Wave Water Park, Vista

This was a fun trip but I may not go back, the slides were crowded but we had fun in the lazy river.

Nothing if you want to enjoy pool time with your youngest. The shallowest spot in the pool is 3 feet - no play area at all for toddler and all water slides require a minimum height of 42" - even no attraction for them. There is a nice jungle playground, which is still a little difficult for a 32" tall buddy (almost 3 years) to climb but kids taller than 48" are not allowed to enter that area - if you have 2 kids and one exceeds the 48" they cann't play together there - very sad.

can get a pass for summer n enjoy the water. Not real big but fun for us ! I use to live in Oceanside and my kids could take the bus there. I had a good time even n though it wasn't as big as other water parks

this park does not have much to do, my 6 and 9 year old were bored very quickly. I attended a Girl Scout event with two of my daughters and we had a terrible time. We spent the first 40 minutes of our time there looking for intertubes to float in the lazy river. I finally tracked down a manager and 5 minutes later she miraculously found two. She explained that management decided to deflate most of the tubes to save time doing it when the park was closed for the season. Brilliant decision. When my 6-year-old was trying to get out of the lazy river she accidentally let go of her intertube and it was immediately taken by someone else. It was a complete waste of my money. I will not be going back to this park.

its a good waterpark if you consider 3 slides and a river fun. Im from vista and i think it is dirty and unsafe all i have to say is the wave is weak.

my daughter and i went to the wave today and i dont think we will be returning untill she is 10 or 11. on the web site the kid area said it was for ages 2-12, however my 2 year old was not allowed to go on the slides and was pushed down by big kids running through the area. there were no more rafts to use, we got there at 11:00 and it was hard to be in the lazy river with out one. there is not a lot of areas to sit and relax and it was very dirty. i woul not recommend the wave to any one , especcially with small children.

Went yesterday with my 2 and 8 year old sons. It was extremely overcrowded, the concrete is HOT and slippery, there is a lack of free shade. All lounge chairs are "taken" by towels and other belongings, so there is no place to sit and rest. The rental booth ran out of floating innertubes to rent, which stinks because there are very few free innertubes to use in the Lazy River. This creates an unsafe atmosphere because swimmers are allowed to enter the river pool without an innertube, so the people in the innertubes are constanting running over the heads of the innertube-less people. I saw numerous children get momentarily trapped under innertubes, as well as people getting bumped and smashed into by tubes. Soak City in Chula Vista requires innertubes (provided free) in their Lazy River. So much safer and enjoyable. The toddler area’s also unsafe. It's essentially a regular fast-food restaurant type padded playstructure with bridges, bop bags, and slides but the kids are all wet so they’re slip-sliding all over the place. I saw so many kids bump heads and skin knees. There’s no supervision assigned to this area, so there were way too many kids in the structure at one time & too many big kids who were just knocking down and pushing around the little kids. There needs to be a stricter age/height limit enforced here to make this area safe. The water portion of the area was disappointing - just a few sprinklers squirting water, no interaction required (no wheels to turn, or buttons to push) and there is no wading pool underneath it all, just smooth slippery concrete. The large water slides located at the rear of the park are fun for bigger kids. The runs are short and FAST. I recommend doing the runs that require a tube. The lifeguards on duty at the slides are focused on operating the green light/red light system and not on watching the swimmers, even at the bottom. Another safety concern - the lifeguards evacuated the Lazy River pool. I asked why and was told that someone pooped in the pool. 15 minutes later, the river reopened. I was told their standard procedure when that happens is to just let the pool filter for a short time. That kinda grossed me out. The food at the concession stand was very good. Good value, too. We had grilled cheeseburgers that were fresh and tasty. Bottom line, if you happen live around the corner, it may be a good choice for your older kids to cool down. If you want a safer, cleaner, more interactive, well-supervised experience for your toddler - try the Ned Baumer Aquatic Center in San Diego. If you want a bigger, cleaner, safer, all-around better water park experience for all ages (including an awesome toddler area) - go to Knott's Soak City in Southern San Diego. You get much for value and enjoyment for your dollar.

When the Wave first opened the staff was wonderful. I was very comfortable with my children being in the water. However, Im sad to say in the last 3 years friends of mine with children have overhelmingly the same opinion: The lifeguards now are a joke. City of Vista really dropped the ball from what they opened with as far as quality employees to what is yawning in the lifeguard chair now.My husband said hiring standards vs. City budget obviously once again the downfall. How sad I dont feel comfortable enough to take my kids to a waterpark in my own town. Maybe when they get older they will play Water Polo that seems to be the only concern of the City. ($!!) My friend suggests to parents: demand to see certifications from Red Cross for anyone teaching your child swimming-or watching your child swim. They should be able to produce a card. It started as a gem- now its just a liability and how sad is that?

The Wave, although a sub-par waterpark, was well worth the money. Last summer instead of driving over an hour and paying $45 to get into a bigger waterpark, I was able to drive 5 minutes to the wave and pay only $6 for the afternoon price (2-5:30). This price is unheard of and unbeatable in the water-park industry and gives a wider variety of people the oppurtunity to enjoy a waterpark experience!

It was expensive. For the price you would be beter off going somewhere like Disneyland. Some of the rides where uncomfortable and the place was dirty.