Diving among draws at Hard Rock Park

It’s not often we get to see people dive in person, so it was a treat to watch the divers in the Malibu Beach Party at Hard Rock Park Saturday.

Although they didn’t match Olympic gold-medalist Greg Louganis, the young men in the show did a variety of pikes, tucks and twists that were entertaining to watch. Often diving two at a time, the guys had to hit small landing spots in the anti-Olympic-sized pool.

Then they rushed back up the ladders and dived again and again. Anybody would have to be in great shape to do this three performances a day.

The divers were just part of the fast-paced show based on the old Frankie Avalon-Annette Funicello G-rated movies. The music is not our Carolina beach music but rather the California brand. The stars of the show, including the divers and one fantastic guy on a motorcycle—performed to a medley of parts of songs every Baby Boomer knows by heart.

Hard Rock Park, on the former Waccamaw Pottery spread in Myrtle Beach, is celebrating its soft opening until May 7. Attraction promoters bill it as the first theme park that rocks.

Admission is discounted $10 now, but the current $40 price tag is a little steep by Brunswick County standards. At least it includes a $10 voucher toward concessions at the various eateries. My friends and I chose the air-conditioned one, the diner.

The park’s big draw is Led Zeppelin—The Ride, which sends riders 15 stories high, speeds to 65 mph and loops six times to the band’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

We wimped out and didn’t board that one. Instead, we rode the Shake Rattle ’n’ Roller Coaster. Obviously, Big Joe Turner’s song was more our speed, and we got enough G-force from that one to satisfy any middle-aged thrill-seeking.

We rode “Nights in White Satin,” set to the fabulous Moody Blues’ tune and probably the slowest ride in the park. The journey, in which riders wear 3-D glasses, was fun and reminiscent of the psychedelic ’60s and ’70s.

We also rode the carousel and the swings.

Rides, music and food are highlights, and so are photo opportunities. In some places, such as the stone containing a sword according to Arthurian legend, you can take your own pictures. That’s in the British Invasion section, my favorite.

In other places, the park has photographers taking pictures of your party and giving you a slip of paper with a number on it. You can turn in those slips to see digital pictures on a computer in the main souvenir store at the park’s main entrance/exit.

Our only disappointment about Hard Rock Park was that the girl who took a picture of us walking in front of a gigantic reproduction of Abby Road cut off our feet. Obviously, she was too young to know feet are the main focus—because of all the rumors about Paul when he was barefooted and the rest of The Beatles wore shoes crossing that road.

By contrast, we were shocked at how good the photo was my friend Paula “surfing.” She bought a 5 X 7 of that one.

The main souvenir store sells T-shirts and other items of lots of rock bands, including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, The Rolling Stones, Metallica and Bob Marley.

The thing that cracked me up was a big tin containing a fleece throw of Jimi Hendrix.

When I dragged my friend Jan across the store to show it to her, she said, “I guess that’s for people who rocked so hard they had to take a nap.”