Kalahari Resorts in the Poconos: A Giant Water Park & Much More

Most of us in the tri-state area are ready for a trip to the tropics by February. My family got our tropical fix, and it was only a 90-minute drive from NYC. Kalahari Resorts & Conventions is a mega resort in the Poconos Mountains area of Pennsylvania. It's an African-themed hotel, named after the Kalahari Dessert, with a massive indoor water park and enough indoor activities that we never left the hotel during our entire stay.

The resort calls itself Pennsylvania's largest indoor water park. It features 100,000 square feet of slides, water roller coasters, a lazy river, hot pools, and two play areas, Tiko's Watering Hole for toddlers and Splashdown Safari for older kids. It’s been open since July 2015 and its owners are only half finished with their build-out. When they complete construction in 2017 it will be America's largest indoor water park, with 200,000 square feet of aquatic fun.

We booked our accommodations--a desert room--for one night, with plans to use the facilities both the day we arrived as well as the day we departed. Our adventure began when we entered the huge open lobby, which is well appointed with African themed art and furniture and has a large waiting area with a fireplace that overlooks the indoor water park. We arrived at 1pm on a Monday and our room was ready, so they let us check in. Since it was a Monday, the rates were only a fraction of the regular price, plus the resort felt empty and we never encountered a line, wait, or crowds.

RELATED: Our guide to the best family day trips in the NY area.

The Water Park at Kalahari

The water park is accessible via wristbands, which also act as your room key. The water park is free for all guests, but you can also buy a day pass for the park. Most other indoor water parks in the Poconos require an overnight stay to access their facilities, so this is a great option for those who just want to make a day visit. Passes range from $29 to $59 per person, depending on the day. There are reduced rates for evening-only access, and it's free for kids under 2. Also available are private cabanas to rent inside the water park; these are costly and start at about $199 for the day.

Inside the water park, you can rent lockers to secure your belongings for $10, $15, or $20, depending on size.  Attendants are very generous with towels, and you can help yourself to dry ones as needed. (Some parks are strict with their towels, which is a bummer for a water park.) Free life jackets are available--and they’re required for kids under 48 inches.

The water park is clean, huge, and has a wide range of activities catering to the entire family. Our 4 year old is particularly adventurous, so we were thrilled to find that Kalahari has a lot of fun, big slides for kids 42 inches and higher.

Our favorite ride was the Anaconda, which is a tube-required water rollercoaster. They even have a machine tote the tubes up, so you don't have to carry them up the stairs. The Flow Rider, a wave simulator, was also very impressive. Our daughter body-surfed it and my boyfriend stood and surfed it. (I chickened out of trying this one). I really liked the hot pool, where you can swim outdoors. It's normally reserved for adults, but since the resort was so empty they allowed kids in. It was very cool to swim in a hot pool while snow landed on our faces. And, of course, there were lots of other water slides, some requiring mats, some enclosed in tubes, some that take you outside and back in, and some that just go over a few bumps and turns and end with a splash.