I'm in total agreement with you about green! Green = algae = not in my pool! Our plaster guy was really pushing Tahoe Blue, not sure why, although I got a hint from one of the installers that it might be one of the cheaper mixes. Anyhow... After looking at many, many pictures online and talking to people, I found that Tahoe Blue definitely has a bit of green to it. I'm guessing it's named after a lake because natural bodies of water are green-blue because of plants living in them. The ocean only looks pure blue on Sandals Resorts commercials. ;) We were between Midnight Blue and Tropics Blue and ended up using Tropics Blue (Stonescapes mini pebble) and we really like it. I think it's as close to a true medium blue as I've seen in a pool. It's dark enough to capture a little bit of heat but light enough to see the bottom clearly, and it has a really beautiful shimmer when the sun is on it. And we really like how the actual pebbles look where you can see them on the steps and in the spa. It's a really nice mix of colors. Now at some moments it might have a touch of the windex-look you're talking about. Thanks for that, by the way, I was calling it Kool Aid! But overall, it's a really nice, rich, shimmery, medium blue. I suggest that you search online for images of the exact color names you're looking at. Look at many pictures and take in the whole range. Don't just focus on one image you like because there's no guarantee of how exactly it will look in your pool, in your yard, with your sunlight, etc. Good luck!

Quote: "Disclaimer: *MY* soon-to-be teen boy will not be stupid. (If I repeat that 100 times will it be so?)" Of course it will (see below for disclaimer). I have four kids, three of them boys, and the baby boy is 22 and a senior at the Univ of Florida. So I speak from experience. Promised Disclaimer: Length of time for avoiding stupid actions may vary slightly with age, but shows a high correlation with the quantity of similarly aged onlookers. Studies show their ability to hold back stupidity will, for average mid-teen boys, last approximately 3/4 of a second. For "good boys who listen to their mother", the time has been seen to rise to almost a full second in some rare cases. Unless a REALLY cute girl is there to witness. In which case, and for every boy studied thus far, the retention time falls to such a short interval scientists aren't able to accurately measure the value.

So sorry I didn't see your message until now (I was looking for one of my posts and did a search, and your message popped up). Not sure where you are in the planning of your pool, but yes, we are extremely happy with our choice. Our daughter is 12, and we've had her friends visit, and they actually stayed in the pool for over three hours playing volleyball. I believe this kept them more busy, and for a longer period of time than a diving board would have. This being said, I also have to admit that I enjoyed diving into our 6 foot end last September, just before we closed the pool. Obviously, I wouldn't advise a large number of kids to do this, but I had a great time diving from the decking.

The first picture boxer pups posted is the one I mentioned. I wish I could remember the poster's name to credit her. Blue Bahia is not a quartzite. It is a stone that has some calcium so it can etch like marble - only use it if you are okay with that. Some other quartzites with blue are Azul Macaubas which has mostly white and aqua-blue usually with a fairly linear veining and our Azul do Mar which looks like the sea - a swirly mix of blue, aqua and a bit of green "water", some white "foam", and some brown bits of "seaweed":