Friendly staff are a welcome change, learn to swim is great and the pools are warm and clean all…read moreyear round. Great coffee and extras such as the gym. Highly recommended.

Cooling down during the hot summer day can sometimes prove quite difficult, however one good way of…read moregetting this task done is to head over to the Langlands Pool. At Langlands they have a full 50 meter Olympic size pool that is cordoned off with lanes providing place to do laps or to just laze around in the water without getting into any ones way. The pool is also in expensive so any one can go down as it costs just $4.60 for an entire day. If you are a student or have a concession card the price goes down to only $4. If you plan to go and get in some exercise and do a few laps of the pool I would suggest going before school closes for the day because after that it can get quite busy and the lanes do get taken up quite quickly. This is the same story during the weekend because they cater quite well for families and provide a play area and water slide for the kids. You can become a member and get swimming lessons too if that takes your fancy. The pool is open from 5 am till 7 pm during the week and from 6 am to 6 pm during the weekend. If you would like to make this a yearlong activity fear not because the pool is cooled or heated according to the season and temperature.

I never visited public swimming pools growing up because we always had a pool in our backyard. Our…read moreparents always intoned how lucky we were to have our own pool instead of learning to swim with the masses who couldn't afford a private pool. HA! If only we had gone to Sam Riley Swim School we would probably be much better swimmers. Instead, we learnt the hard way - mimicking what we saw on television and taking a few lessons in PE at school. I still remember the time I competed in the school swimming carnival. The entire school had to wait for me while I finished the 25 metre breast stroke five minutes after everyone else had gotten out of the pool. The Sam Riley Swim School is affordable fun for families. Inside, there's an undercover heated pool suitable for children. The sloped entrance ensures kids not yet able to swim can have lots of fun splashing about. The deep end is only chest height on (most) adults so it's still easy to help young children manoeuvre around. The outdoor 25 metre pool is not shaded or heated. It's intended for proper swimming or lap training. There's also a spa for hydrotherapies in the corner that the kids love to play in. This place has clean change rooms and showers with lots of easy change tables for infants. There's wheel chair access into the pool area and a lovely but small food/ drinks stall onsite. Make sure you take the family there this summer - even if you are unfortunate enough to have a home pool.

Excellent heated pool. The aquatic center also has a shower and a smaller training pool for newer…read moreswimmers. People and staff are extremely friendly and most of the swimmers are also friendly and respectful. For new people, here are some of the "unofficial rules" that I didn't really know about and I learned the hard way: 1. Slower swimmers stay on the right side lane. I got dirty looks for swimming slow in the middle lanes. 2. Always swim on your left lane. 3. Rinse off in the shower before entering the pool. Also the pool is saline water so your skin doesn't turn into a raisin after swimming for hours.

Destroyed by the floods of 2011, the UQ pool is yet to return to its former glory, but the…read moreconstructions look to be taking shape nicely, with the pool relatively unchanged and a nice new club house nearing completion. Prior to the floods, the UQ pool was a popular place for those wishing to get their exercise in the water after a day at uni and for the lazier breed of student, like myself, who just enjoyed a paddle. During my college days, my friends and I would wander across campus with towels over our shoulders to take a dip in the pool and lay on the grassy slope for some sun and people-watching. Revised entry prices and opening hours are yet to be announced for the new aquatic complex, but one of the great things about the pool before the floods was that entry for UQ students was nice and cheap. Hopefully, it will stay that way, as entry to regular town pools is too pricey for my liking.

A sweet, family-oriented pool with kids' laughter and antics abound on the Summer weekends. I come…read morethen and also mornings for lap swimming. Usually one to a lane. Pool comfortAbly heated, and good shade and sun mix. Grassy area for sun baking. Sweet times.

The mercury cracks 30 degrees and the only answer was to loll in water under the guise of swimming…read morelaps. Arrive at pool around 10am and quickly realise it is prime time for mothers and their children - poolside play dates - and an active aqua aerobics class. As far as pools go, Ithaca is isn't bad by any stretch and was re-tiled last season. It served a grand purpose for what I like to call black-line-following meditation. I guess my only "gripe" was that this is far more a family pool than a grab-your-goggles-and-swimming-cap kind of pool at this time of day.

Colmslie Pool is the closest public community pools to folks of South East Brisbane (Bulimba,…read moreHawthorne, Morningside, etc). Current cost is $4.90 a visit (small discounted rates if you buy in bulk). When I was there, there was plenty of open lanes, which is a bonus as I'm not a fan of unintentional high-fives. They do have changing room areas and private shower stalls. The only reason I don't go more often is because of the unsafe walking paths along the busy Lytton (some areas have paths, others not).

Excuse the puddles of water forming as you read this, but I am writing this swimmer clad (or…read more'bathers' if you are south of the border) and recently returned from a bi-weekly plunge. Possibly one of Brissie's best secret locations, my laps were completed in the comfort of my very own lane, amid clear, perfectly warmed waters. An anomaly, I hear you scoff! Rather, a common occurrence. So, if you fancy parking with ease, nice environs and a fair attempt at a flat white...