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Pool Waterfalls & Grottos
Transform Your Backyard with Cascading Luxury
A Stunning & Functional Water Feature
A custom pool waterfall or grotto turns your backyard into a serene escape, blending sight, sound, and movement to create a resort-style oasis. Whether it’s the natural beauty of a stacked stone waterfall, the sleek elegance of a sheer descent, or the hidden retreat of a grotto with built-in seating, these features enhance your pool’s ambiance while promoting relaxation and aesthetic appeal. At California Pools & Landscape, we design each water feature with premium materials, ensuring a seamless integration with your pool, spa, and outdoor space. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing escape, a high-impact design, or a playful addition for family fun, we’ll help you find the perfect fit for your backyard and budget.
What Is a Pool Waterfall?
A pool waterfall is a decorative water feature where water flows from an elevated surface into the pool. This adds natural beauty, a soothing sound, and a cooling effect while enhancing water circulation. Beyond their beauty, waterfalls and grottos bring a sense of peace and tranquility to your outdoor space. The gentle sound of cascading water creates an atmosphere of calm and serenity, making your backyard the perfect place to unwind after a long day. Whether you’re sitting poolside with a morning coffee or enjoying a peaceful evening under the stars, the soothing ambiance of falling water enhances the experience year-round.
Classic Rock Waterfall
A timeless, nature-inspired design featuring stacked rocks and lush landscaping. Water cascades gently over textured stone, blending seamlessly with your pool's surroundings.
Sheer Descent Waterfall
A sleek, modern waterfall where water flows in a smooth, uninterrupted sheet, creating a clean, elegant look. Ideal for contemporary pool designs, this feature enhances both aesthetics and water flow.
Waterfall Slides, A Splash of Fun for the Whole Family.
A waterfall slide brings excitement and adventure to your backyard. Combining the beauty of a cascading waterfall with the thrill of a waterslide, this feature creates a resort-style experience right at home. Waterfall slides can be integrated into rock formations or grottos, blending seamlessly into the poolscape. Whether it's a gentle, winding slide for younger kids or a steeper descent for thrill-seekers, this feature ensures endless fun while maintaining a polished, high-end look. From family pool parties to relaxing weekend afternoons, a waterfall slide adds energy, excitement, and lasting memories to your outdoor space.
What Is a Grotto?
A grotto is a cave-like structure built into your pool, creating a secluded, shaded retreat with water cascading over the entrance. It serves as a private escape within your backyard, providing a relaxing, resort-style feel. Grottos can be designed for pure relaxation or adventure, with options like a built-in bench for a tranquil hideaway, integrated slides for extra fun, and LED Lighting for a dramatic nighttime effect.
Organic Grotto
An organic grotto blends seamlessly with nature, using textured rock formations and cascading waterfalls to create a secluded, cave-like retreat. This design mimics a natural hideaway, offering cool shade, peaceful water sounds, and a private escape from the sun.
Modern Grotto
A modern grotto takes a more polished approach, using travertine, stacked stone, or smooth, sculpted finishes in monochrome tones like white, silver, or charcoal. A modern grotto delivers elegance and functionality, serving as both a stunning focal point and a peaceful retreat.
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Whether you need an estimate, funding, or inspiration from our award winning designers, we're ready to roll our sleeves up and start building your dream space. If you're not quite ready... keep scrolling!
What Is a Rain Sheer?
A rain sheer creates a curtain-like effect of falling water, often installed on shade structures, pergolas, or pool overhangs. It produces a gentle, high-volume cascade that enhances both visual appeal and relaxation. Rain sheers are a popular choice for modern pools, adding a sleek, high-end look that complements pergolas and shaded lounge areas.
How Rain Sheers Compare to Sheer Descent Waterfalls
Rain sheers and sheer descent waterfalls both add movement, sound, and style to your pool, but they create different effects. Rain sheers produce a high-volume, cascading water effect that mimics natural rainfall, making them a bold, eye-catching feature. In contrast, sheer descent waterfalls create a smooth, continuous sheet of water, offering a sleek, modern look with a controlled, elegant flow. While rain sheers enhance high-impact designs with dramatic movement, sheer descents provide a more refined architectural aesthetic, making them perfect for contemporary pools.
