Aquatics Merit Badge Days
Allatoona Aquatics Base Merit Badge Saturdays | June 7 – August 16, 2024
Welcome to Allatoona Aquatics Base Merit Badge Weekends. Classes are held each Saturday starting June 7 through August 16, 2025.
The street address of the Allatoona Aquatics Base is 200 Lovingood Drive, Woodstock, GA 30189. When you enter the camp’s gate, continue driving, you will pass the Ranger’s house on the left then the equipment sheds also on the left. Then you will see the main pavilion on the right. Please park in the main pavilion parking lot. Any overflow will park on the left across from the main pavilion parking lot entrance.
Speed Limit in camp is 12 MPH, please do not exceed this speed as there are many people in camp, especially Scouts, walking around and darting across the roads, so we must be cautious driving through the Allatoona Aquatics Base.
For questions, please reach out to aquaticsmbdays@allatoonaaquaticsbase.org.
Everyone, including Parents, children and visitors are required to always wear closed-toed shoes while at Allatoona Aquatics Base. Flipflops, Sandals, or Crocs are not allowed. Scouts will not be allowed to do MBs if not wearing the proper shoes. Pets are not allowed at Allatoona Aquatics Base, even on leashes.
Scouts and parents are required to read through the information under each heading below before proceeding with registration.
The registration for classes will open in Tentaroo 6 weeks prior to the Saturday the class is being offered, and registration will close 2 ½ weeks prior to class Saturday. You MUST check out and PAY to complete the registration. Failure to do so could cause your Scout to miss available slots.
When the class reaches full capacity, it will be closed in Tentaroo. However, if there are cancellations Tentaroo will open again until class is full again or reaches 2 ½ weeks prior to class.
There is not a waitlist for classes. Check Tentaroo up to 2 1/2 weeks prior to Saturday class for any openings.
Refund cutoff is 2 and a half weeks prior to Saturday class. If you must cancel please do so before this date for a full refund. There are no refunds or credits if you cancel less than 2 weeks prior to the Saturday class.
Please check your calendar and requirements before signing up your scout for classes.
You will receive an email when you register confirming you are signed up your class. Please review and read carefully the items required to have with them when the Scout checks-in on Saturday morning.
You will receive a second email 1.5 weeks before class from the counselor listing the prerequisites for the class and other important information. Please come prepared.
A third email will be sent out 3 days prior to class with a reminder of the items needed for check-in and the prerequisites.
ADULTS
Adults (parents, drivers, scout leaders, etc.) are welcome to stay on the Base for the duration of the class. In fact, many of our MB Counselors would welcome extra help (from simply an extra pair of eyes on the waterfront, to assistance with equipment and instruction). If you plan to stay for the day, please register in Tentaroo (no fee) and on class day check-in and show proof of Youth Protection Training compliance.
There are two categories for Adults (18 Years and older):
- Adult Assistant: If you are planning to get in the water to assist with the Merit Badge, ride in boats, or wade in the water, please sign up as a participant. You will be required to take the BSA Swim Classification test before classes start.
- Observers: As an observer you will stay on the aquatics base for the day but not help or participate in any water activities, including wading in the water. If you bring siblings they must be registered as an observer and stay out of the water.
Check-in starts at 8:00 AM at the main pavilion. Please be on time to check-in.
Scouts MUST have the items below at check- in in order to take the aquatics Merit Badges.
Scouts are required to bring the following items at check-in.
- BSA Medical Forms A & B completely filled out and signed by parent or guardian. Incomplete forms will be returned to the Parent/Scout to fully complete before starting class. Incomplete forms will delay the starting of class. A Scout cannot take the Merit Badge without a completed form.
- Closed Toed Shoes are required while walking in Camp. No flip flops, sandals, crocs allowed. Closed Toed Water Shoes are suggested.
The below items are strongly recommend for all participants during the day.
- Water Bottle
- Sun Screen
- Lunch (no food items are offered for sale at the base). Also it is too far to travel to pick up food so suggest bringing a good lunch.
