Need to cool off? Here are opening dates, COVID rules for Sacramento-area water parks
Two of the biggest water parks in the capital region, Raging Waters Sacramento and Golfland Sunsplash in Roseville, plan to start their 2021 summer seasons in the next few weeks, after COVID-19 shutdowns turned 2020 into a bummer for summer fun.
Golfland Sunsplash opened its water slides part of last summer despite state health orders, but ended its 2020 season in August after Roseville city officials asked it to close, the park wrote in a social media post last year.
The family entertainment center said on its website the water slides will open May 29 to May 31 for Memorial Day Weekend, and then be open every day June 3 through Sept. 6.
Raging Waters at Cal Expo canceled last summer’s season entirely due to state and local health restrictions. The park in a recent social media post announced June 12 as the start date for its 2021 season.
Raging Waters plans to hire dozens of seasonal employees, and it held a job fair last week. The park’s website said tickets and reservations will be available online soon, and that any existing season passes or single-day tickets for 2020 will be honored through the rest of 2021.
Its website also said 2021 will be a “limited” season with a number of modifications in place to protect against COVID-19, including social distancing, capacity limits and face coverings required “where appropriate” for employees and guests.
Both water parks said on their websites they would limit guest capacity but they don’t give specific percentages. Neither park responded to The Bee’s emails asking for that information. An employee at Golfland Sunsplash who answered the phone Tuesday said the maximum limit would likely be similar to last year, when it capped at 40%.
Under the current tiered reopening system, water parks are supposed to stay limited to 15% their normal capacity in red-tier counties like Sacramento and Placer, and can expand to 25% in orange counties and up to 40% in the loosest tier, yellow.
California targets a full reopening of its economy — ending the tier system and dropping business restrictions like capacity limits — on June 15, a short time after the two local water parks are scheduled to reopen.
The state is expected to keep at least some form of mask mandate in place beyond June 15.
How do you wear a mask at a water park?
Speaking of masks, the California Department of Public Health in late April shared formal guidelines for water parks.
Here’s what it says about face coverings:
“Use of face coverings is mandatory throughout the park in all settings indoor and outdoor, unless actively eating and/or drinking, or while on a ride or in a setting that would cause the face covering to become wet. Guests without a face covering must remain 6 feet from people who are not in the same household.”
A wet mask can be dangerous, CDPH notes.
“Advise staff and guests with face coverings, to NOT wear them in the water. A wet cloth mask can make it difficult to breathe and likely will not work correctly.”
In other words, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring a spare.
