This was a great timeout for our 3 boys on our summer visit . The lifeguards are attentive and keep an eye out on the rec swimmers. The entry fees were very reasonable compared to USA rates for public swimming pools. The boys enjoyed the lazy river , the diving boards , hot tub in the indoor pool. They do have an outdoor pool as well. Highly recommended. read more

This facility is great! We did a family morning at the pool on a weekday when the rest of the city was in school. Aside from lap swimmers, the leisure side of the pool complex was a mix of preschool-aged kids and retirees soaking in the large jacuzzi. There is a shallow and large wading pool for kids to play, a lazy river with a quieter small pool in the center, and then a large hot tub. The jacuzzi and wading pools have a stairs as well as a gently sloped ramp for entry, which is an inclusive way of building a pool as well as fun for the kids. There are a few toys available (balls, pool noodles) and plenty of life jackets for the kids. There are a good number of lifeguards who seemed reasonable. I didn't use them, but there is also a steam room and a sauna. Large locker rooms have plenty of lockers, changing rooms, shower space, sinks, and toilets. Soap is provided but no other products (shampoo, lotion). read more

Terrific facility in the heart of Vancouver. Hillcrest Aquatic Centre is across the street from Queen Elizabeth Park. The facility has a large main pool that is sometimes partitioned to allow one end to offer laps and the other end to offer swimming lessons. Without the partition, you would have a full length pool. Adjacent to the main pool is a kid's pool with lots of ramps and stairs to allow entry into the water. The water is shallow enough to allow most kids to keep their heads above water. There are cannons and sprinklers for kids to interact with. Additionally, there is a section of the pool that has a gentle current that propels kids along in a large circular loop. The pool offers pool noodles and some toys for visitors. There is even a large hot-tub section next to the kid's pool for people to soak their aching joints. Also, there are diving boards of various heights, a steam room and an outdoor pool. What I like most about Hillcrest Aquatic Centre is that there are large changing rooms available for families with kids to change in. These same rooms can also be used by bashful types who don't like people staring at their twigs and berries. One complaint I have, however, is that the water coming out of the showers is way too hot! I have been scalded on several occasions! Essentially, Hillcrest Aquatic Centre has something for everyone. read more

Lazy river pool, leisure pool area with water toys and sprays, hot tub, lanes for length swimming, sauna, steam room, 3 heights of diving boards.... what more can you ask for? Ok, maybe they're missing a water-slide. I think this place is great to bring young children and introduce them to swimming or the pool since they have a beach-style entry into the water. The water in the leisure pool is also ridiculously warm. Staff are all so friendly here, and this place is very family-friendly as well. In addition to men's and women's change rooms, they also have a large area for family rooms. This location will be able to accommodate everyone in your family. It is missing a star in my ratings because of a couple of things. First of all, I really do not think the steam room is steamy enough. Compared to other steam rooms that I've been to in another community center (ie. YMCA), the one here is very, very mild. Secondly, this location can get super crowded during peak times, which makes it difficult to actually swim sometimes! read more

Aquatic Centre At Hillcrest Park - Swimming Pools Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This was my second time going, the first in several years. I went expecting limitations absolutely, but in a "working together" sort of way. I was not ready to go through each step of the way being told everything I was doing was wrong. It was not an intuitive set -up, it was poorly communicated, with the rules and instructions wrapped up in fine print and confusing signage, and a stressful experience beginning to end.  Also for long haired folks, they only give you ten minutes after swim time before kicking you out, so be prepared to walk home in the cold with wet hair (if you're not lucky enough to drive), or sharply monitor your time to get out early.  The facilities are great, of course, but for a first time back it was extremely unpleasant. read more

pretty awesome place until they do their annual maintenance... this place services a lot of people, old and young, but they decide to shut it down for more than 6 weeks! ridiculous.. why cant they do small (per section) maintenance every now and then so that the dont need to shutdown for over a month... read more

Awful experience. We paid for the tickets and 2 mins late for our section, we got refused to get in, they resell the ticket right away. There aren't any indication on the website says we would lose our ticket if we come in late! Whether in movie theater, concert and any events, there would never ever refused customer to enter. Because is a community centre, it isn't right and appropriate to resell ticket right away when customer is late for 2 minutes. read more

