OPERATORS: SHARK WAKE PARK IS SAFE FOR WATER FUN

Concerns about gators, other creatures unfounded, he says.

WEST PALM BEACH — Greg Norman Jr. has been waterskiing and wakeboarding at Okeeheelee Park for years, long before he and business partner Jeff Trudeau decided to open Palm Beach County’s first cable-powered water-sports park.

Norman Jr., the CEO of Shark Wake Park 561 and son of golfing great Greg Norman, never considered the park’s freshwater lakes dangerous then.

And he doesn’t now, despite concerns raised by Palm Beach Post readers about the possibility of amoebas, alligators and other dangerous marine life lurking in the water.

Shark Wake Park 561 was built and is operated by a company owned by Greg Norman.

“I knew from decades of experience myself of going to Okeeheelee Park ... that these waters are perfectly safe and clean,” said Norman Jr., who opened Shark Wake Park’s floating Aqua Park June 30 near Pooch Park Pines Park. “People have been waterskiing, wakeboarding and kayaking in this park for over 30 years.”

Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Director Eric Call has been with the department for as long as that and has yet to see an alligator in any of Okeeheelee Park’s freshwater lakes.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t around, he cautioned. Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation manages Okeeheelee Park as well as 84 other parks in the county.

“Any time you’re dealing with a freshwater lake in the warm water, there’s the potential for

things to be in there,” he said. “It’s natural water bodies. In this particular case, they’re going to have lifeguards out there. They’re going to have signage up that will just advise that there’s potential for marine life to be there.”

Okeeheelee Park, at about 1,700 acres in size, is a popular spot for visitors.

Its lakes attract skiers, boaters, kayakers and canoers, and will add cable-powered kneeboarding, wakeboarding and wakeskiing to the mix when Wake Park opens later this year on the Osceola Pavilion side of Okeeheelee Park.

Norman Jr. had no qualms about opening a cable-powered water-sports park on a freshwater lake where alligators, water moccasins and snapping turtles traditionally call home.

“I have been going to water-sports facilities like the one we are building here since I was a child, from Miami to Deerfield Beach to Orlando to Tampa and all southern states where the facilities are located,” he said. “In my experience, I have not seen nor heard of any wildlife issue at any of these locations for the simple fact that the wildlife does not like all the activity.”

Call agreed, noting that alligators prefer a quieter habitat.

“There are very few at Okeeheelee,” he said. “I can’t say there are none because it’s kind of a chain of lakes. For the most part, alligators are more afraid of you than you would be of them.”

Norman Jr., who also runs the Shark Wake Park 843 complex in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., said he takes steps to ensure the safety of visitors at both water parks.

Precautions include testing the water quality at the parks on a regular basis to make sure there is no contamination.

“It is safe to play and swim in,” he said.

Japheth Montejo, 11, of Jupiter, runs the water obstacle course as Braxton Newman, 14, of West Palm Beach, cools off in the water at the Aqua Park at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach on Thursday. Shark Wake Park’s floating Aqua Park has been open for less than a week at Okeeheelee Park, but people already are expressing concerns about potential dangers there brought by alligators, among others.

PHOTOS BY ALLEN EYESTONE / THE PALM BEACH POST Japheth Montejo swims back to shore after playing at the Aqua Park. “These waters are perfectly safe and clean,” says Greg Norman Jr. “People have been waterskiing, wakeboarding and kayaking in this park for over 30 years.”