s/o How much do you pay for an annual swim club membership?

[boolady]

Before we moved in September, we lived in a development where our HOA fees included membership at the development pools. Now, we won't have access to any pools this summer, and are considering joining a local swim club. DH thinks the prices I'm getting make it too high for the amount of time we'd be able to go; I'm not so sure.

If you belong to one, what do you pay for membership to an outdoor swim club? What amenities does your club have, and what does your membership fee include? Did you have to put down an initial bond? If you don't mind, please also indicate (generally) where you are in the U.S., since I'm sure prices vary a great deal. TIA. eta: Sorry, I don't know how to make this a poll, or I could have made it anonymous.

[jse107]

There are several clubs in the area. The one we go to has an annual membership of $450. DH was worried we wouldn't use it enough, but he got over it once he saw how much fun the kids had.

There are two other clubs nearby--one charges $800 for the summer, plus an initiation fee of $800. The other club has a $2000 upfront fee and then I think it's around $600 for the summer.

You can see why we chose the one we did. ;)

[niccig]

$1800 for the summer alone. Yes, $1800 for May to end of August. You only get the pool. It's part of a Golf Club. SoCal.

I'm hoping our schedule will let us hang out at the aquatic center - they have restricted free swim hours because of their swimming camp and lessons.

[wifecat]

We joined our neighborhood pool last year. There was a bond fee of $500 (which is refundable when you give up your spot - if one summer you don't want to pay the membership fee, you can pay $50 or something and keep the bond without having to pay the fees. There's a waiting list of about a year for a bond). The membership fee for a family of 4 was $650 for the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day), and parking was another $25.

We used our membership a TON. We were in a very urban, downtown area and the public pools were kind of awful and had terrible hours. We took the kids swimming almost every day, often grilled out there and ate dinner on the patio, and you could bring in alcohol. I know, lushy, but seriously, hanging out at the pool with your friends and kids and a beer...pretty nice.

Ours had a main pool, kiddy pool, lounge chairs/tables, two covered pavillion areas, a little kids playground with a pirate ship play structure, a few events and socials, and grills (that were really nice).

[trales]

New England $1000 Initial Fee, $800 per summer.

Includes: Pool with swim lessons (free) 3x per week
4 clay tennis courts with group lessons (free) 4x per week and kids lessons (free) 3x per week.

It is worth every penny.

[boolady]

I am saving this thread for DH. The places we're looking at both have approx. a $450 initiation fee (one of them is normally $600 but if you join by 4/1, it's $450) and $450 yearly dues. Lessons are not included, but are available very inexpensively. Both have playground, bocce courts, shuffleboard, basketball, snack bar, grills, covered areas, etc., I can't remember what else. The both have swim teams that do well locally, if that's ever something DD's interested in.

I just don't see how that's unreasonable for Memorial Day through Labor Day, but in our house, reasonable minds have disagreed before.:) DH's concern is that with us both WOH, we won't get our money's worth; however, I really can see me getting DD at her daycare, which will be in its "summer camp" mode, and heading to the pool a few nights a week to hang out and cool off. They're both open until at least 9 p.m., not that we'd stay that late. Then, we'd likely also go one day each weekend, at least.

Thanks to all of you for sharing, including those who preferred to PM me their details. I really appreciate it.

[Pear]

We are lucky to have amazing city pools. One of them is specifically designed for young kids and includes a zero entry pool, water playground, and a wave pool. The other location has a smaller water playground, a lazy river, lap pools, swimming areas, and slides. For this we pay $110 for the family for the year. I love the suburbs.

In our previous town we looked into joining the local club. I think it was going to be $800 per summe plus an initial fee. It was just a very basic pool.

[hollybloom24]

$375 annual fee
$250 waitlist fee (4-5 year waitlist for pool)

Once you are off the waitlist:
$375 annual fee
$750 one time initiation fee (not refunded)
$1,500 one time bond (refunded at resignation)
$1,000 pool fee (tennis is extra)

Swim lessons are $45 for five 45 minute group lessons, guest are $10 each.

It ends up being $1,375 annually without guests or swim lessons.

[wellyes]

Our local one is $1800/summer.
I don't opt to join.

[hellokitty]

Wow, you guys must have nice pools. I think it's about $150 a summer to join here, but the pools all all pretty crummy looking... like stuff built in the 50's or something, with not a single bit of shade, and maybe one slide.