Designed for Your Backyard
A pool waterfall or grotto isn’t just about looks—it should be effortless to enjoy. Our energy-efficient designs use variable-speed pumps to optimize water flow while reducing energy consumption. Smart automation lets you control water features and lighting with ease, while LED lighting adds a dramatic touch without increasing energy costs. Whether it’s a gentle cascade or a bold waterfall, our technology ensures beauty, efficiency, and low maintenance for your outdoor retreat.
See What Our Customers Are Saying
Warren Price
Excellent work and service. Had our pool installed 5 years ago. Still great.
Marc Steadman
Nicholas was the project manager for our pool/yard remodel and stayed involved from beginning to end. His design analysis and expertise was always appreciated. But most of all we were thankful that Nicholas took personal responsibility that our project would end well. We could always count on Nicholas to respond quickly, and to find the right person to get our concerns resolved. Thank you.
Michelle W.
Our pool was just finished last week and the whole project went so smooth. The most stressful part was the design but our designer, Jacob was very patient with us and helped up design our dream pool. We had absolutely zero complaints once construction started. Darrin made sure that the process was very smooth. If we had any questions or concerns he was on it and we were always able to get in touch with him. Communication was great and you can tell he really cares about the end project. California pools has a great team set up to make sure your pool is everything you dreamed of.
Cynthia Graham
Our pool project was just completed. Cal Pools helped us with design, materials and all labor. Chuck, the project manager, was knowledgeable and professional; terrific to work with. Donna, our job coordinator, answered all our questions promptly, and made the whole process enjoyable. Work with them again in a heartbeat! BEAUTIFUL pool.
Kate L.
Our supervisor was Nathan Reyes and he is my reason for this 5 star review. Nathan was truly the best!! Our designer left half way through the project but Nathan never missed a beat and got everything done and more!! Thank you Nathan and California Pools did an amazing job.
Marilyn
We love our pool. Steve ,our construction manager, is a stickler for detail. Making sure everything is done right. Answering our concerns. And making sure everything was done to our liking. It was a pleasure working with both Steve and Jessica. I think the scheduling could be a little tighter but we would recommend California Pools to anyone looking to build their dream pool.
Craig Noel
I am one that rarely gives reviews because of their subjective nature but in this case as a business owner who understands the value of those reviews, I just had to give one and 5 stars it is. From the competent staff to communication up front and throughout the process, was remarkable given the large project at hand. The results are even better than the design and I could not be any more elated. I also will say that as we compared pricing before committing, my advice would be that you can't put value or quality in a "low dollar amount" as the final product and experience holds that for us. Absolutely must recommend California Pools!
Greg Ridgley
Cole Marvin is an asset to California Pools ! Cole is very knowledgeable, Great designer and Knows the Pool business prompt, returns calls & always on time. Good Person
Ron and Linda Uhle
Design of our pool and spa by Cal Pools was a work of art! The construction of the pool and spa took 7 months and had its ups and downs with construction quality . These issues were fixed by Cal Pool during the construction period. With about 1.5 months left to complete the pool, the Cal Pool construction manager quit or was let go. Cal Pool provided us with a fantastic new construction manager (Stephen Dreher) and he got our pool and spa construction back on track. Stephen provided us with clear explanations of the final steps to complete the project. He also explained in detail how the equipment worked and gave us tips on pool maintenance. Stephen Dreher rocks!
Katherine Regier
I have really enjoyed working with Nathan. He is knowledgeable and professional. California pools and landscape is very fortunate to have him as an employee .
Jill Raeburn
You will not be disappointed if you choose Cal Pools and Landscaping for your pool and yard project. They were all great to work with. From designer Robby to Stephen the project manager, it was an awesome experience. Thanks for making everything beautiful at my home and thank you for all the hard work!
Colin G.
