Big Surf, Water park in Tempe, Arizona, United States
Big Surf is a water park in Tempe, Arizona, built around a large wave pool surrounded by open swimming areas and a series of waterslides of different sizes. The grounds are laid out in a way that makes it easy to move between the pool areas and the slide towers.
Big Surf opened in 1969, making it one of the oldest water parks in the United States. The wave pool was its defining feature from the start, drawing visitors from across the Southwest who had never experienced artificial surf before.
On hot summer days, the park fills with families and groups of friends from across the Phoenix area looking to spend time in the water together. The wave pool in particular draws people who gather around it as the central meeting point of the day.
Arriving early in the morning on hot days helps avoid long waits at the slides, which tend to build up through the afternoon. The park has lockers and food options on site, so there is no need to leave once you have settled in.
When the wave pool at Big Surf opened in 1969, it was considered the first of its kind in the United States. The technology used to generate the waves was new enough that engineers from other countries traveled to Tempe specifically to study how the system worked.
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