Beachcomber vs Hydropool: A Complete Guide

Beachcomber and Hydropool are two Canadian hot tub companies, so it entirely makes sense for anyone to comparison shop the two brands.   

Our retailers are asked “how does Hydropool compare to Beachcomber?” on a regular basis by people buying a hot tub. Beachcomber and Hydropool have both been selling hot tubs for the long term and about the same length of time, dating back to the late 1970. So both companies have established pedigrees in the marketplace.  

But the approaches of the two companies are quite different in how they build their hot tubs. That’s why we wanted to write this article, to explain the differences between the hot tubs from each company.  

We know we’re one company writing about another, and that it will be easy to dismiss us as being biased. We know people will want to comparison shop though and with this article we’re trying to make that process easier. For the 40 years we have done business alongside them, we have always known there are Beachcomber customers and there are Hydropool customers. We hope this article helps you figure out which hot tub is the right one for you.   

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Hot Tub Lineup Comparison

While both companies are Canadian, Beachcomber’s hot tubs are made in Surrey, BC, while Hydropool’s are assembled in Mississauga, Ont. Both are leading manufacturers in North America.

• Beachcomber features a 300 and a 500 Series, which largely compares to Hydropool’s Serenity collection. Within the line, there are some differences, such as that Beachcomber offers a round hot tub in the 320, while Hydropool offers touches such as headrest pillows through its lineup. These lines all offer industry-standard pumps, filtration and classic overall designs.    
• Hydropool premier line is the Signature collection, which comes with the company’s self-clean system. Beachcomber’s most comparable line is called the 700 Series, which has several variations within it. 
• Within the lines, Hydropool has a Gold, Platinum or Titanium trims on the Serenity lineup, while Beachcomber has LEEP (it stands for Leaders in Energy Efficient Portables) and Hybrid4 (which moves the hot tub’s pumps outside the cabinet).  

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Which Hot Tub Looks Better?  

Both hot tub brands take a classic approach. Each company offers a range of neutral-focused acrylic shells for most hot tubs, and the choice of a brown or a black cabinet, although some models don’t have ever option in each case.  

• Unique to Beachcomber is that the company has steps built into the overall design. 
• Beachcomber’s 700 Series has horizontal paneling with lights on the corners, while the 300 and 500 adopt vertical siding.   
• Hydropool’s cabinets and shells vary from the Serenity to the Signature line, but the overall look is similar, with rounded edges for comfort, accent lighting on the outside corners and a focus on a design that is intended to blend into your backyard and accent it well.   

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Which is Easier to Take Care of?

Sanitization systems is where Hydropool has put in a considerable amount of resources.  

• It has a patented self-cleaning system, that works off the same concept of a public or commercial pool. Hydropool actually started out as a commercial pool company, and when it began making hot tubs and swim spas, it built them to the same standards as the commercial pool. The regulations for hot tubs aren’t anywhere near as strong as they are for pools, but Hydropool built them to that level anyway and has ever since. That commercial pool approach is what’s behind Hydropool’s patented self-cleaning system, which is available on the Signature line. It combines a top-level water skimmer and a floor vacuum to clean all of the water in your hot tub every 10 minutes.  
• To keep its water clean, Beachcomber uses a microfilter (we tried this at Hydropool, but we found they get plugged too often to be useful). It also employs what’s called a lilypad skimmer – you may have seen similar floating devices in other hot tubs, that upside down mushroom unit that always seems to be floating towards you that you can’t take out (none of Hydropool’s hot tubs use this method anymore). Similar to Hydropool, Beachcomber has a floor drain. “Sweepers gently push sand and other small debris into the Gravity Drain to be picked up by the Filtration system,” according to Beachcomber’s website.   

Lastly, Beachcomber, like Hydropool, offers an ozone and ultra-violet light solution to reduce chemical usage, but from the company website it appears to be limited to only a few models. Hydropool has the system standard on its Signature line, and optional on Serenity.  

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Which is Better at Massage?

Hydropool’s approach to massage is called Zone Therapy. Each hot tub has been designed, in consultation with medical professionals, to offer you a complete, full body massage, by moving seat to seat in the hot tub.   

Beachcomber has what it calls FlexJets, which are designed to cover the entire body. You’re also able to move the jets from place to place within the hot tub, provided they are of the same size.  

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Which is More Efficient?  

Beachcomber uses what’s called full foam as insulation, which acts as a good insulator. Essentially, it involves packing your entire cabinet full of foam insulation. But is known to have one serious issue: When you require service, it’s very hard to get to the parts of the hot tub because they are in fact covered in foam. That requires cutting out foam in order to find the problem and then figuring out how to repack it at the end.   

Beachcomber has a solution to this: it removed the motor from the cabinet and put it under the steps. That allows you access for repairs while giving you good insulation. We understand the thinking there, but chose another method. 

Hydropool used to use full foam, but decided it preferred a solution that used thermal blankets as insulation. Like a triple-paned window, the blankets trap heat within the cabinet of the hot tub. So when your pump generates heat in the normal course of the hot tub’s operation, that residual motor heat becomes trapped under the blanket and helps heat your hot tub, efficiently making the most of the energy you’re using. We have found it to be an efficient and effective system, equally strong enough for Canadian winters.  

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: How Do They Compare on Price?

In a rare move in the hot tub industry, both Hydropool and Beachcomber put their pricing on their websites. We applaud any company that makes that decision because we approve of transparency. Roughly speaking, at the time of this writing, Beachcomber’s 300s were less than Hydropool’s Serenity lineup when comparably equipped, while the 500s were higher. The 700s were comparable to the pricing of Hydropool’s Signature collection.  

Beachcomber versus Hydropool: Which is Right for You?  

Hydropool vs Beachcomber: Beachcomber was one of the first to sell direct to the public and sell through Costco, while Hydropool has maintained a network of retailers from its beginning. That’s a snapshot right there of how the two companies who started around the same time have taken different approaches to building and selling quality hot tubs.  

Hydropool is a Canadian company, just like Beachcomber, and both started in the late 1970s. But the hot tubs they make have as many differences as similarities. We wrote this article so that you could see the differences, because we understand that people will comparison shop between the two brands. We have been selling our hot tubs alongside Beachcomber’s for 40 years now, and we understand people will have questions about each brand. We hope we have answered them here, but if we missed any, don’t hesitate to reach out to a dealer near you with specific questions, by clicking here.