As one of the claimants of the first and oldest wave pool in the United States, it at one point featured surfing exhibitions and competitions, as well as regular use by patrons of the park. This was largely discontinued in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to safety and liability concerns. Daily surf sessions are held before the park opens to the general public and between 5pm-6pm. Since its opening, Big Surf has added several attractions and replaced its original sand beach with a concrete bottom.

The park celebrated their 40th year anniversary in 2009. However, on September 2, 2009, it was reported that Big Surf will close indefinitely at the end of the day on Monday, September 7, 2009. Later that week on September 5, the Arizona Republic reported that Big Surf would open again in Summer 2010 under the Inland Oceans LLC rather than the Golfland Entertainment, Inc. banner.

Big Surf closed for the season in 2019, but did not reopen for the 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 season had Big Surf's parking lot turned into a temporary drive in movie theater, and after staying closed in 2021, assets from the park, including the rental boogie boards, were auctioned off in the winter of 2022, indicating that the park would not reopen again.