California Pools built and entirely custom pool, deck and gazebo for us for our vacation property in Arizona. Building a pool remotely is challenging but they provided good updates and made the process enjoyable. We had some challenges with the pool after year one but when we contacted the owner they engaged an amazing support team that provided a detailed and through repair inspection and part replacement process to solve the problems. Gabe and Jessie were both outstanding and went above and beyond to solve the problems immediately with detailed communications. They stood behind their products and did not charge us for any repairs regardless of warranty policies. We would definitely recommend them to anyone and would ONLY use them to build another pool!! Thank you Gabe and Jessie for your outstanding customer service!!
Ginger S.
I am completely impressed with their customer service namely Shelly, Super friendly and helpful! Got all my questions answered and felt comfortable making a decision after speaking with her!
Carrie D.
From the very beginning Our experience with California Pools has been top notch. We were blown away with the exceptional design skills Cody was able to bring to life on a zoom meeting on our very first meeting. Cody was able to take every little detail and made it a reality before our eyes. I had so many compliments on how unique our pool was designed when it was still dirt and rebar. Jordan came out for the first time and answered all our questions with a realistic timeline. He always answered or returned our calls with a solution. Made sure every step of the way was paved and did what he said he would do without fail. If he didn't know the answer he found one, we were never left wondering. He kept tabs on all the projects and crews on site to keep us moving forward very quickly with a smile on his face! He was very personable. Then there was Sara! She handled all the scheduling of the project. Some days we would have 3 or more crews here and she kept them coming rapid fire it was outstanding the way it came together in such a short amount of time. Always going the extra mile to get what we needed done and at lightning speed!! Her calm friendly "Sunshine" attitude was a warm genuine experience. She always responded in the app right away with an answer or a solution. So far we couldn't be happier with our experience. I have waited my whole adult life and California Pools made my dream a reality in my back yard!!! Thank you
Eric Weston
Great experience, Pete, Les and Frank did a great job from design through construction.
Sean Leute
In a time of construction delays and problems facing all of Arizona's construction industry, CA Pools handled our project with the upmost integrity, honesty and professionalism. Our Pool and backyard is everything we could have ever hoped for. Joel Parron did a wonderful job designing our pool using references of a pool my late father built when we were growing up. Eric Collins our construction manager was up front and honest about every step of the way helping navigate a very difficult time with the construction industry during the pandemic. Nadine Chapman helped keep our schedule in order so I was never surprised when a construction team would show up. The company's app helped make communication a breeze. My family and I would recommend them completely!
Lonnie J.
With so many choices we think we found the best. Our sales rep Travis gave us many options and sold us on value over lowest price. Value that means a lifetime warranty on decking. The product he showed was truly amazing and a must have in the hot AZ summer days. You can feel a huge difference between cool deck and concrete. The scheduler was amazing! Marcee was responsive, timely and very detailed in her communication. Without her we would be left wondering what's next! The construction manager Shawn gave us the time and individual attention we needed. Made sure that every detail met our needs. There are so many other little things that make CalPools great but I can sum it up this way. We started our search on the BBB website and there are a lot of choices of pool and landscape companies. Save your self time and heartache; go with CalIfornia Pools and landscape and you won't be disappointed. On time completion No surprise charges or fees No subcontracting Great communication Amazing final product. A huge financial investment well worth every penny! PS that's the best dog ever Marshall! An amazing beagle mix rescue from Friends of Orange County
Antonio S.
I am a home builder and few times it happens to me to meet companies so good! They were the less expensive of 4 estimates, their schedule was perfect, no delays, I made some change of orders and they were very accommodating, (and also I had some refunds because they used less material and labor!), very communicative, and the pool is beautiful and working good.Thank you Brian Fox and Rebecca Schulte, see you at the next project!
Scott Stevens
Our rep presented a great plan for our build. Took the time to explain the details of the contract, warranties and the continuing aftercare for us and the work they preform. Heads above the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pool Waterfalls & Grottos
How much does a pool waterfall cost?
Are pool waterfalls energy-efficient?
Do pool waterfalls help with water circulation?
Can I add a slide to my pool waterfall?
How long does it take to install a pool waterfall?
Do waterfalls and grottos increase home value?
What’s the best type of pool waterfall for a small backyard?
Are pool waterfalls noisy?
Ready to Create Your Dream Oasis?
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