Being in South Florida the one thing I can tell you we hear a lot of is toddlers getting out of the sliding glass doors and falling into the pool..Mom or dads on the phone or loading the dishwasher or laundry and just that quick BAM !!!!This week alone a 2 and 3 yr old fell into pools here and drowned in seperate incidents...this is no joke.

Immediately get kids over to the YMCA, swim club or whatever swim school and get them acclaimated to the water. In reference to your question the only other method of protection I have seen that works is a floating frog that is an alarm and it notifies you of the water is disturbed..Works prettty good but if you get birds it could be a nuisance..

We have the net and it clips right into the deck and really is not such a PITA for all the upside and peace of mind you get. With or without net, fence or alarm get them into the water and they can at least learn to hold their breath to start.