The Tropic by Sun Pools is a 16′ x 42′ fiberglass pool built for the family that wants the whole backyard vacation in one shell. Sun Pools calls it “our top selling large pool” and describes it as “one of the largest one-piece fiberglass pools available on the market today.” Sun built it around what its customers asked for: “a large family sized pool with lots of interior room, bench seating and our popular walk around safety ledge.” Sun lists a 5′ x 12′ tanning island with three built in water bubblers, a wrap-around deep-end seat, and large shallow end steps. With a 3′ to 6′ depth, the Tropic is the pool Northeast Ohio families can live in all summer long.
Tropic Sun Pool
A Big Family Pool With Its Own Tanning Island
What Is the Tropic Pool?
The Tropic comes in a single size, 16′ x 42′, with a 3′ to 6′ water depth. Sun places it in its Large Pools category, and those figures are approximate maximum available dimensions.
Sun’s feature list for the Tropic is a long one. The 5′ x 12′ tanning island, with its three built in water bubblers, gives the pool a signature spot for lounging and play. Sun lists bench seating and a wrap-around deep-end seat, so there are places to sit and soak throughout the pool, plus large shallow end steps for an easy way in and the walk around safety ledge Sun calls “popular.” Sun invites you to play all day in the Tropic’s 3′ to 6′ water depth on its comfortable nonskid pool bottom, and like every Sun shell, it is hand crafted using critical point lamination. Sun Pools says the model “is also designed for an easily installed auto cover.” Where the island, seats, and steps sit in the shell is laid out on Sun Pools’ drawings, and we go through them with you at your consultation.
What the Tropic Pool Is Not
The Tropic is not a deep-water pool. Its 3′ to 6′ depth is built for standing, playing, lounging, and swimming, not for 8′ water. If deep water is at the top of your list, Sun lists the Havana at 16′ x 40′ and 3′ to 8′, and the St. Croix at 15′ x 40′ and 3′ to 8’4″. The Tropic trades that extra depth for its tanning island, bench seating, and the longest footprint in this group of large Sun pools.
The Tropic is also not a small-yard pool. At 16′ x 42′, it needs space. If you love the Tropic’s features but need something smaller, Sun Pools offers two designs it describes in Tropic terms. The Tahiti, at 14′ x 35′ with a 3′ to 6′ depth, “includes all the features you love about the Tropic in a 14′ x 35′ design,” and the St. John, at 14′ x 30′ with a 3′ to 5’9″ depth, brings “all the features you love about the Tropic in a 14′ x 30′ footprint.” Sun lists a tanning ledge on both, where the Tropic has its 5′ x 12′ tanning island. If you have the room, the Tropic is the full-size original.
Why Sun Pools?
The Tropic is the headliner of a line Sun Pools has been hand crafting from American made composite materials since 1995. Sun now offers more than 30 pool and spa designs in 4 color finishes, and every one comes out of its Albany, Kentucky manufacturing plant, an EPA approved Title V facility. Sun credits its critical point lamination system with “delivering the toughest pools on the market.”
A 42-foot one-piece shell with a tanning island puts these points to work:
- Lamination laid crosswise: Rather than bulk glass run end to end or sprayed chop glass, Sun hand cuts sheet fabric for each model and places the structural layers across the Tropic’s shell from side to side, the way a high end yacht is built.
- No spreader bar on delivery day: According to Sun, that lamination lets the pool support itself, so a spreader bar or belly band is not required to handle and place it. On a shell Sun describes as one of the largest one-piece fiberglass pools on the market, that is a real advantage on installation day.
- Marine color, no clear coat: The finish is one of Sun’s 4 solid color choices, high grade marine finishes with a proven track record, applied over a modified epoxy skin-coat resin with structural ribs and a reinforced coping. There is no clear coat to yellow or fog.
Under all of it is high grade marine FRP resin with no resin fillers. Sun gives the floor and steps of its pools a non-skid textured bottom, so the Tropic offers sure footing from the large shallow end steps all the way to the wrap-around deep-end seat.
Why Fiberglass, and Why the Tropic?
A pool this size would take a long time to build in place. Sun Pools makes the Tropic in its factory instead, and it arrives as a finished shell ready to set, which Sun says saves weeks of construction time. Over the years, there is no vinyl liner to replace and no concrete surface to acid wash or re-coat, and Sun describes an interior smooth enough that it will not snag your swimsuit or skin, one that needs minimum chemical treatment. Ohio’s swim season runs roughly mid-May through September, so a faster build means more of those weeks on the tanning island.
The case for the Tropic specifically is how much arrives already built. A tanning island, built-in water bubblers, bench seating, a wrap-around seat, large steps, and a walk around safety ledge would each be a custom element in a pool built in place. On the Tropic, Sun Pools lists them all as part of the model. Add Sun’s statement that the Tropic is designed for an easily installed auto cover, and you have a large family pool that is ready for summer fun and ready to be closed up neatly when the season ends.
Ready to Bring the Tropic to Your Backyard?
Your family vacation spot can be right outside the back door. The Tropic by Sun Pools brings the island, the seating, and the room to play. Ohio Paradise Pools brings over 32 years of pool building for Northeast Ohio families, as a family-owned, full-service company that takes on the design, the dig, placing a 42-foot shell, plumbing, electrical, and the deck. Throughout the build, FaceTime check-ins show you each stage as it happens.
Then comes pool school. We make two hands-on visits after installation to go over your filtration system, water chemistry, and the routines each season brings, so the family is at ease with the Tropic from its very first summer.
Call us today at (440) 610-5484 or schedule a free consultation to start planning your Tropic pool installation in Edison Park and the surrounding Ohio communities.
Available Sizes
Size: 16′ x 42′ | Depth: 3′ to 6′
Sun Pools lists these as approximate maximum available dimensions.
Tropic Pool FAQs
What size is the Tropic, and what does a 3' to 6' depth mean in practice?
Sun Pools lists the Tropic at 16′ x 42′ with a 3′ to 6′ water depth, as approximate maximum available dimensions. That is the longest listed length in the Sun lineup. The 3′ to 6′ range keeps the pool in comfortable, moderate water, with the large shallow end steps for easing in and a wrap-around deep-end seat for resting in the deeper water. It is a depth range built for playing, lounging, and swimming together. Whoever is in the water, a watchful adult should always be nearby.
What is the Tropic's tanning island?
Sun Pools lists a 5′ x 12′ tanning island with three built in water bubblers as one of the Tropic’s signature features. It gives the pool a place to lounge in the sun without leaving the water, and the bubblers add a playful water feature right in the pool. The island’s water depth and exact position are confirmed from Sun Pools’ drawings during your consultation.
What seating does the Tropic include?
Sun Pools lists bench seating and a wrap-around deep-end seat, along with large shallow end steps and the walk around safety ledge Sun Pools calls “popular.” That spread of seating is a big part of why the Tropic works so well for families and for entertaining. There are places to sit and talk in the water at more than one spot, so the pool does not bottleneck at the steps. We walk through the full seating layout on Sun Pools’ drawings with you during design, so you can picture where everyone settles in.
Is the Tropic designed for an automatic cover?
Yes. Sun Pools says the Tropic “is also designed for an easily installed auto cover.” In Northeast Ohio, where a pool spends the colder months closed, that is a practical advantage. An automatic cover makes it quick to cover the pool between swims and at the end of the season, and Ohio Paradise Pools plans the cover into the design phase so it fits cleanly with your decking and equipment. A cover is never a substitute for adult supervision, but it can make owning a pool in Ohio a lot more convenient.
How does the Tropic compare with the Havana?
Both are 16′ wide. The Tropic is 16′ x 42′ at 3′ to 6′, and Sun Pools calls it its top selling large pool. Sun lists the Havana at 16′ x 40′ and 3′ to 8′, and calls it its largest, most popular 8′ deep pool. The Tropic gives you 2′ more length, the 5′ x 12′ tanning island with three bubblers, bench seating, and a wrap-around deep-end seat. The Havana gives you deep water to 8′, along with built in swim out seats and Sun’s walk around safety ledge. Choose the Tropic for lounging and play, the Havana for deep-water swimming.
How does the Tropic compare with the Tahiti and St. John?
Sun Pools describes both as Tropic designs in smaller footprints. The Tahiti is 14′ x 35′ at 3′ to 6′, and the St. John is 14′ x 30′ at 3′ to 5’9″. Sun lists a tanning ledge, deep-end seating, safety ledges on both sides, and large shallow end steps on each. The Tropic, at 16′ x 42′, is the full-size version with the 5′ x 12′ tanning island and three built in water bubblers.
How long does it take to install a Tropic pool?
The Tropic arrives as one finished shell from the factory. Excavation, shell placement, plumbing, electrical, and initial finishing typically take approximately 2 to 3 weeks, though permitting, site access, weather, and decking scope can move that. Because a 16′ x 42′ shell needs a clear delivery path, we look at site access early. Ohio Paradise Pools runs the whole job, keeps you updated, and sends FaceTime walk-throughs when you cannot be there, then finishes with two pool school visits.
What warranty does the Tropic pool carry?
The Tropic is covered by Sun Pools’ Lifetime Structural Pool Shell Warranty, which Sun gives its fiberglass pool shells. The interior surface has its own 3 year warranty, and the warranty can be transferred within the first 36 months. Terms follow the Sun Pools Inc. Shell Warranty Certificate that is delivered with each pool, and registration with Sun Pools’ corporate office is required, so send it in soon after your pool is installed. Locally, Ohio Paradise Pools stands behind the project with over 32 years in business, a BBB A+ rating, and recognition as Cleveland’s swimming pool contractor of the year in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
What does day-to-day maintenance look like for a Tropic pool?
A big pool does not have to mean big upkeep. Sun Pools says the smooth interior needs minimum chemical treatment, and that the surface will not need replacing like a vinyl liner or acid washing and re-coating like concrete. Week to week, you test and balance the water, run the filtration system, and skim or vacuum when needed. Each spring you open the pool, each fall you close it, and the Tropic’s auto cover design makes covering it simpler. Our two-visit pool school teaches the full routine and when a call to us makes more sense than doing it yourself.
Call Ohio Paradise Pools at (440) 610-5484 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation. Serving Edison Park and communities throughout Northeast Ohio.