Awful pool impossible to check in and bad staff. I do not recommend it to anyone!! terrible registration site and many errors!!! read more

This Aquatic Centre is a fantastic facility. It is very crowded, with many regulars. Sauna is very busy and quite often dealing with others performing stretching exercises or laid out on benches. Hot tub is nuts. Over crowded anytime of the day. Swim lane are narrow, I am new (4 months) into my new exercise routine and each time I get into the SLOW lane to get started, fast swimmers use the lane because it is not as crowded. They come across as entitled and rude as the pass/hit you while your trying get you laps in. No help from life guards so the signage is a waste of time. All lanes should just say open swimming. Will not renew my pass. Off the UBC to see if they are better. read more

Today was the coldest wettest July 2nd in Vancouver that I can remember. Biking outdoors seemed unappealing. After a little bit of thought a Cold Gray Day in July plan appeared. So we got into the car and drove (blasphemy) to Hillcrest Pool and we realized we where not alone the parking lot was full but this is because Hillcrest is a Great Pool Adults and Kids like. What Makes this Pool Great Everyone I interacted with were great. Check-In person smiled as they took our frees. The Lifeguards actively managed the pools manged. The pools and cleaning staff also do a great job. The Diving Pool is a world class and fun to swim in and even more fun to jump into. The Lap Pool was fine and third pool is what I call and Adult Aqua Aerobics Pool/ Play area for using kick boards and flotation sticks made for a fun visit. My visit to the pool made today's cold wet weather feel irrelevant for a while and I hope to go back soon. read more

I swim here, 4-5 times a week. It get's crowded. People are generally dicks in the lanes and every-time I swim and catch sight of a band-aid sitting on the pool floor. But the water is heated. The showers have good pressure. There are lots of staff on hand. For families this is the spot, indoor lazy river, outdoor kiddy funtime splash pool. WARNING: This s not a place to go if you are afraid of naked old people. I've seen so many old, naked, Asian men's penises. WARNING: This is not the place to go if you're afraid to see naked children. Children have no shame. They pee on each other in the showers!! I've seen it!! read more

I was happy to hear about this pool opening especially when the Downtown Aquatic centre is closed for maintenance...I also got a tan from swimming at the Kits pool 4 times! This place is way too kid-friendly. Maybe I'm a bit jealous but the outdoor pool is pretty dedicated to them with all the jets, sprays and shallow water. A big portion of the indoor space is also dedicated to them although I see a lot of seniors enjoying the lazy river too. I just wish that they have more 50 m lanes in the fall. About the lanes...people should try to respect the lanes and go with the flow. The other day, a girl and her mother were swimming in my lane, the medium lane. I was getting annoyed because not only were they moving slowly but they didn't allow others to pass. Usually, if I find that people are passing or attempting to pass, I'd (1) move to the slower lane or (2) let them go ahead of me when I reach the end. I knew the girl was uncomfortable but the mother was telling her to ignore the other swimmers and just keep going (with her trailing behind as a buffer). It's okay to go to a slow lane. I've done it many times as I fatigued in my laps. Let's be considerate! And no spitting! Anyways, one time while the bulkheads were stuck, I decided to try the Aquafit (aerobics) and loved it. I've tried the morning, evenings and the deep aquafit. Morning ones have a lot of seniors but you can challenge yourself by jumping higher or pumping your arms more. I remembered that I got into it so much once that I almost collided into an old lady when we were "running" in a large circle. The evening one also gets crowded. I've been to one and it was slighter harder but you could do whatever you want underwater...or above. Go at your own pace. I like to kill myself at these things. I'm the one with the red face. The other night, I tried the deep water one which takes place, duh, in the diving pool. I love the waist floatation belts. Those are so cool. I find the evening regular shallow aquafit gets me more worked up with the jumping and pumping. I mean, with all the arm pumping and "running", you can only go so fast in deep water. You don't need to know how to swim to do the regular aquafit because the floor is moved up so that the water only hits you at chest or waist level. It's great for me because I'm totally not coordinated. But waist up, no one can tell. 70- person hot tub: Because it's so large, it's not as easy to maintain the hot temperate. Sometimes, not all the jets are turned on. There are ladies, families and men changing areas. One time, a lady was telling this mother who was getting her son to shower in the ladies area about the family area. She got really defensive. First, there are only 6 showers in the ladies area and the change room is open. I'm not a prude but I'm already trying to be non-chalant about showing my skin amongst others who have the same anatomy that it's just one more thing to have boys around. I'm sure they feel awkward too. So please, please, take advantage of the family change areas with private change stalls. Showers: 4 stalls with curtains and towel hooks on the outside (never noticed them until my last visit). Yay! That saves me the naked walk (with my bathing suit draped over my front) to the far wall of hooks. Only do-able improvement: Perhaps they could add a small shelf in each shower stall so we could put our shampoos, etc. The soap dish doesn't do much. Maybe more hooks on the other empty wall. Just like other public lockers, you get your 25 cents back. Another consideration: Shower before entering pool. First, it's cleaner and second, if you saturate your bathing suit with water, the chlorine won't be able to penetrate and ruin your suit as quickly (so I've read). read more