[KrisM]

We join a fitness center for the summer. It's $250 from mid-May through August. It's an outdoor, zero entry pool with a slide, lap lanes, and diving boards. It's also a full gym with free childcare.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Our options range from $850 first year ($550 after that) to $2000/ then $1050/year. Ridiculous. So, you can join the YMCA owned outdoor pool for $500, but then you get the pleasure of swimming with the billions of camp kids daily, all summer long. The neighborhood pool is retro - built in 1969, still has a small rickety slide and diving board, kiddie pool, some shade structure.

[hillview]

The family pool we plan to do this summer is $680 for the season BUT it is only open afternoons and weekend. It is a basic pool.

The pool we belonged to before the kids were in camp all day was $1982 PLUS $150 per person. It had 2 pools plus 2 kiddie pools and a splash area. One of the pools had really fun slides etc.

/hillary

[AnnieW625]

There are no private swim clubs in my area. The YMCA is $55 a month I think, but they don't have a specific play pool, just the one that the summer camp kids and swim lessons are done at.

DD1's new swim school offers a $25 yearly membership fee to keep your same class and teacher, plus I also think they might have some open swim time, but the pool is pretty small so I don't know if we'll do that or not.

If we had $9,000 plus $200 a month available to us I might consider joining the local yacht club, but we don't. The $200 a month wouldn't be a huge stretch and I think it would pay for itself because of the amenities, but the $9,000 buy in fee would be.

[vludmilla]

Our local club is a former private club that is now owned by the town. There is no initiation fee but you must live in town to join. The family pool costs about $600. There is a sit-down restaurant, a casual place to buy ice cream and casual meals. They also have lots of nice tennis courts and 18 hole golf. If you want to have access to the golf and tennis, it costs more...probably about$1500-1800 for the year. I love it and we used it a lot last summer. It was completely worth it. I am in southern Westchester County, so probably similar cost-wise to where you are.

[Cam&Clay]

We are fortunate. Our $300 per year HOA dues include the use of the neighborhood pool all season. It's a nice, regular pool with a kiddie pool and a covered picnic area.

[brittone2]

350ish although last year there were additional fees to cover various upgrades and maintenance. That is for Memorial through Labor Day. The rec pool has a 0 entry pool with a small kid slide, a lazy river, 2 big slides (like a water park), a sprinkler park, a hot tub area attached to the 0 entry pool. There's a second lap pool with multiple diving boards, one of those quick drop tunnel slides that drops you very fast into very deep water. There are of course locker rooms and showers, and they do a lot of entertainment things for kids during the day like bring out various inflatables to use in the lazy river (usually it is noodles, but periodically they bring out big inflatables for that area), kickboards, etc. They also run games and crafts for kids out on the pool deck. There's something going on every half hour to an hour I'd say. There is also a small kiddie type pool hooked up to the main pool. The kiddie area has a lot of small sprinkler features.

They also run different theme nights like watching the local baseball team on the big screen, etc. but those have a small additional fee for members.

I think the pool is about 5 years old.

They have a large pavilion type of structure between the two big pools, and they have lots of these large fixed umbrella type things (but they are all metal and very, very big) that can fit maybe 8 chairs underneath?

They allow guests and are open to non members, but the price is really, really high for a day pass so the vast majority of people are members.

There are swim lessons and there is also a swim team. I think they have about 18 lifeguards on duty at a time. Each small region or area has a guard.

[daniele_ut]

Our city has a really nice rec center with a great indoor leisure pool with slide and play structure and an indoor lap pool. The $500 yearly resident family membership includes a season pass to the outdoor pool that has a slide and diving board. If you just want a season pass to the pool it is $150 for a resident family.

[lmh2402]

our local pool has a $1,250.00 one-time non-refundable joiner’s fee
then each year it's a $750 family member fee

last year sucked, since we had to pay both the joiner fee and the family fee, but now that we've paid in it's easier to "just" pay the family fee

for that we get...a pool. that's it. there is a little kiddie pool too.

but no other stuff. lessons are available at a low cost. and it's close/convenient, but i do wish there were some other amenities... like even just an onsite food option

the other pool option around here is to join the country club. i'm not sure of the costs, but know they are significantly more, plus you have to be nominated / sponsored, yada, yada.

[GvilleGirl]

We pay $300. No joiners fee. Super cheap, but we are in a LCOL area. It is pretty much the going rate around here from what I've seen.

[lowrioh]

Our swim club has a $1000 equity fee and then is $500 a year. We just got a membership after being on a wait list for 18 months. The pool is only open from May-Sept and has a nice pool, kiddie pool, snack bar, playground, volleyball court and clay tennis courts. The changing rooms are pretty dreadful though.

