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Balboa Swimming Pool
Category: Active Life Swimming Pools Swimming Pools [Edit]
51 Havelock St(between Arago St & San Jose Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94112
Neighborhood: Mission Terrace
(415) 337-4701
- Hours:
Mon, Wed 6 am - 7:30 pm
Tue, Thu 9 am - 7:30 pm
Fri 6 am - 8 pm
Sat 9 am - 4:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
17 reviews for Balboa Swimming Pool
17 reviews in English
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Review from Michelle L.
San Francisco, CA
1/9/2012 2 Check-ins Here
From other yelp reviews you'll hear:
-There are NO showers
-There are NO hand dryers, hair dryers or nice lockers rooms
-There IS a warm, indoor pool
-There ARE friendly staff
This is all true. However, this isn't Equinox or Club One. You aren't paying $100/month for your membership. This is a SF Rec & Parks pool. At least the pool is open and is only $5 for lap swim. For the cost of your daily Starbucks Frappachino, you are paying for the lifeguards, pool maintenance, facility maintenance, and the lights that are on in the bathroom. If you want towel service, hair dryers and shampoo in the showers, head to a more expensive gym some where else.
Now, after that rant...I must mention that the pool is longer than what most peps are used to - 33 1/3 yards (most pools are 25 yards). For lap swim its divided into 3 large lanes - fast, medium, slow. Even though the lanes are giant, still circle swim. Don't know what that means? Ask the super friendly lifeguards.
Days/times the pool is open can be found on SF Rec & Parks website. Changes seasonally. -
Review from Mark M.
San Francisco, CA
3/1/2012
Like so many others have said, this is a City swimming pool that is well kept, perfectly clean, safe, and friendly. I just started swimming laps here, and I highly recommend it to ANYONE (unless, you need something more...) Cheers! $5 for open swim (bring exact change).
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Review from MacKenzie S.
San Francisco, CA
6/13/2011
I dont know what people are complaining about?
This is an awesome place to swim!!!
The staff is friendly!
The locker rooms are huge!
The water is warm!
The only drawback is that there are no showers except the ones that you use to enter the pool and parking is a bit limited.
Otherwise, I usually go to this place...... -
Review from Monica G.
1/20/2011
Eww. Eww. Ew...
Where do I start? This pool gives me a mixed bag of emotions and memories.
When I went to the nearby Balboa High school, I joined the swim team I think cause there were cute guys on the team or something. Since I live about a 10 minute walk away, why not? I agree with others about how cold it is in the locker rooms, and the how there are no showers (there are only the showers near the entrance to the pool, but thats just to rinse you, atleast the water is pretty warm!) Shampoo and all that other stuff is prohibited. I remember when I sprayed my perfume on myself, the staff went NUTS.
The water is REALLY nasty. So many little kids and people, it's always so crowded! A couple of my friends tried teaching another friend how to swim, and we kept on bumping into people! -
Review from Allison S.
San Francisco, CA
11/20/2011 18 Check-ins Here
I've been swimming here for about a year now, bc I'm started being on the swim team. This place is not the best from other pools, but its decent. The workers are pretty friendly. There is no hair dryers, and no showers. The only showers are the ones to rinse before going in the water. The place is kinda old, but I wouldn't complain too much about it. If you are going to take a quick shower, bring some shampoo and condition for you hair! This month, they are doing some renovations or just some little constructions so, we'll see what's different!
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Review from Cesar N.
San Francisco, CA
7/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
Ok... So the people that know me, know that I can't swim so they are probably asking why I checked in here and why I am even writing a review. Well people... It's not only a pool!!! Ha!! This is a huge establishment and it so happens that this is the only thing that pops up when I checked in! By the way, there's a great public park outside that you all should check out when coming here. Take a load-off and enjoy! The grass is greener on the other side! Ha!! Nevertheless, this place looks great to swim and you know what? I might take classes here someday.
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Review from ABBY A.
3/5/2009 1 Check-in Here
In order to graduate from high school, I had to pass a swimming test. Unlike many people in my class, I wasn't able to get a fake doctor's note stating that I was "allergic to chlorine". Cheaters. I really, really didn't want to take swimming class for the following reasons:
-I already knew how to swim, and very well at that. I could even do it with my eyes closed. Uh huh, that's right.
-Class started at 7:30AM. Laps at 7:30? I'd rather drown.
-Swimming class before first period meant that I'd have to start the school day off with wet hair, and no way of blowdrying/straightening it before class. If you haven't read about my hair issue yet, please do. [See my review on Structure Hair Salon]
Balboa Swimming Pool turned this unavoidable burden into many great memories. Aside from the fact that I had to do so many laps that I really did almost drown, we all had so much fun watching others almost drown as well. (Our teacher was a tough cookie.) It is spacious, CLEAN, and is open from 6am-9pm, Monday -Saturday and only costs $4 for adults and $1 for minors. The shower stalls are separate and private which I appreciated SO much because I was NOT about to shower-off with a bunch of 17-year-old hornballs.
