OWA unveils newest Tropic Falls additions

After three years in the making, OWA has officially opened its newest attractions at Tropic Falls Water Park – a 30,000-square-foot outdoor wave pool and a surf simulator.

The new wave pool, Big Water Bay, and surf simulator, Coastal Curl, are located outside, along with a new beach-themed bar and restaurant and an expansive beach area with seating, private cabana rentals and restrooms with lockers. At the top of the wave pool is a 48-foot-wide LED screen to showcase water-themed movies and live performances.

Tropic Falls is the only indoor water park in the United States with both a retractable roof and sidewall adjoining an outdoor water park, allowing visitors to shuffle between the outdoor attractions and indoor park. According to OWA, the addition of Big Water Bay and Coastal Curl, along with its 100,000-square-foot adjacent indoor water park, makes Tropic Falls the largest water-themed attraction of its kind on the Gulf Coast.

“The whole development down here with OWA has had such an impact on the City of Foley and south Baldwin,” Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians started OWA’s development in 2015 and has invested more than $350 million into the theme park.

Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) has been part of the OWA development since its inception. The firm provided surveying, site civil engineering and construction materials testing for the recent additions at Tropic Falls.