Big Surf is a waterpark located in Tempe, Arizona

Tempe, Arizona

Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...

. Opened in 1969 and financed by the Clairol Company, it boasted the first wave pool

Wave pool

A wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, reasonably large waves, similar to the ocean's. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The wave pool was designed by Phil Dexter.

History

As the first and oldest wave pool in the United States, it at one point featured surfing exhibitions and competition, as well as regular use by patrons of the park. This was largely discontinued in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to safety and liability concerns. More recently the park has discontinued all surfing in the wave pool as of 2005. However body board sessions are still available.

The park celebrated their 40th year anniversary in 2009. On September 2, 2009, it was reported that Big Surf will close indefinitely at the end of the day on Monday, September 7, 2009. However, later that week on September 5, the Arizona Republic reported that Big Surf would open again in Summer 2010, under Inland Oceans LLC rather than the Golfland

Golfland

Golfland is a chain of family amusement centers, miniature golf courses, and water parks located in California and Arizona. The company was founded in 1953.-Locations:*Golfland in Milpitas, California...

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External links

• Big Surf Water Park