Abby A. WOULD come back and put in some laps, but I think I've swallowed enough of Balboa Swimming Pool's chlorine water that I think I'm allergic this time, for real. -
Review from Sienna L.
San Francisco, CA
2/13/2012
I like this place. I started swimming here while Garfield was closed for repairs. It reminds me of Garfield very much, same chill atmosphere, same great lifeguards, etc. It is an older facility, and the showers are a bit wonky, but I'll take that any day over a pricey, high-maintenance pool with unpleasant people. I've done that, and this place is so much better.
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Review from Enari L.
San Francisco, CA
8/17/2009
I've been using CCSF's new pool for the past year and a half, and I didn't know how good it was until I visited Balboa's pool for a swim. Just for comparison...
- There are no hand or hair dryers.
- There is no tiling or any kind of flooring in the locker rooms, just bare concrete.
- There are no showers. The 'showers' that they have are just for rinsing off and lasts for a few seconds before they shut off on you.
- I have to beat my bag into the lockers because they're so tiny. And old too, some on the lock handles are broken.
- There are no mirrors. The one in the restroom was so old that nothing reflected off it and did not resemble a mirror.
- The water is cloudy sometimes. And long, loose hairs always manage to get caught up in my fingers. And MOUTH! (The water's crystal clear at the CCSF natatorium.)
- Sava and CCSF have swimsuit spin dryers, why can't Balboa?
- Locker rooms ARE DRAFTY! I'm guessing there's no thermostat, since they leave the windows open all day long in the locker rooms whether it's cold or hot outside (usually cold!).
- They make you enter through the side door to get to the pool sometimes (when you get there late in the hour).
Other than the need for a renovation, the crowds aren't too bad and the water is usually at a nice temp. Oh, and I HATE having to wait until people are done rinsing off before I can enter the locker room to change (when you have to enter through side to get to the lockers). Who's bright idea was it to place those showers as the entrance to the lockers?!
By the way, this pool was obviously made for children -- the benches, toilets, sinks, and lockers are the perfect height for the hobbits. -
Review from EJ S.
San Francisco, CA
9/19/2009
I came here a couple of times with my friends when I was a kid, and now I take MY kid here. It's convenient for me because it's within walking distance of my new apartment, and Roxie's is across the street which is coo because for some reason I get hella hungry after swimming.
The only flaw here is that it is only open to the public on Saturday from 1:30 - 3:15. But besides that, the price is coo and the lifeguards seem strict so they keep the bebe's kids in check. -
Review from Chase S. K.
East Pasadena, CA
11/11/2009
I don't like the $5 entry fee and I definitely don't like that on my one day off, I go to the pool only to find it's closed for "emergency maintenance." Caddyshack moment, perhaps?
On the days it is open, I find time to go to the lap swim sessions and do my thing until the time is up. Then I can go home feeling good and smelling like chlorine. -
Review from Elaine Y.
8/26/2010
I don't understand some of the bad reviews here. If it's a public pool, it's going to be a given that there's no special treatment here and it must have been a shocker to many that there's no personal masseuse standing by and handing you a towel with your initials on it (sarcastic). Yes, there are newly renovated pools that are more modern and equip, but I don't see any donations contributed to make this place better so let's just take it as it is.
So here are my reasons why I gave this place 3 stars, let's start with the positive. I went with my family (mom and pregnant sister) on a Thursday at 3pm. It was not crowded at all. The staff were friendly and the fellow swimmers were also respectful of each others' space (not to mention there were kids there). The lockers are a bit run down and it doesn't have all the special gadgets, but as long as I have a place to shove my belongings to a locker and a place to change into my clothes, that's all I really need. Just to clarify the other reviews about the "open showers" they have there, they have NO showers and the 8 spouts that opens to the pool is for people to pre-wet themselves before they get into the pool and quick rinse after your swim. That's how it is with ALL pools, there's always a pre-wet area. So do not be confused about an "open shower" and don't be surprise when you don't see a bottle of shampoo and conditioner provided next to it. It would have been nice to have a shower area, but honestly, even if I had taken a shower there, I would have taken another one once I get home. I'm not much of a public shower person, it never really quite does the job as taking a steamy hot shower at home. What I like best about my experience was how the water was at the right temperature. You know how it's always awfully cold the first moment you dip your leg into the pool? Not in this one, the temperature of the water was warm (not to the point where it feels like you're in a bathtub) just right enough for you to feel comfortable to just dive right in. Especially when we went on a cold day, it definitely was a plus for us to just get right in without the chills.
