The Fort Myers Beach Pool is just under 1 mile from My Paradise Home.

Sure, Fort Myers Beach has an ocean of salt water.

This is no ho-hum public pool.

The two-story tube slide at the Fort Myers Beach Community pool is a big hit with kids and adults.

This is a place where children (and intrepid adults) can careen down slides, climb through tunnels and squirt gallons of water at each other.

"I love it. The kids have a great time," says Kim Hager of San Carlos Park, who brings her sons, ages 2 and 3 to the Fort Myers Beach pool. "They enjoy most of all going down the slide and the things where you control the water. I like it because it's very shallow water so it's fairly safe and the lifeguards are very attentive in patrolling the water so you feel very comfortable in letting your kids play."

The Fort Myers Beach Pool opened in November 1999. It features a kiddie pool, slide area and a lap pool.

If the water isn't enough scenery, the pool also boasts a small garden with palm trees, coco plums, sunflowers, hibiscus and other plants dotted around the landscape.

There, tiny tykes can zip down a 6-foot orange slide into knee-deep water. They can turn knobs, wheels and levers to squirt water at each other.

There's a tunnel to crawl through and squirting steps to climb.

Since the pool goes from less than a foot to 1 foot, 6 inches, even infants can splash and play, while toddlers, well, toddle around in the water.

School-age children are not allowed in the little pool unless they are with a younger sibling. That keeps the area safer for little squirts.

But bigger kids certainly aren't left out of the fun. For those more than 48 inches tall, there's a two-story tube slide that twists and turns and sends youngsters flying out the bottom in a gush of water.

"I like the big slide," said Matthew McManus, 8, of North Naples. "It's really fun. It feels like you're going down a roller coaster in water."

Golden Gate in Collier County also has a similar small water park. "It's more fun than a regular pool. It has more objects. There's a lot more to do," said Julie Ziesmer, 8, of North Naples.

"It's really fun. It feels like you're going down a roller coaster in water."

Golden Gate in Collier County also has a similar small water park. "It's more fun than a regular pool. It has more objects. There's a lot more to do," said Julie Ziesmer, 8, of North Naples.

A plus at both pools: lots of shade. Huge green-and-blue mushroom umbrellas cover tables and chairs at Fort Myers Beach. Smaller umbrellas and a pavilion offer shade at Golden Gate.

The Golden Gate Aquatic Center has similar pool features too. There's the kiddie area where the water is no deeper than 1 foot, 6 inches. It also has sprinklers some dripping, some dumping water.

There are small fountains that spray water the youngest bathers love to step on.

The slide pool features a 115-foot-long open slide and a 107-foot-long enclosed slide.

The tube slide is much quicker, says Mary Ellen Donner, recreation supervisor.

Children like to test that theory often. "The person in that slide has to give at least a 4-second lead to the person in the open slide to make it even close," Donner says.

The main pool has two 3-foot diving boards and a high 10-foot board.

"The high board is cool, but they will go down those slides time after time after time," Donner says.

"I like the high dive and the slides," said Paige Summers, 8, of North Naples. "It has lots of fun things."

Her mother, Jodi Summers, said the Golden Gate pool offers something for both her children. She has a 3-year-old son who enjoys playing in the kiddie pool while his big sister bounces on the diving boards and zips down the slides.

"There's a variety," Jodi Summers said. "It's just perfect for them."