1 STAR -- OUR FIRST AND LAST TIME AT SIKOME LAKE
This was our first time visiting Sikome Lake, and unfortunately, it will also be our LAST.
I brought my kids to Sikome Lake expecting to have a fun family day. We paid $19 for a family pass and spent the afternoon swimming and enjoying the water.
What happened afterward was extremely upsetting.
After the boys got out of the water, changed and we started heading home, both of them developed intense itching all over their bodies. Even after coming home and taking showers, they were still extremely itchy.
At first, I didn't know what was causing it. I then started looking into it and found information about swimmer's itch and recurring concerns associated with Sikome Lake. What makes me especially upset is that, BEFORE we entered, I specifically asked both the gentleman at the gate AND the lady at the cash window to tell me about the lake because this was our first time there.
Not once did either person mention swimmer's itch, the possibility of an itchy rash, or any warning about this being a known issue.
If this is something that has been happening at Sikome Lake for years, families deserve to know BEFORE they pay and put their children in the water.
I completely understand that a natural/man-made swimming lake can have changing conditions and that some risks cannot be eliminated. But if there is a known recurring issue that can affect swimmers, especially children, then why isn't that information being clearly communicated to visitors?
And if the water conditions are ever considered unsafe for swimming, then the swimming area should be closed until the appropriate authorities determine that it is safe to reopen.
Parents should not have to take their children swimming, pay an entrance fee, and then discover AFTERWARD that there may have been a known risk that they were never warned about.
$19 isn't the issue -- the lack of transparency is.
I specifically asked staff for information because we had never been there before. I trusted that if there was something important that families needed to know about the swimming conditions, I would be told.
Instead, my kids came home with intense itching after spending the afternoon in the water.
This was our FIRST and LAST visit to Sikome Lake.
I strongly believe that management needs to do better when it comes to warning visitors, communicating water-quality concerns, posting clear signage, and putting the safety of families ahead of admission revenue.
If there is a known health concern with the swimming water, the public deserves to know about it before they get in.
Very disappointing experience. read more