Retirees diving into leisure pools.(Newsroom)

Forget about shuffleboard. Today's retirees are diving into deep-water aerobics, pool volleyball and lap-swimming sessions in leisure pools instead.

Adults 55 and older are fueling an emerging development trend--and opening new aquatics markets. That trend is more elaborate active-adult communities, vacation-like developments that offer features such as fitness and aquatics centers, golf courses, entertainment complexes, craft centers and more.

"These kinds of communities are being marketed as resort-style places [and] a pool is an important amenity for people. It always has been, though now they're more elaborate," said Katie Digati, fitness director at Sun City Grand, an 8,096-home active-adult community outside Phoenix that offers the advantages above.

Until recently, many retirement-oriented developments offered sparse amenities--a few holes of golf and a rectangular lap pool. But active-adult developments today offer many activities and features, many of which are focused around the aesthetic elements of the aquatics facility.

"Ten years ago, large-scale developers like Del Webb would build rec centers with indoor and outdoor pools," said David Flack, vice president of sales and marketing at the Meritage Active-Adult Communities Division of Meritage Corp., a builder with dual headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Dallas.

"What's changed are the cosmetics," Flack said. "Now we look at the shape of the pool, the cool decking. In today's market, you might find a beachfront entry or a swim-up lounge area with covered shades. The baby-boomer customers expect that type of living."

Soon the ...