UBC Aquatic Centre

Daddy approved, and now daughter approved.
Saturday night special rate. $ 2 flat rate per person for everyone from 6:30−9PM. Can’t beat that, and it’s even better when you know where all the free parking is on campus. I do. Boo ya! That’s how I roll when I continue to hang out on campus as a prehistoric Alumni.
My daughter actually likes this pool more than the Hillcrest pool. Its warmer, and I have to agree. It’s a warmer building overall.
She is now old/​tall enough to play around in the shallow end. To reiterate, this pool is not shallow enough for toddlers, unless you give them 100% supervision, but great for 4 – 6 year and up with minimal supervision.
One other thing worth mentioning. There are tons of water toys here, along with foam floating canoes, cars, and other contraptions that you can ride in. Much more so than Hillcrest. They also have flippers for you to use at no cost. All sizes are available.
$ 0.50 rental lockers or bring your own lock.
Since the close of the Empire pool, the outdoor one, this is the last remaining pool on campus. There is another new larger indoor pool in the works to be built. $ 39M budget. I’m waiting for it. Completion in fall of 2016. I’m excited.

A really awesome and sweet friend bought me a Travelzoo (like groupon) coupon for an intro scuba diving class. We finally got around to using the coupon and it was such an awesome and fun experience learning about scuba diving, its basic rules, how to get certified and lets not forget the actual swimming and diving.
Sometimes, service and people can make all the difference. Our instructor was very professional, personable and fun. He made the experience very enjoyable. He was also very encouraging and taught in a very lighthearted and friendly way.
When we first got into the pool and began using what we learned, being under water with a heavy tank in a restricting wetsuit and being able to breath somehow felt unnatural. Within the first 3 minutes, I felt my body panic slightly, wanting to bring my head above water even though we were only on the shallow end of the pool. I just had to remind myself that we were only in a pool and the chances of drowning were minimal haha.
The only downside I can think of, is the walk from the aqua society office to the pool. We had to walk outside in the freezing cold in the wetsuit with a heavy tank on our backs. It was even worse having to walk from the pool back to the aqua society office while wet, bare foot too none the less. Damn it was cold! But all of that was definitely worth the experience.
I’m definitely going to get certified one of these days, hopefully sometime soon!
St3Fin

This place has so much potential for fun. A few years ago it was one of my favourite places to take the kids for a swim, but sadly no more. Although it’s no doubt excellent as a training facility for the illustrious UBC swim club, and as a University pool I shouldn’t begrudge it that, I find that as a family recreation facility it no longer cuts the mustard.
Firstly, there’s the cost. Entry for my family was around $ 18 — a good $ 5 more than the Hillcrest Aquatic centre. Once you add on $ 6-​$ 8 for parking or $ 20 for the bus there and back, it’s becoming expensive. Even the lockers are more expensive than the City community center ones — they cost 2 quarters and swallow the coins instead of returning them.
Secondly, it feels like maintenance is an afterthought. There always seems to be something wrong. Last time we went, the shallow pool was the same cold temperature as the main lap pool area. Also, the showers had no hot water.
Finally, you are always aware that the family recreation takes second place to the training and programs. Last time we were there, they suddenly closed off half of the open play area for a training session, leaving all the families to share about one-​sixth of the pool. On one occasion, we drove all the way out there having checked opening times on their website, paid our $ 8 parking only to find it was closed for a meet.
The reason we kept going back was that the kids usually enjoyed it — they do have a great variety of float toys to play with, diving boards and a rope swing that’s open on special occasions. However, I think even they have grown tired of the general muddle and uncertainty around these treks to UBC.

It’s good that it has a sauna, steamroom and hot tub. But usually one of the three is not operating as the place isn’t maintained very well. The hot tub tends to be full of kids and not very hot.
Also the hours are not very stable so you have to check to see if they are open before you go, and sometimes call to ask if the steamroom or sauna is closed.
And recently the management has put up a ridiculous amount of advertising which is really annoying and in your face (or below your feet when you look down).
The rope swing is fun and the upstairs area is kinda relaxing.

I haven’t worked out here. Planned on it, but the chlorine smell was way too intense for me. Also, the gym was small, crowded and was in a basement with lots of fluorescent lighting and no windows. I don’t like those kind of environments. It didn’t help that on the way down I got a whiff of some guy’s armpits (yucky). I believe it’s free for UBC students but you couldn’t pay me to workout here. Looks like a decent facility though, it’s just not for me.

Things I figured out: before 8:45, there really are only «slow» and «moderate» lanes, sigh.
There are a couple of Masters teams that practice out of the UBC Aquatic Center. One is UBC Masters, but they apparently have a long waiting list and anyway haven’t deigned to return my emails yet. The Pacific Dolphins (
) are way more inviting! I’ve been working out with them for the last couple weeks and I’m planning on sticking with it.
It’s a huge facility, which means several different groups are usually in it at once. It can be a little crowded, but sometimes you get some bhangra beats from someone else’s underwater speakers during your workout: nice!
When I said «locker-​room floors are clean,» I meant in the morning; they are way NOT as nice in the early evening. C’est la guerre.

Although I never used the aquatic centre for swimming, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Public swimming times just never really fit with my class schedule, and I was never able to find anyone to go with. Alright, the truth is I was just a lazy voyeur. Are you happy?
Seriously though, if you’re a UBC student it’s great to come here and catch up on some reading during the cold winter months. It’s nice and warm inside, and there are plenty of bleachers on the top level where you can sit and do your work, while glancing over at the guys’ swimming team now and then. Some people come here to sleep, cause it’s so cozy and there’s lots of space to lay yourself out.
The old fitness centre is located on the other side of the building, and is much smaller compared to the UBC rec centre across the football field. I should have taken advantage of my free access to the pool when I had the chance, since students already pay for it in their enormous tuition fees. Even if you’re not a student, I understand it’s still pretty cheap, and you can get a punch card that’s good for several visits.

I’ve used the indoor pool at the UBC Aquatic Centre a few times and I am pretty happy with it. Even at the end of the evening the changing room is pretty presentable. Sure, some of the lockers eat your quarters (I’m looking at you # 136), but then the nice folks at the front desk refund your money so that you can have a go at it with another more agreeable locker.
I think the UBC Aquatic Centre is a great resource not only for UBC students, but also for the greater community. The Loonie Toonie swim is especially accessible with it’s reduced rates of $ 1 for kids and $ 2 for adults. The UBC Aquatic Centre also offers swimming and diving lessons for adults and children.