Emma Hood Swim Center

"It was probably nice 20 years ago. Also, zero shade"

"The Emma Hood Swim Center is a very affordable place to let your baby explore the water. However, the "lesson" for babies doesn't include any teaching. It's just a life guard watching out with a couple of floaty toys. I definitely expected more structure or some instruction. The bathrooms/changing rooms are old, gross, and moldy and there are no changing areas for babies. Furthermore, be aware this is an outdoor pool with a water temperature of about 82 degrees. If it's not a very warm day your baby will be cold! The pool is also highly chlorinated. Our 13-month old baby got really cold and had to leave the pool after 15 minutes because she was shivering."

"Update 9/30/22: Pool hours on google were not correct today. When I phoned the pool I got a busy signal multiple times over 2 days. I went to the pool thinking I would find somebody but it was locked up and water very still. I phoned the city and was told they were closed today. One must learn to navigate a confusing online reservation system to book a lane and swim. Good luck. —————————— Summer 2021: As a visitor to the area I did a drop in lap swim on a Tuesday afternoon. Funky process! Called ahead and was told to register and pay online. How to do that was confounding! Went to the pool and a staff member guided me to register, book and then pay for my swim in my phone. Then, I had to sign in on paper. Another staff member was helpful and empathetic. The locker room is coed so you can’t change unless you’re skilled with wrapping yourself with a towel. Showers were warm. Pool itself was just fine. The adjacent parking lot is not for the pool — use the metered parking on the street."

"Went with my 8 year old, and the pool was nice enough. Obviously it is somewhat old and not everything has been updated recently (shower rooms might be 40+ years old), but the pools were clean."

"My daughter loved her first swimming lesson here. The instructor was great. The staff and lessons here are great however if your child is 6 or over there are no lessons available. Are there really that many tots on the island that need swim lessons everyday all day?! Where are the consistent classes for the older kids? It's summer vacation and why still only lessons for tots all day? Can you please add lessons for older kids 5 days a week so that they can go consistently enough to actually learn how to swim? Again, the staff and facility are great. They are 5 stars! My lower number is for the lack of availability for older kids."