Attentive, alert lifeguards, awesome staff, awesome facility. Generally clean, especially considering the volume of people it handles. My only complaint is how the family change rooms are constantly taken by older singles or couples with cultural-based modesty issues using what are clearly marked family change rooms while I'm standing with a crying, freezing baby. It's amazing how these people suddenly know no English when called out for their rudeness. I'd love to see the family showers restricted to families with small children only. read more

I'm surprised to see poor reviews of this facility. I enjoy swimming, lazy river, aquafit, hot tubs and steam room. I never find it dirty or over crowded. read more

Having watched this building grow and having visited it in its incarnation as an Olympic venue, our whole family was very excited to see it finally open. Our first opportunity to visit was after it had been open about a week and we were certainly not disappointed. The main pool is a great facility with movable bulkheads separating out the lap area from the diving, with 1, 3 and 5m boards, and shallow ends. It has a huge indoor play pool for kids with a big lazy river and lots of fun sprays and splash toys to play with. The hot tub is pretty large too with plenty of space to sit and relax. The changing rooms are good too with plenty of cubicles in the family changing area - despite it being busy we didn't have to wait around for somewhere to change. The one thing I'm not convinced about, though, is the outdoor pool area. It's shallow - although it does get up to 1m deep in places. It also has a few splash/spray installations. When we went, it was raining outside and whilst we had fun, it seems like it's a bit misconceived overall. As a splash park, there are better free splash parks to cool down in around the city. As a wading pool, then it's really a bit too deep in places for smaller children. But it's not deep enough realistically to replace an outdoor swimming pool - plus it has a very rough non-slip surface that, whilst super-safe for wading, gets very hard on the knees and elbows if you're an adult. It may well grow on me, but first impressions are that it's not really one thing or another. It's certainly no replacement for the wonderful old Mount Pleasant outdoor pool. All in all, it's a great improvement on Percy Norman pool and I look forward to the rest of the centre coming opening up. read more

Best gym pool in Vancouver. after living in the U.S. for so long I forgot how spoiled my fellow canadian comrades are with public pools and gym. I can pay 150 a month in California and the amenities don't even come close. Remember it is a public pool so bring your flip, flops. Their is the most amazing lazy river and that I could float for hours, great diving boards and platforms, huge lap pool and hot tub. The gym overlooks Queen E. park which is nice and blissfull; it's small but clean. Over all no brainer 5 stars. read more

This is a top-notch facility; having spent some time at the other community centre (Creekside) constructed with the Olympics as it's impetus, it was a really pleasant surprise. The fitness centre is well equipped with a practical layout, lots of benches and free weights, all the necessary machines, and a great view. there's plenty of cardio equipment and everything is spaced out nicely. The pool is excellent with a very large hot tub, a children's area, diving, lanes, and a third area partitioned off for classes. I'm told that there is an outdoor pool as well but i did not see it my first visit. Furthermore, they offer swimming lessons for adults as well as children, which as an adult who unfortunately needs them, had until now been impossible to find. The staff seemed friendly and knowledgeable, and the patrons a reflection of the neighbourhood, which is as it should be. I will be going out of my way to attend swim lessons there, and to use the fitness centre also. I suspect many will do the same and before long the place will get over-crowded (a la Mount Pleasant) ... I'll keep you posted if it does, but in the 2.5 hours i was there today it was fine. read more