Onto the negatives, the lockers were a bit rusty, but it functions fine. The door literally doesn't open until a few minutes before the pool opens up so you might have to wait in the car or outside for a bit. I first thought $5 for an hour (recreation time) wasn't too bad of a price considering we're in San Francisco, but once the first 30 minutes is gone, I feel like time was passing by just too quickly. Before you know it, the whistle was blown and it was time to go. I know they are open for longer on Saturdays (about 2 hours duration), but it's the matter of if you want to swim freely vs swim cheaply. I guess I would rather have more space than to have to fight with the kids when they're out of school during the weekends.
Overall, I got to swim in San Francisco on a cold day. I don't think I should complain much. -
Review from Jennifer P.
San Francisco, CA
1/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
I have done lap swimming here and it's a fine place for that, but today I tried water exercise for the first time. I wasn't sure if it would be too easy or too hard (I have arm issues) but as it turns out, it was just right. I think even "regular" folks would enjoy it too. Kathy the instructor is very kind and considerate as well.
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Review from Jim H.
San Francisco, CA
8/5/2010
Balboa is my local public pool. I have swam there over 20 times. I hate the super wide lanes, I want more lanes. Like other public pools in SF, most folks haven't a clue about lane etiquette and the lifeguards don't enforce it well at all, unless you tell them. The lifeguards are nice people I just can't figure out what's going on with people here.
Here's a story. I swam competitively for years, played water polo did triathalons, so, I can swim. I show up at Balboa one day and the fast lane has 2 swimmers I know and they are good. I get in and double check that no one else is in the lane and start swimming while observing good spacing with the other swimmers. I'm about 15 yeards into the first lap and here comes Aquaman passing me from underneath replete with mask, fins and snorkel. He passes me from underneath in a shallow lane so I grab his fin and yank him up. I tell him that there is no way he should be swimming like that and he utters something unintelligible and I swim on. I swim 200 meters and come to the wall for a breather and the lady swimmer in the lane is taking a breather and she asks me what's up with the guy in the snorkel gear. He come to the wall for a breather and she asks him if she can go, he nods and so she takes off and then he quickly takes off underwater again and comes under her. She freaks out and stands up mid lap and he surfaces and she asks him what he's doing and again he mutters something strange. She is shaken and comes back to the wall where I've been watching and we compare notes. Now, there are lifeguards watching all this (right?) I have to call them over and say "lose this chump". It takes them like 3 laps to get the guy out and over to the slow lane where there rally isn't anyone swimming anyway.
Before anyone says i'm being to harsh, there are rules posted. They are simple to read and understand. I think that they should make folks read them before swimming for the first time at the SF pools.
If anyone having anything to do with public pools in SF reads this please change the stupid swim directions at Balboa, make more lanes and reasonably guide swimmers into the appropriate lanes and you'll probably attract more swimmers to your pools. -
Review from wrecks l.
San Francisco, CA
2/10/2009 3 photos
Located at San Jose Avenue and Havelock Street in the Ingleside District. Pool is indoors. The dimensions are 100 feet long x 40 feet wide, 4 to 10 feet deep. Water temperature is maintained at 80 degrees. A good pool to visit.
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Review from Tiffany W.
Fresno, CA
11/3/2009
I've been here about 3 times, twice during the summer when it was a little bit more crowded when the kids were out of school. I recently went on a Sunday and it was very quiet.
A plus that they have parking (mabye about 10 or so).
A minus for not having a place to plug the hairdryer, nor do they have dryers. The showers are timed (esp with the budget cuts and h20 rationing). This is a very old bldg, with a row of 5 shower heads on each side. You have to pul the lever up to initiate the water flow. It's such a waste of water having all the waterheads go off when one has to pull the level.
Oh and super plus for great hours. They 've got evening swim hrs for those working folks. And Sat hours as well. for those of us who no longer live in SF, that's a luxury.
Functional, quiet, can get parking. -
Review from Liz O.
San Francisco, CA
12/27/2010
This is a very old pool. It pretty cold, and you have to walk through the showers to get into the pool area, but the price is great. Through SF Rec & Parks, you can get kids swim lessons for about five dollars per class. If your kids have been swimming at the very warm (and very expensive) La Petite Baleen or the Janet Pomeroy Center, they will be unpleasantly surprised at the temperature of the water. It's supposed to be 80-82 degrees, but the kids still shiver during the winter, spring, actually anytime except warm fall weather. The design of the building is a little inconvenient for parents with kids - because I don't want to walk through the shower and risk getting wet, we have to go in separate entrances. The parking is not too bad since it is in Balboa park, there are free spaces within one block. The teachers we've had have all been good, so if you're on a budget, sign up through http://sfreconline.org and get your kid a big thick beach towel to wrap up in as soon as they get out of the water.
