A Night at Caribbean Cove Water Park

My family recently spent a night at Caribbean Cove Water Park at Holiday Inn North at the Pyramids in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The indoor water park was a bargain thanks to a $99/night deal we found online. This included a room for our family and 4 wristbands for admission to the water park.

Check-in time is 4 p.m. After checking in, which went smoothly, we headed to the elevator. The elevator overlooked an indoor pool unrelated to the water park, which was unoccupied at the time. We went up to our room, which was a standard hotel room with two double beds and a bathroom.

Heading on to the water park, we enjoyed its features: a "leisure river" was my favorite, and I spent a lot of time floating along in an inflatable raft, passing by small waterfalls. Kastaway Kidz Island was popular with the younger kids; it features the ubiquitous large bucket which dumps every few minutes, and a fort to climb on. Another pool features a ball goal and floating snakes and lily pads for the kids to climb on.

Of course, no water park is complete without slides, and Caribbean Cove features three: a yellow slide which is the mildest one (you ride your raft through it), and green and blue "body slides" for the braver ones. All the slides take you throughout the park and even outside the building briefly before dumping you back into the lazy river. There are two spa/hot tubs as well.

There was an abundance of staff which created a safe feel. One annoyance, however, was the "safety checks" which occurred every two hours. A staff member would blow a whistle, everyone had to come out of the pools, and ... basically stand around waiting for 15 minutes. During that time, I could not observe anything safety-related happening among the staff, no checking of anything. So, I'm unsure of the point of these breaks. I have been to other indoor water parks, and they have not had such "safety breaks". Perhaps rotating staff could help avoid this disruption?

If the water park isn't enough, there is an arcade as well as restaurants on-site.

Coco the monkey is Caribbean Cove's mascot, and we saw a large costumed Coco walking around throughout the building. He is featured in "Kids Club" activities scheduled throughout the day: exercises in the morning followed by doughnuts (isn't that counter-productive?), crafts, a movie shown nightly along with popcorn, and a bedtime story.

The water park opens at 9 a.m., and we hit the water again the next morning for another hour or so of fun before preparing to check out at the mandatory 11 a.m. time. The park was quiet at this time of day, and I recommend it.

Overall, I recommend Caribbean Cove for a family getaway. It's not as large or glitzy as Great Wolf Lodge park (which we've also visited), nor nearly the size of Holiday World's Splashin' Safari (an outdoor Indiana water park), but it is fun and refreshing - for adults and kids as well.