That one star is for the good facility. I am rating their pool party package that is $195. DO NOT...EVER! make the same mistake we did by booking the Percy Norman Room. 1. We chose that room because it is adjacent to the pool. Much easier for our guests to be in and out but no. We cannot use the access door. 2. The hours are strictly 1 1/2 hours. They do not allow extension. They should skip hosting a kids party if they will limit their hours. We are talking about kids/toddlers here! They can be very unpredictable no matter how much you plan your time. 1 1/2 hours is not even enough for snacks and chit chats. They should just tear that room down! It's useless! Also 1 1/2 hours includes set-up and pack-up! 3. They did not let us use their caddy for our stuff! Because they only have one or two caddies and they are booked on another party! I asked the party leader in another room if I can use it BUT no he said I can't even if the host hasn't arrived yet while me and my husband are already there and will only take us 5 mins to load things up and unload everything. The party leaders did not even helped us find any available caddy or could have at least spoke to the other party leader and negotiate. They just effortlessly said no, they don't have any caddy for us! 4. DECORS! This is part of what we paid for and I was told I can choose a theme. Guess what?! they just provided us with plain purple and green table cloth a fee balloons. I still provided the tinkerbell stuff! While a friend of mine who had their son's party at another community center provided their transformer's themed decors! WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!! read more

Always busy, but such a great space!! The kids pool is incredible and is probably only second to the Wave Pool at Richmond Riverport (in my humble opinion). Besides the crowds, my only complaint is the depth of the hot tub; I'm short (5'2") and I have to crouch to get my shoulders under the water when sitting. There is free parking and it's a great location near Queen Elizabeth Park, Little Mountain baseball diamonds, and between Main St. and Cambie St. The #16 bus stops mere yards away from the entrance. read more

Sure it got crowded, but everyone seemed to be having fun including my family (my sister and I are old: I'm in my 20s and she's 16 along with our parents). Went in July 2014, beautiful sunny day. The facilities are big and modern. I enjoyed how Hillcrest offers an outdoor heated pool with sun bathing opportunities (with chairs!). The indoor pools were a lot of fun: a "river" that pushes everyone along, hot tub that looks like it can accommodate 30 people, kiddie pools and lap pools with a diving board. Hillcrest also has a steam room and a sauna. Didn't use it but it was great to have that option. There were lockers that you can use for a quarter and shower rooms for individuals and families (with body wash). The change rooms didn't feel crowded and it was also decent in terms of cleanliness. Parking was crowded, but to be expected on a sunny day. We just need to be a bit patient knowing that lots of people are enjoying this centre. Having it been our first time visiting, I thought that Hillcrest is a well-maintained facility with lots of visible staff including lifeguards. Had a great time and would definitely return. read more

Of all the pools, in all the towns, in all the world (or at least the ones I've been to!)... I'd probably walk into this one first. I go there regularly for fitness three times a week, participating in their deep water aquafit classes. The space designated for DWF is excellent - large and deep. It certainly surpasses the area in the community pool this one replaced, the Percy Norman Pool (although I do have a warm spot for that pool, where I went for eight years.) The quality of the classes vary, depending on the instructor (not all instructors are created equal, after all) but I believe you can get value from any class - it's up to the participant to make the most of the class, but some instructors are better than others. The line-up changes fairly regularly, so you don't normally get stuck with the same instructors for long time periods. My one comment about some instructors is, they rely too much on "swimming-type" routines. One of the reasons I quit swimming lengths was because of continuing shoulder problems; many people who chose aquafit do so because they cannot swim lengths. When I first started doing aquafit in 2002, this was not an issue; it's just in the past couple of years that "swimming" has crept into the routines. A real plus: since moving over from PNP, they've added three additional DWF classes on M-W-F. They maintained the M-W 8-9 p.m. classes, but also added 12:45-1 p.m. classes on M-W-F, which really adds to the flexibility of scheduling fitness activities. I guess there were some Sunday morning classes, but I never even attempted to get up that early for them, so I can't speak to them. Moving on from the programs, the facility is top-notch. There is an excellent steam room and a dry sauna, as well. The hot tub is very spacious; however, the vast majority of the jets do not shoot out with enough pressure, in my opinion. The best jacuzzi jets I've been to at a public pool are at Bonsor, in Burnaby. There is also a leisure pool and fully regulation sized pool for swimming lengths. The changing facilities - lockers, showers, bathroom facilities - are also all top-notch. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Overall, it's a great facility, whether you're looking for fitness or just some family fun. read more

