TLDR: Check the schedule on your website before coming here. It's super cheap and has the amenities…read moreyou'd expect. Bring a lock if you want to store away your valuables. Entry for 1 adult is $7 or you can get their 10 entry pass for a discount. It's a great deal for an hour or more of swimming. They offer Lap Swim and Family Swim, which you'll have to check their schedule online for the exact times. We made the mistake of showing up in the 30 minutes between the sessions and had to wait. They have slow, medium, and fast lanes for lap swim and it's usually not too crowded if you go in the afternoon. Family swim, however, is when they divide the pool into 2 sections and it's great for beginners or people learning how to swim. They have showers and lockers here! You just have to bring your own lock to use the lockers. A lot of people just leave their items on the benches by the pool, where they can keep an eye on them. They also provide kickboards during the sessions. Overall, very friendly people and a great place to get some laps in.

Just a block from Mission Dolores Park, and around the corner from trendy shopping and restaurants…read moreon Valencia St, I would have never guessed that there was an outdoor pool right there in the heart of the city. The building itself could use some updating. The locker rooms definitely have *character*- there is all kinds of wood paneling, and orange and red tiling in the showers and walls. The shower area itself was confusing- there were 3 showers in a small, very dimly lit (and orange-tiled) room. Although the locker room was obviously outdated, the only thing that was truly missing that other SF city pools included is a swim suit dryer.   The pool was busy compared with other SF city pools I have visited; I was surprised to see 2-3 people per lane. It was a smaller pool (4 lanes, 30 yards), with narrow lanes, and it did feel crowded. Some were waiting for swimmers to leave before hopping in for their swim- my lane mate complained about running into the entry/exit ladders when swimming near the wall, and I did get breaststroke kicked.   Apart from the number of people, it was such a treat to swim outside right in the middle of the city.The Mission Pool is a hidden gem best meant for anyone who is comfortable with no-frills locker rooms, and is looking to get outside to enjoy a casual swim.

Awesome pool with great light and wide lanes. Lifeguards keep it pretty clean. Parking is pretty…read moregood for the city

Affordable, great staff, amazing lifeguards, clean and well maintained facilities…read more From year round athletes training, every day swim exercise routines, swim lessons, or casual family fun times-it's a well designed space with a great viewing area. Pro-tip: -There's a 2 hour parking limit in surrounding area parking -pay close attention to street cleaning days -the front desk is information central

The Olympic Club was really cool. To use the facility or stay at any of the locations a person…read moreneeds to be a member or know a member. The Olympic Club membership has a long wait list to get in, but it's pretty easy if you know a member. The rooms are nice, gym equipment is super new and has a great variety. The full sized pool for swimming laps is beautiful and fully accessible to guests. The bar and breakfast at Article III was delicious. It's fun being able to order and there's never really a wait. I was here for a work trip and The Olympic Club is a great place for professionals!

Super fun time here. The building have such a charming old Americano vibes with it's gorgeous…read morearchitecture. Hosting events here was great. Plenty of things to do and full bar with kitchen at hand. Service was great. Food awesome.

I used to swim here regularly during the week. Splitting the (too narrow) lanes was common but…read morehaving to circle-swim (3+ people) was not as common. So I could usually do a full, varied workout. City pools are crowded and small, so it was an understandable reality. The pool's hours changed a year ago, making it harder for me to go regularly. Recently I tried the newish Sunday morning hours, and both times it was much too crowded, with four people per lane (and more waiting) typical. It's too difficult to keep a pace, especially if you vary your strokes, with that many people each trying to do their thing in such a crowded, narrow lane. The Sunday hours are for just 90 minutes, so everyone has to come at once. SF added the Sunday hours so at least one city pool would be open each day. Great idea, but one pool for the whole city and open for such a short time was misguided. How much more would it cost to be open another 90 minutes, given the staff is there anyhow? I know resources are tight, but on Sundays at least the Garfield pool is a difficult experience.

The locker room was renovated! It's much nicer now. The pool is as I described it before.read more

Enrolled my baby into the Cuttlefish class and he enjoys it! Some instructors are more enthusiastic…read morethan the others, but that's okay. I like that the pool is heated since it gets pretty cold in the area. The first 15 minutes is free time, then the rest of class consists of sing-along and additional activities. I thought an hour would be too long, but it goes by pretty quickly. One session isn't enough to teach them to swim, it's nice to get them acclimated to being in the water and getting their whole head wet. Especially when we don't know anyone that has a pool near us.