The big thing that it has going for it is that it is open until 9 at night and that there is tons and tons of shade. Our county pools are super crowded, have minimal shade and close at 5 during the week. It is less than a mile from our front door so I can come home from work, throw the kids in the car and spend and hour or so at the pool before bed.

[new_mommy25]

We pay 135 a month for swim/fitness. When we joined they were having a special so the initiation fee was waived. Our gym has two pools, a sauna, hot tub, gym, about 10-15 classes a day, a cafe, and several tennis courts. We had DS's fifth birthday there. The kids take swim lessons which aren't free but are reduced for members. There is also a swim team, masters swim, massages, personal trainers, and a lot of fitness challenges. The pools are heated and open year round.

[azazela]

We are thinking about joining one this summer. It's an aquatic center with a zero entry shallow lagoon, big pool, kiddie pool, lazy river, slides, etc. Grills and picnic tables available. Even a sandy beach! There is a place to get food, but I'm thinking it's a snack bar. We haven't visited yet or anything. Family membership for township residents is $350 for the season prior to April and $400 after April. Nonresidents pay almost $600 for the season. It looks really nice! I just wish pools around here opened earlier. We're early risers and they don't open until 11, which is basically almost lunch/nap time for the little ones.

[MamaSnoo]

Ours was $470 this year. You pay a base rate that covers two adults and then an additional amount for every kid over 12 months of age at the beginning of the summer.

There was a bond, I think it was about $400, but it has been several years.

Ours has a regular and kiddie pool, slides, diving, 2 pavillions, grills, play area. It also includes year round lighted tennis courts.

It about 1/2 mild from my house, and has a very long wait list, so we joined as soon as a spot was offered. Last year, we used it a lot.

Our Y is $90/mo for family membership and has more closings for classes and teams. We can swim outdoors here from late May to early September, so I think it is worth it.

[bcafe]

Are private swim clubs a regional thing? I have never heard of/seen one in Iowa or WI. Our little town/city (30K) doesn't even have a city pool. If you want to swim, there is a "pond" in a park or you can pay at the Y and that of course is inside. It is a big, big negative to this town.

[lowrioh]

Are private swim clubs a regional thing? I have never heard of/seen one in Iowa or WI. Our little town/city (30K) doesn't even have a city pool. If you want to swim, there is a "pond" in a park or you can pay at the Y and that of course is inside. It is a big, big negative to this town.

We never had one in the small town I grew up in. There was a pond/lake at the state park if we wanted to swim.
I think it may be a city vs country thing as well as a climate thing. In the DC area it is really hot the entire summer so pools get used a lot. Where I grew up the average summer temperature was in the 70s so pools weren't used as often. There are 3 private swim clubs within 6 miles of our house.

[crl]

Are private swim clubs a regional thing? I have never heard of/seen one in Iowa or WI. Our little town/city (30K) doesn't even have a city pool. If you want to swim, there is a "pond" in a park or you can pay at the Y and that of course is inside. It is a big, big negative to this town.

I think it is somewhat regional and also related to the length of the swim season. There were country clubs with go,f courses, etc. where I grew up in the mid west, but not just swim clubs. In the DC metro area, they were common. There are no outdoor pools in San Francsico really, due to the weather (I think I heard there might be one at a tennis clu or something?). Here there is the Y or the JCC or the city's indoor pools (where you pay each time you swim). People do go up to Marin in the summers to swim and some of those pools are membership I think.

Catherine

[boolady]

Here, there aren't any town/community pools...either you've got a pool in your backyard, or you join one. There really aren't any in my immediate area with things as nice as lazy rivers or zero entry (though one of them has a 2 ft. splash pool that's zero entry). There aren't any lakes or other natural bodies of water to go swim in within a reasonable driving distance for a few times a week. Our YMCA doesn't have an outdoor pool.

So, private is really what we're left with, unless we want to join the local (private) country club, which has a $50,000 bond to join, on top of all of the other crazy fees and required dining spending limits, etc. Even if we had that kind of money to spend on recreation, none of us play golf, which is a huge part of the fees.

[bcafe]

Well, it does get pretty hot and humid here, but, I think the people in my town are just too cheap to spring for a city pool. Lots of people have a pool in their backyard, just no one we know! Other little towns around us have outdoor city pools/aquatic centers, so it must just be my town.

[khalloc]

Our HOA has an outdoor pool. Its right behind out house. We have about 50 houses in the neighborhood. We swim there or at the lake (public beach). I am not aware of any swim clubs around here. Just town pools. But I wont pay to join the neighboring town pool since we have a pool practically in our backyard.