Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering, a world-class aquatic firm, has marked the launch of its most recent project for Royal Caribbean by taking its whole team on a cruise to experience it for themselves.
The firm has designed and engineered two pools for the new Hideaway Beach, an adults-only area on Royal Caribbean’s private island destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
All of CocoCay’s pools, waterslides, and interactive water features are designed and engineered by Martin Aquatic. When the destination debuted in 2019, it featured the largest wave pool in the Caribbean and the highest waterslide in North America.
Celebrating growth
Josh Martin, president and creative director, Martin Aquatic, says: “Last year was a banner year for Martin Aquatic, so we wanted to kick off 2024 with a bang. The cruise was the perfect team-building opportunity to reward our staff for their hard work, and it also served to instil pride by visiting a project that many have worked on for years but had not experienced. We don’t always get to enjoy the fruit of our labors, so this was a special opportunity that accomplished so much for our firm.”
Hideaway Beach at CocoCay boasts two distinctive resort pools, including an 18,000-square-foot infinity-edge main pool. Although not as big as Martin Aquatic’s original pool for the island, the 33,000-square-foot Oasis Lagoon pool, this new basin has become a popular space for adults and features a swim-up bar with 25 in-water seats and a built-in DJ booth.
Royal Caribbean personnel gave the Martin Aquatic team a tour of the back-of-house facilities, which house all of the mechanical, chemical, and piping equipment that the firm develops. The team was able to observe and experience various site conditions, such as a sophisticated equipment room with a lower pump pit that reaches over 20 feet deep.
Martin Aquatic hosted the largest workplace party in its history, with 63 staff members and visitors onboard the ship. The company’s success with Blue Mar Basins technology, which drives multi-acre swimmable lagoons, has led to significant growth in both personnel size and project volume. The Thermal Beach Club, a 20-acre surf lagoon development in the Coachella Valley, is the latest project to announce its adoption of the Blue Mar Basins concept.
Industry recognition
As a result of this expansion, Martin Aquatic was recognised in February 2024 as one of the 50 GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch. This is an annual award for startups and expanding companies across the state. GrowFL has been honouring second-stage businesses, those who have advanced past the initial start-up stage, for 13 years. Martin Aquatic’s president and creative director Josh Martin, and his father, the firm’s founding principal Ken Martin, accepted the award at a ceremony in Orlando.
Although he started the business in 1987, Ken Martin has been involved in pool design and building for much longer. In 2024, he celebrates his 50th year in the aquatic industry. With his work on numerous Walt Disney World resorts, his leadership on the board of the Florida Swimming Pool Association, and his nine years on Florida’s Commercial Pool Advisory Variance Board, he has made an enduring contribution to commercial pools, show fountains, and large water features.
Furthermore, he played a key role in progressing developments and enhancements to the Florida Building Codes for the Department of Health regulations, which cover the design and operation of all commercial pools. Florida continues to serve as a benchmark for pool development and operation, and its regulations have informed codes and standards across the US and the Caribbean.
Ken Martin is a board member of the National Sanitation Foundation’s NSF Standard 50 group, which sets national standards for pools across America, recognising his extensive experience.
Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering recently won a Leading Edge Award for its design of the Island Waterpark at Showboat Hotel at the World Waterpark Association (WWA).