Wonderful place to do swim lessons with your little one! I've done at last 3 Cuttlefish sessions…read morehere now with my daughter, which have been fantastic. You sign up for day of the week, and get a 1 hour swim lesson with other children around the same age (6 months - 6 years for Cuttlefish). The first 15 mins of the class are free time in the water, you can play with the various water toys. The next 15-20 mins is Karaoke in the Pool, with nursery rhymes in a circle time. The last 15-20 mins of the class are divided into age groups, with the youngest kids on one side, and older kids on the other. Some of the teachers are really wonderful, Mary is my favorite, as she has a passion and affinity for working with the little ones. All the teachers are great though in different ways. My daughter loves swim lessons here, even though the class week after week is the same thing lol. The classes are also inexpensive compared to Le Petite Balen. The makeup sessions are very flexible too - just be sure to call Monday morning at 10am the week you'll be needing a different day - and generally they're able to fit you in. Or even in my case, they couldn't, but said to call the following week to have me do the make-up, which was so kind. Parking is super easy here too, and conveniently located next to the Zoo and Sunset district.

My son played in basketball tournament held at Hagan gym. Parking is tricky. We ended up finding a…read morespot in the neighborhood the first day. Parking was free on Sunday. Definitely park in the lower level lot off Turk if you can. Older facility. Spacious. Pool is huge. Gym was big, airy. Not so bright in the afternoon on overcast day since lighting pulls from outside. Floors were very slippery.

I learned to weightlift here with different gym partners. Would religiously cycle and run on the…read moretreadmills here in preparation for the Army Combat Fitness Test and my many marathons from college. Would have rotc events, holding areas, and physical training sessions held here in the early 0545 mornings. Just a place of many good memories :) with lots of failures, yeah, but much growth

I have a stellar experience each time I visit Fitness SF. The front desk guy, Ryan, is usually…read moreworking and has been very friendly and accommodating. He's also a dog lover and took great care of my dog while I worked out. Even gave him some treats which was super sweet of him!! I was initially worried I might not have access to the same equipment I had at other locations due to the smaller space but that wasn't an issue at all!! They also have a bunch of stuff to aid in recovery that I didn't know about. Ryan recommended the inflatable compression sleeves for my legs. I had never tried them before and he walked me through putting them on. Highly recommend this gym and am grateful for Ryan!

It honestly feels like you're in a submarine. The men's locker room is tiny, and like most gyms,…read morethey've oversold memberships and it shows everywhere. The pool is pure chaos. About a year ago, they had a policy of onsite lane reservations, which is the right thing to do if you don't have online lane reservations. You had a clear start and end time, could plan your workout, and actually get a full swim in. For some reason, they've stopped doing that. Now you show up with no idea if you'll even get a lane, let alone finish in time to get to work. They're also allowing three or more people per lane, which is just unrealistic. Once a third person joins, it stops being a workout and turns into traffic management. You can forget about flip turns entirely. The lane speed designations don't help either. Most people are on tight schedules and aren't going to wait around for the "right" lane to open up. They also block off a lane for personal training, which is understandable, but that lane could still accommodate another swimmer. Decisions like this chip away at what's supposed to be a core service. Most pools in the city allow reservations. You can reserve a lane. Some even have a no show fee which totally works. you can't trust humans to so the right thing here because they in most cases won't. Bottom line, the lack of reservations and overcrowding make it impossible to plan a consistent, efficient swim. It turns something that should be straightforward into a daily gamble.

Great pool, surprised myself that I really enjoyed the heated water…read more Thanks for the swim, Balboa - keep it nice!

Very crowded pool Snorkeling equipment allowed so pool is…read morelike swimming in the ocean. Swimmers are wild and you can expect to get kicked! Swimmers constantly cut by not going to end before turning for return lap. Swimmers hacking spit in pool wells! Saw a Swimmers get in pool with dirt covering her bottom feet! Some lifeguards need to do a better job of managing pool activity. Large fins make for unfair swimming conditions! Overall Balboa pool could do with some user friendly changes. Very disappointed experience. A lifeguard made me get in the slow lane to accommodate a Snorkeling swimmer so I had to wait for clearance to do my laps! I felt discriminated because I wasn't on the scuba team!!!​

The MLK pool has the best staff. They are helpful and friendly. It's like seeing family 2 to 3 days…read morea week. Water temperature is good. All the equipment you need. Great for lap swimming and it has a kiddy pool. Health is wealth!!

The joint is kinda tired-looking, tbh…read more Although rec swim is meant to be separate from the concurrent lap swim session, the rec swim area becomes de-facto lap swim PDQ as the lap lanes fill to capacity. I could smell the chlorination coming off the pool & that was sort of icky. Chlorination smell=folks peeing in the pool. The water was fairly tepid, but swimmers warm up fairly quickly. The ladies' change room is rather depressing and reminded me of my junior high school locker room ca. 1981 (save for the upgraded, non-metal clothes lockers). There are two small & narrow benches in a room chock-full of lockers. Honestly, if the change room were at capacity, then where would everyone sit in order to change clothes? I found the staff to be friendly and receptive to questions, so that's a plus. The nearly ubiquitous flyer found at many of the SF public pools stating that locker break-ins are common and that one is recommended to bring all valuables pool-side hangs everywhere one's eyes might look. I locked up my goodies anyway and was no worse for the wear, fortunately.