Sun City West, AZ Outdoor Activities

The ice rink at Arcadia Ice Arena invites bladed feet for a full calendar of public skate times, hockey leagues, and figure-skating lessons. For public skating sessions, skaters may bring their own skates or rent hockey or figure skates before carving figure eights and love notes to the zamboni into the ice. Beginners and Olympic hopefuls alike can improve their technique through the arena's Learn to Skate programs, complete with private or group lessons.

John Flanders and Jeff Varner founded the Academy of Scuba to bring the magic of diving to the arid lands of the Southwest. They employ a team of PADI-certified instructors, who lead courses ranging from beginner and advanced open-water certification to more in-depth programs such as master diver, deep diver, underwater video and photography specialists, and professional shark imitator. Once certified, divers can stretch their new sea legs on diving excursions to exotic locales such as Belize, Mexico, and Bonaire through the academy’s partner and affiliate companies. Both of the Academy's locations rent, repair, and sell high-quality gear from reputable brands such as Sea Dive, Amphibious Outfitters, and H2Odyssey.

A kaleidoscope of multichromatic blossoms and emerald leaves bursts from the soil, blanketing 65 acres of desert landscape at Desert Botanical Garden. Diverse walkways flanked by more than 50,000 types of cacti, succulents, and wildflowers educate visitors on the importance of protecting the environment and not hugging every plant they see. In addition to the garden's more stationary organisms, some of which go home with local green thumbs during biannual plant sales, numerous avian and insect species make their homes amid the thriving greenery.

Fourteen lighted outdoor tennis courts, four new pickleball courts, seven indoor racquetball courts, weight rooms, a group fitness studio, and an indoor cycling room make up the facilities at La Camarilla Racquet, Fitness & Swim Club, setting the stage for members to get fit any way they see fit. For one, there’s a varied schedule of group fitness classes, with structured workouts such as tai chi, muscle cardio, yoga, and spinning. Treadmills, upright bikes, elliptical machines, and other fitness machines are within the four fitness rooms, too. If you want to cool off after a workout, feel free to swim the club's 25-meter outdoor pool or juggle ice cubes in the members’ lounge and bar area.

You can hear a constant thwacking of tennis balls and shuffling feet in the outdoor tennis facility, which hosts numerous tournaments, clinics, and lessons. Director of tennis Roger Furman and his staff of USPTA-certified pros offer instructional guidance to aspiring tennis players and ball boys of all ages.

Desert Skydiving Center carries people into the air in Cessna 182 and 206 planes and then sends them gleefully careening toward the ground. The center offers static parachuting, tandem jumping, and accelerated freefalls alongside experts. Participants can work with an instructor for 30-minutes to eight-hours, depending on the type of jump, before pulling on a parachute and jumping from two miles high. The ground grows rapidly as divers freefall with the wind whipping their faces before they pull the parachute cord and float to the ground or attempt to land on a passing goose.

Augusta Ranch Golf Club’s first hole starts players off with a bit of misdirection. Measuring 379 yards from the back tees, the longest hole on the course calls for a zealous swing, while the rest of the course is designed to give irons a workout. The links feature a mix of par-3 and par-4 holes that invite newcomers to play around and test experienced players' short game play with shallow greens and treacherous bunkers. Instructors give lessons for all skill levels, and the staff organizes a variety of events throughout the year, from clinics and tournaments to Night Golf played with glowing golf balls. Players can convene beneath The Sunset Grille’s outdoor pavilion to snack on classic breakfast and lunch cuisine and keep an eye out for flocks of geese trained to abduct pitching wedges.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 61 course
• Total length of 3,846 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 59 from the back tees
• Course slope of 91 from the back tees
• Three sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard