Summer Vacation With Kids: Beaches, Highlands, All-in-One Resorts, Theme Parks

On a summer family trip, three things get in the way before you even choose a destination: the heat, the crowds, and the price. Late July through August is when hotel rates climb the highest, the middle of the day outdoors is hard on small children, and every popular attraction has long waits. Decide first which of those three matters most to you, and the list of candidates narrows quickly. There are four broad ways around them: head for the sea and let the water take care of the heat, escape to the cooler air of the highlands, settle into a large resort where the entire day happens inside the building, or stay close to a theme park so you cut out the travel itself.

If you choose the sea, the distance from your room to the beach and the depth of the pool are what decide things. Grand Mercure Okinawa Cape Zanpa Resort sits directly in front of Zanpa Beach, with the Warabaa pool (warabaa means "child" in the Okinawan dialect) at 25 cm deep, a lazy river roughly 128 m around, and three water slides. Because it is all-inclusive, you can also predict what you will spend during the stay. Okinawa Kariyushi Beach Resort Ocean Spa has a private beach and an indoor play space called the Wonder Room, plus family rooms with bunk beds for children weighing 40 kg or less and baby food sold by age in months. At Hotel Katara Resort & Spa in Izu, the all-weather heated pool runs at about 33°C and has a corner 50 cm deep, so children of any age can get in as long as they wear swim diapers. Inatori Ginsuiso is about a 3-minute walk from Iso Sea Garden IKEJIRI, a calm rocky shore for tide-pool play, and the changing rooms have a baby bed and a baby bath. Shirahama Ocean Resort in the Minamiboso hot spring town of Shirahama has a round pool 8 m across and 50 cm deep, with a baby bed in the women's large bath and baby chairs in both the women's and men's baths, so getting everyone dressed after the bath goes quickly.

For families who want to build in a day without going outside, a large resort that works as a self-contained world is the right fit. Grand Mercure Ise Shima Resort & Spa has Matoya no Mori, a wood-play kids' space built from timber grown in Mie Prefecture, and a children's pool 30 cm deep, along with a nursing room and two kinds of baby food from five months, which lets you pack lighter when traveling with a baby. Grand Mercure Beppu Bay Resort & Spa has a garden pool ranging from 35 cm to 110 cm that toddlers can use in swim pants, plus a picture book corner, a playroom, and even a Hello Kitty room, all inside the hotel. Beppu Onsen Ryochiku Bettei serves meals in your room (heya-shoku, a Japanese custom where dinner is brought to your guest room), has three private baths you can reserve, and an indoor play area for preschoolers, so you can picture how the hours after the children fall asleep will go as well.

Pool and water play seasons and event dates change from year to year. The number of items available to borrow and the ages they are meant for also differ from hotel to hotel, so look at the verified facilities on each hotel page, and then confirm dates against the latest information from the hotel and the local government.