Too bad this beautifully designed pool is extremely crowded and unpleasant. Aggressive older "regulars". Constant spitting. Changing rooms, pool deck - filthy. They close off the lane swimming, so its about the same length as a regular COV indoor pool. The hot tub is the craziest of all: standing room only, packed like sardines, and you will not leave without contracting the latest, most severe strain of flu. Avoid it like The Plague (literally!). read more

Dissappointing. Went to unwind after a day at the office only to sit with 60 or so people in a lukewarm hot tub with children (of multiple races haha) screaming at the top of their lungs. On to the Sauna. Absolute Nirvana (not the band haha) Dave read more

Awesome Pool! I would put the rating as "as good as it gets", but it is super crowded. I generally will be doing laps, and there is always space.. the kids pool however is crazy - but it is by far the best kids pool ever! After your swim, you can go upstairs to the fitness center and do some biking or weights. But this place is definately the best because of the pool. read more

A great facility for families with kids.... or people who dont actually swim. If you are looking for a place to do a lap workout, go to the Aquatic Centre (or Kits Pool in the summer!). This place gets CRAZY BUSY!!! Parking can be impossible.....ride your bike. The swim lanes are NARROW, slightly under the standard lane width. There is often a mishmash of swimming abilities distributed amongst the various designated lanes for different speeds. With the narrow lanes, its difficult to pass someone....especially those with crazy wide frog kicks! The only time the 50 meter lanes are available is EARLY morning on some mornings only. Shame! This centre is a good example of the trend of the generic changing rooms, with change booths separate from the lockers, for families and those who fear nudity. This system, and the private shower rooms therein, takes up WAY too much space. The result is that the designated men's changeroom is small and always crowded, many of the lockers are broken. And the floor is disgusting. We were very disappointed when this place opened up near our home. It really isnt designed for athletes....its designed for kids, and for people that like to sit in a FULL 70 person hot tub with a bunch of strangers... read more

Beautiful facility for sure, but the lane swimming can be horrible. Too busy and too chaotic. There is always lap swimming available, but usually only 25m lanes are open rather than 50m lanes. The moveable bulkheads seem handy and smart but they essentially eliminate the 50m lengths which is too bad. There is no policing of the lanes by the lifeguards, so you get an awful lot of people who don't really know how to swim, doing weird back strokes and clogging up the medium lane. The other problem is they rent way too many lanes out to clubs, so even at peak times you will often find only three narrow (no passing) 25 m lanes for public lengths. This in a wildly popular pool with the capacity for 8 50m lanes. What a zoo. The outdoor pool is a nice place to cool off after your lap swim in the summer. The hot tubs is very large, holds like 50 people, but is very shallow and not hot enough. Steam room and sauna are okay. Parking is a nightmare after work and people are so very rude. Never use the ice rink or gym so cannot comment. So... In a nutshell this is a truly beautiful facility that is just too crowded with jerks and not properly run. read more