- Hat
- Sun Glasses
- Towel
- Merit Badge Book for class being taken
All participants, Scouts and Adults, who will be in the water or near the water and in boats will be required to take the BSA Swim Classification test for each Merit Badge they take each week. You must past the BSA Swim test and be classified as a “Swimmer” to participate in water activities, etc.
Please make sure your Scout is ok with jumping into the lake to take the BSA Swim Classification test. We have had Scouts afraid to jump in the lake water due to not seeing the bottom etc. Also please make sure they can do swim strokes for BSA Swim Classification test, doggie paddling is not an acceptable stroke.
BSA’s National Aquatics Subcommittee recommends: Swimsuits should be comfortable, functional and modest. For males, swim trunks or board shorts are appropriate. Modest tankinis or one-piece swimsuits for females. Inappropriate swimwear includes swim briefs or swim bottoms short enough to allow exposure and bikinis.
YPT principles must be observed at all times on the Aquatics base. All Merit Badges must have two deep leadership. If a Merit Badge class has only one Merit Badge counselor, an adult with YPT training must be present to cover two deep leadership. If Scouts are landside while other Scouts are in the water, two adults must be present on shore for YPT. When Scouts walk around in camp they must have a buddy, no walking alone.
As we try to comply with the Youth Protection Policy, there are times when we would like the assistance of female adults to provide adequate supervision for both youth genders during the program. If you are a female adult who has their Scout signed up for the weekend, please let us know if you are willing to stay for the day during one of our programs that has female Scouts present.
Get Youth Protection TrainingYou will need to check with the Merit Badge counselors leading the classes for the approximately finishing time for the Merit Badge. Different Merit Badges will be completed at different times depending on the progress during the day of covering all requirements. Scouts will be released by the Merit Badge counselors after all equipment is returned and the class area is cleaned of trash. Please be on time or close to the Aquatics Base so counselors don’t have to wait around after class for Scouts to be picked up.
In the event of severe or inclement weather, the Merit Badge classes may be canceled if the weather continues during the day. In this case the Scouts will notify their parents for pickup. Parents should therefore plan to be near the base in order to pick up their Scout promptly.
Courses Offered (Click to Review All Course Requirements)
Class Change/Withdrawal and Refund Policy
Due to the limited number of scouts that we can accommodate in each class, we kindly ask that you contact us as early as possible if a scout cannot attend a class.
Final payments and attendance numbers are due: 15 days prior to the event
No subtractions/substitutions/class changes to registration numbers after this deadline.
Refund policy is as follows
- 100% refund: When cancellation is made 17 days prior to registered weekend
- No refund/refund at council discretion: When cancellation is made within 16 days of event.
All change a class (drop/add), cancellations and requests for refund must be submitted via email to aquaticsmbdays@allatoonaaquaticsbase.org
Class changes, cancellations, and refund requests cannot be accepted over the phone.
Completion Reports
The instructor of each class will log all completions and submit them to the Council office. Please allow at least a week after the course for the data to be entered into our system.
Scouts may come out of the event with a “partial” meaning there are requirements remaining to be completed. This could be due to requirements that are unable to be addressed during the merit badge session, there are requirements that can’t be completed on site, or due to the Scout failing to meet the requirement standard during the session. After the event, the Scout will need to keep in touch with the counselor from that class or find a merit badge counselor to work with to complete the merit badge either within their troop or in their area. Reminder when Scouts are contacting counselors that they follow the 2-deep leadership by having an adult cc’d to the email or on speaker phone with that counselor.
To pull past reports please log in to your AtlantaBSA.org account, same account you registered for the event, then follow these steps.
- Select “Events” on the far left of the screen
- Select "My Past Events"
- Select "Merit Badge Summit"
- Select "Past"
- Select the date you attended
- Scroll down to "Registration"
- Click on "Reports" button
- Select "Completion Report, PDF" or you can download the front/back of a blue card