Yeah, good very fun insanely expensive though an absolute rip-off but I had a really good time so…read moreI'll give it four stars

When I was a kid this was like the coolest thing you could ever do for a birthday party. Three…read morepools, rapids, loads of flumes, a pirate ship, a raining cloud, snakes that shoot you with water, palm trees...I know! How awesome is that! As a kid this experience is totally a 5 star, pee in the pool with excitement experience, there is a little cafe where you can have chips and fizzy pop with your friends after hours of fun in the pool. As an adult, it holds all the excitement but doesn't quite deliver. We are grown-ups after all and a big plastic snake is only believable up to a point. It's worth it if you really like flumes though as they are pretty fast. I was call in advance first as sometimes they don't have enough staff to have them all open at once.

I went down to visit my friend Craig and his family (including my goddaughter) in Southampton last…read moreweekend. Nice for us townies to get out into the countryside every so often! We went to play tennis at his health club, David Lloyds. David Lloyds is one of the posher chains of health club and Southampton is perhaps their flagship club in the south coast and it shows. Coming in as a guest costs £15 for 2 hours of tennis and use of the facilities. It's certainly plush inside , perhaps summed up best by a trouser press and shoe sterilisers in the men's changing rooms. The indoor tennis courts had sensible overhead lighting and the surface played like a hard court. There were many coaching classes going on while we were playing and we tried to pick up a few free tips! I had forgotten to bring my swimming shorts with me but no problem - David Lloyds has a sports equipment shop as well as hairdressers and spa facilities available on-site. They have a nice 25m indoor pool as well as an outside pool, which is open all year round incidentally. I have to confess that I spent most of my time in the jacuzzi and sauna though. The restaurant and lounge was very nice and comfortable and we were able to catch some live sport on the TVs, courtesy of SkySports (39% owned by Rupert Murdoch's NewCorps but we forgave them that!) Nice health club if you can afford it.

I have been a member of David Lloyd for several years and have always been extremely happy with the…read moreservice, facilities and quality of the gym - although you do pay for it! I pay top-notch for a gym that has the latest equipment which is always clean and working - it has never disappointed me. The other facilities on-site such as the open air heated pools, indoor pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi facilities are always clean and working. My only criticism, if you can call it that, is that the place sometimes feels like a crèche so pick your times well to avoid the rush hour. Overall I am impressed with this place just a shame my bank balance takes a hit every month but it is worth it!

Really upmarket swimming pools here. The concept of comprehensive leisure activities offered here…read moreis second to none.

So this is where it all started...the beginning of a rather bizarre love with swimming pools as a…read moreplace for fun - the memories of youth - I remember the excitement when this leisure pool originally opened in 1976 - it wasn't a rectangle it was round! What was this madness? Half the pool was too shallow to actually swim in and it had waves. This was the very first time I had encountered a "leisure" pool - oh trend setting, thoroughly modern Swindon you have so much to answer for - (along with the famed "magic roundabout"). I still return here with the kids every time we jump on a train to visit my wife's family. It is a great pool but looking distinctly tatty round the edges now. The domed roof desperately needs renewing - it looked spectacular 30 years ago but putting that aside its still super fun. The pool itself is beach style with a separate small kids pool. Good kids pool with 3 slides plus pirate ship.... The main pool has a steep three lane multislide and a new long slide circles inside the building (77m long). But really it is the flumes here that count and these are top. The Domebusters have a had a refurb this year and one of them has been replaced. All are approx 100m in length.So first off The Sidewinder A fairly gentle, spiralling flume aimed at younger children and parents. You can sit or go head first. The Great White My favourite - heads first ONLY never seen that on any other slide! Normally feet first everywhere.... A fast ride with two small vertical drops and several twists and turns. The Storm The new this year straight fast flume - small circumference with a striped lighting effect and sounds.. Didn't get to try this out this time - but will be back to do so....busy with an under 5... The session time was only an hour - which is really not long enough and it is fairly expensive considering the stingy hour. There are not many reasons to visit Swindon but this is definitely one if you are a water slide fan or the kids love to swim. . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update So I came back to try out the new flume which I hadn't managed to try out last time. Managed to slip away from a family visit for a couple of hours with my teenagers. Interestingly GLL have taken over the management of the leisure centre since we were here in 2012 (they run most of the pools we visit in London). It had been spruced up a bit with the new corporate livery...but still the stingy session times. We took no notice of the session times and made good use of the domebuster slides. So The Storm was the main attraction - small tube, dark, with striped lightning and fast with the descent as a helix. A big thumbs up from the family - a great slide but not in our top 5 slides. The Great White remains the favourite - head first you can pick up some proper speed and fly over the steepest vertical drops... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oasis is a great place to take the family swimming! They have a huge laguna pool that boasts water…read moreslides, a wave machine, a smaller pool for the children and a big water sprayer. They do a range of different classes such as mother and baby Swimming, OAP Swimming and also offer swimming lessons. They have also just started doing gigs with people such as 'The Sugababes' 'Cascada' and 'Shayne Ward' perfoming there.

I go diving and it is amazing there. The sauna is really well kept along with the pools. Everything…read moreis well kept and staff friendly.

Awful. What sort of a city seeks to destroy any vestiges of…read morecommunity by putting of the most monstrous retail parks smack in the middle of its historic centre? Welcome to Southampton, a city that worships the car, ignores any architectural continuity and has a by-law that fat men must wear hooped earings and must not wear shirts once the thermometer hits 80f. It is also the city that has come up with The Quays; a building of outwardly interesting architectural merit, but messes it up but putting it between medieval battlements and a pyramid-shaped hotel. Las Vegas for pikies. Anyway, on with the review. When you get inside, you realise that they have an impressive diving pool, with a clever movable floor, a nice lanes pool covered by a beautiful wooden roof. But there's no natural light. It's stuffy. It echos off every surface. Awful. Did I mention they also play techno in the baby pool? Loud techno. I couldn't hear my 9 mnth old's sweet gurgles for the Utah Saints. Anyway, the baby pool. We went early on a Sunday. One the locals told me it was quiet. I reckon it was 40 metres square and had about 40 parents in it. And 40 babies. I think I was the only man in that pool who didn't have a tattoo. I swear some of the toddlers even had them. Finally, what amuses me about this is the concept. For example, I knew there was a pool in the centre of Southampon, so I called directory enquiries and asked for pools in Southampon. Nothing. Swimming baths? Nothing. Health clubs? sorry no. However if I'd have phoned and asked for 'The Quays 'Eddie Read' Swimming & Diving Complex ' I might have got their number. You can see the council meeting now. Let's put up striking building with bad ventilation and no natural light and no room inside. Let's charge £4.30 for a half hour swim, more than even central london prices. However, we'll brand it cleverly. That'll get the punters in. That'll create the wow factor our city so desparately needs. To it's credit the changing was clean and fresh and the lockers were free. But overall a real pity.