For the unique circumstances of our family -- three kids four years and under, the older two being autistic -- this place is a disaster. Access and parking is difficult and confusing, and not particularly near the pool itself. The changing area is a disaster. There are no family change rooms. What they do have is the large locker area between the men's and women's change rooms where there is a... I don't know what to call it. There are two banks of private change cubicles along the wall, and many if not all of those cubicles have showers inside them. Then there are two banks of cubicles running across the area, which don't have showers. This area is not designated as a family change area, so most of the people using it end up being singles who, for whatever reason, have a hang-up about getting undressed in their respective change room. Common sense would suggest that when you're putting your suit on to go swimming, you don't need one of the larger cubicles with a shower. You could use one of the plentiful smaller ones without a shower, and leave ones with a shower for those getting out of the pool. But no, it doesn't work that way at Hillcrest. As it was, our older son had a melt down when we got changed both going in and coming out. The cubicles have seven foot walls, but the ceilings are like 20 feet high, so it gets really noisy and echo-y, and he was quickly overwhelmed. I'd suspect that's the rule rather than the exception with autistic kids at this facility. If you have to use a toilet, I recommend going somewhere else before, or holding it in until later. It's not a good setup there at all, they aren't clean, and the odds of finding TP seem to be about 50-50. The pool is completely unsuitable for small children. There's a small area with water jets shooting up and across that's about two inches deep. Then the rest of the pool the shallowest part is .9 meters. It just doesn't work for the smaller kids. You can see from the photos that the swimming area is huge. It, and the locker area, are completely open. The view of the outside is great, with the two long walls basically being all windows. But the flip side is that as a parent, I found it very creepy, and I didn't feel as safe as I'd when taking my kids swimming. read more

Allowing people to pre-book several cardio machines at a time!?!? The rules clearly states you cannot do this WTF? I hate having to enforce it myself but I'll do it if I have to..... unless you're an old goat. C'mon staff, keep any eye on it or use the clipboard system and print the gym rules on the clipboard and tie it to the cardio machines. read more

This is probably the best indoor pool in Vancouver.This place get BUSY when you go there during peak hours.For those of you that don't know this was the curling rink during the olympics and was built for that.They have a gigantic hot tub where like 20 people can sit in there and still not overflow.They have a wavepool inside too.If you like to dive they have a medium high dive board and a really high dive board.Great if you like to jump from way up high. A great alternative to the downtown aquatic centre and watermania in richmond read more

Pretty good pool. Gets a bit busy but usually you have enough room. Has a sauna, steam room and a very big hot tub. Some of the kids water cannon toys can be used for water massage. Has 1, 3 and 5m diving boards that you usually don't have to wait for. Lockers seem to be secure and they give you your quarter back. The water has a touch of chlorine but the lifeguard said it was mostly cleaned using ultraviolet. The front desk cashier wasn't super friendly even though we mentioned we had never been before. read more

Pros: Warm water in the kiddie pool with lots of water toys to play with. They also supply life jackets. Beautiful facility and friendly staff. Cons: Way too many people. Water was very salty. Naively I asked the lifeguard if it was a salt water pool. He replied with a big grin "Nope. Chlorine. Tastes salty? Just look at the number of people in the water!". There were clumps of hair and grey stuff all over the change room floor. I don't think this facility was meant for such high traffic. The staff just couldn't keep up. Also parking was a nightmare. I went on a Friday at 4:30pm and couldn't find parking. read more

Definitely the best pool in Vancouver- lap pool, lessons pool, kiddie pool, lazy river, hot tub, sauna and outdoor pool in the summer. What's not to love? read more

My favorite place to swim, indoors, on the west coast. Massive lazy river, sauna, and hot tub. Huge area for kids always filled with toys and the changing rooms seemed to be hosed down every hour, as they are constantly clean. read more

Bummed out. Did the big cross town trek and it's annual maintenance to April 29 :(

Great facility. Not enough seating for parents watching kids lessons.

Impressive complex- includes pretty much everything- whirlpool, sauna, fitness complex, library for the kids. My only concern is the chlorinated water; if it was ozone-friendly like the one in Kilarney it would be perfect! read more

really want to go to this pool but some one drowned in there last year.... Quite hesitant to go now...

Returned here over Spring Break and I have to say I saw major improvements in cleanliness. I stayed a few hours in the seating area while my son played in the pool, and while I was there I saw the family area of locker room (which was sooo gross before) being dligently checked by the custodial staff and hosed down regularly. Garbage which used to sit there all day was now cleaned up and the drains were cleared. What a pleasant surprise, Hillcrest - now you are a facility that the community can be proud of! read more

The pool is outstanding with a huge hot tub. My kids loved the children's pool and had tons of fun in the lazy river. The lap pool was good for exercise, and I had a nice steam afterwards. Good all around. read more