Meet Jessica Neumann | Co-Owner & Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Neumann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Seeing happy faces at the aqua park. In today’s world we seem to be busy with so many things and here at the aqua park, we can forget about it all while playing in the water and enjoying the nature around us.

What should our readers know about your business?
We built our business from scratch 5 years ago. Together with 2 business partners, Adam Caldwell and Hans Menzel, we had an overnight idea: Why not use one of the two lakes at Trophy for a fun family activity? Trophy has been known for it’s waterskiing and surrounded by nature, this really is a great spot to come out and enjoy some time on and by the water and so we decided to open the Charleston Aqua Park. Initially, we only had our inflatables course in the lake and 2 years later came our on-water ropes course (one of two in the US). We also offer wakeboarding and boogie boarding on our wakeboard cable. 2020 and Covid gave us somewhat of a headache as a lot of venues were forced to remain closed during the lockdown. We were lucky and were able to operate with limited capacity (less people on the inflatables). After Covid, we started growing the park and feel that we have become a summer fun staple here in the Charleston area.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Let’s start with breakfast. I recommend trying out Sunrise Bistro here on the island. They have great breakfast staples and a super friendly team. After that, drive over to one of our beaches and enjoy a splash or walk there: Kiawah Beach Walker or Folly Beach are only a short 20min drive. The ocean breeze and sound are so relaxing! If you’re into sightseeing later in the day, go downtown and hop on a carriage tour or grab a map and walk around. You will feel transferred into a different time. Downtown tells many stories. For an afternoon snack and drink, grab a seat at Fast French on Broad Street and watch people walk by. To wind down at the end of the day, stop at one of our local and fun breweries (our JI staples are Lowtide or Estuary), grab a beer and have a food truck bite.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to send a shout out to Kim Bryant, the owner of Trophy Lakes. I have known him for over 10 years and he built Trophy Lakes where we are located with a passion for waterskiing, in the mid 80s, allowing us to open the Charleston Aqua Park with the same vision: To create a healthy & fun environment on the water for young and old. He is a big supporter of the aqua park and we are grateful for that!

Website: https://www.charlestonaquapark.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlestonaquapark

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlestonaquapark

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/charleston-aqua-park-johns-island