By Joe Brown (contact)

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Chris Morris

How to turn nightlife into daylife: Just add water.

Las Vegas is famous (and infamous) for maximizing and monetizing every available square foot of dry land. Early in the new millennium, the concept was ingeniously extended to the casino swimming pools. Once reserved for registered guests only, most of the luxe pools are now open to the paying and playing public, and they’ve become the hottest venues for clubbing and concerts. Summer starts early here — this weekend, in fact, with the opening of Bare at the Mirage — and the casino resorts are ready for what amounts to a four-month-long spring break. They’ve taken the simple ol’ swimmin’ hole to ridiculously sublime extremes: Rentable cabanas feature plasma televisions, Xbox games, mini-fridges, frozen fruit platters, Wi-Fi access, personal servers; other poolishness includes DJs and island dance floors, floating beer pong, bikini bull riding and inflatable Twister games.

The appeal of the pool scene isn’t hard to figure out: Nightclubs are dark and smoky and loud and crowded. Day clubs are bright and colorful and smell like coconut-basted roasting flesh. (They’re still loud and crowded.)

And where the nightside dress code is a drag, daytime’s undress code is a dream: Bikinis and high heels for women, six-packs and square-cut suits for the guys. For both genders it’s a plus, if not a prerequisite, to be tanned and toned and top-heavy. But there’s often a disparity when it comes to entry fees: At Bare, women pay $10 weekdays, $20 weekends (local women often get a discount), while men — no matter how buff and beautiful — fork over $30 and $40.

The beauty bar is set pretty high and it doesn’t apply just to patrons: In February, several of the casino pools announced “casting calls” for poolside help — bartenders, cocktail waitresses, lifeguards. “Bring your best swimwear for your audition photo,” said the want ad for Rehab at the Hard Rock. You get the picture.

1. The deep end

First there was super. Then maxi, mega, and now ... ultra. The latest mutation in Vegas entertainment concepts is the “ultrapool” and “ultralounge,” and the new Wet Republic at MGM Grand features both. The 53,000-square-foot aqua-complex, which opens April 25, has eight pools and spas — including the Strip’s first saltwater pools — plus six waterfalls, a 4,100-square-foot sun deck, DJs and dance platforms. Wet Republic bartenders will serve up Veuve Clicquot Snow Cones with blood orange and pineapple essences, Red Bull Vodka Drunken Popsicles and Watermelon Mojitos in pitchers designed to keep beverages chilled to the max.

2. Skin City

Remember tan lines? Several Vegas pools feature something called “European bathing” — that’s what we used to call “topless,” kids. (And maybe even less.) One of the first pools to introduce this adults-only poolside perk, the Moorea Beach Club at Mandalay Bay (men pay $25, women enter free) has been joined by the Go Pool at Flamingo Las Vegas, Bare at the Mirage, Tao Beach at the Venetian and the Venus Pool Club at Caesars Palace in affording this tattoo-lover’s fantasy. (The clothing-optional concept poses the question: Where do you stash your cash?)

3. The wild, wild wet

For those who want to take exhibitionism (or voyeurism) to the next level, the Hard Rock’s five-year-old Rehab pool party is adding a reality-show twist: Camera crews will be filming “Rehab: The Movie” poolside from noon to 7 p.m. each Sunday, and the results will be edited into a feature film — the perfect Christmas movie for the whole family! Rehab reopens April 27 with floating dance floors, big-name DJs and make-out sessions beneath the waterfall. Rehab reportedly raked in about $40,000 an hour last summer.

The Hard Rock also offers a Friday Night Live poolside concert series, beginning May 2 with Puddle of Mudd; it’s also booked the Dropkick Murphys, Ozomatli, Jonny Lang and Paolo Nutini for the long, hot summer.

4. Pool players

Now you can literally take a bath at the blackjack tables: When Mandalay Bay completed last summer’s $30 million expansion on its 11-acre sandy beach, it was the first on the Strip to offer climate-controlled beachside gaming. The Flamingo and Wynn Las Vegas also have poolside blackjack tables, and the Hard Rock, Mandalay Bay, Tropicana and Red Rock Casino have swim-up blackjack. (Towels are always on deck to keep players’ hands and chips dry.)

5. Water wallflowers

Obviously, the ultrapools aren’t for every body (OK, I am just a tiny bit bitter). So the rest of us — whether we’re under 21 or just plain old unfabulous — may have to live vicariously, staging our own versions of “Le Reve” and “O” in a neighbor’s backyard pool. And there’s always that old standby, the public swimming pool: Find a list of Las Vegas locations at lasvegasnevada.com, and Henderson pools at City of Henderson/parks/pools.