Kalahari’s Sandusky resort gave the lakeshore a winter season
The indoor waterpark resort on U.S. 250 opened in 2005 and brought year-round tourism to an area that used to empty out after Labor Day.
For most of the 20th century, tourism around Sandusky ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Kalahari Resorts changed that when it opened a large indoor waterpark resort on U.S. 250 in 2005.
The resort, owned by the Wisconsin-based Kalahari company, combines hotel rooms, an indoor waterpark, an outdoor water park, restaurants, a convention center and an indoor theme park. It is one of the largest indoor waterparks in the country. Details are on the resort’s Ohio website.
A year-round employer
Because it operates all year, Kalahari offers steadier jobs than the seasonal parks. It employs hundreds of people in housekeeping, food service, lifeguarding, maintenance and sales. Many workers commute from Huron and Sandusky counties, including from Bellevue.
The convention center draws business meetings, sports tournaments and school events in the off-season, filling hotel rooms across the U.S. 250 corridor in months that used to be slow.
The U.S. 250 strip
Kalahari joined a cluster of hotels, restaurants and indoor attractions along U.S. 250 between the Ohio Turnpike and Sandusky. Great Wolf Lodge, another indoor waterpark resort, also operates in the area. Together they turned the corridor into a family destination even in January.
That growth brought traffic and development pressure to Perkins Township, and local governments have adjusted zoning and road projects around it. Erie County’s lodging tax revenue supports tourism promotion through Shores & Islands Ohio.
For Bellevue families
Kalahari is a 25-minute drive from Bellevue, and it has become a standard stop for birthday parties, school trips and winter weekends. Local hotels in Bellevue sometimes pick up overflow when big tournaments fill the lakeshore.
Kalahari is part of a tourism economy anchored by Cedar Point. We cover these employers in Business.