

I apologized if I came across as intimidating. I know I can look intense, but I was not aggressive. I was focused on finding my child. Other parents agreed the lifeguard did nothing, and some even left with their children after witnessing it.

If you believe a proper lifeguard response is to stay seated—without blowing a whistle, standing, or even looking—your standards are dangerously low. Even the kids on the island were yelling my son’s name before she reacted.

I am a U.S. Marine, and I will do everything in my power if I think my son is in danger. I did not use a “combative tone” - I simply have a loud, deep voice. Multiple parents confirmed I was in the right. Instead of defending inaction, you should raise your standards and hire lifeguards who won’t freeze in a crisis. I've also added the photo of the lifeguard that was sitting in the island that found me on Facebook and replied to my story of me ziplining with my son saying "glad y'all had fun". I can see she takes her job very seriously. We actually were having fun, until it was very frightening because we thought my son had gone under the island and drowned. She remained seated the entire time. Raise your standards before...

This was a horrible place to stay with kids. Everything my children did they threatened me with eviction. They advertise that they have a shower house. They do but you have to pay 5 dollars for a key and it nonrefundable. You can't swim so the lake is pointless. Unless you pay to go to the little "water park" they have. The WIFI was useless. The playground they advertised was there but was removed the day we arrived. She told me to go to a lot but when I got there the lots weren't numbered properly so I parked in an open one. The next day I moved it to a different lot which still wasn't the correct one and when I wanted to move it to the right one I was informed that I couldn't go to that one because the owner didn't want us in the one because it would cost more. Even though we were paying the higher weekly rate. Wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Even if I...

I really like this place. $7 per person, they have tables and different areas for families to make a base area, a nice sandy beach leading to a shallow area perfect for my 4y and 20m old girls that has a pool slide on a floating deck which is roped off from the deep end. For my 8y and older kids they have a platform area with different levels for jumping off as well as a super fun zip line. You are welcome to bring your ice chest but they also have a place where you...