I wanted my daughters (ages 2 and 4 at the time) to start taking swim lessons. After doing research and reading reviews, I decided to try out Blue Buoy. A few friends/neighbors also recommended Blue Buoy. Great communication from the start. It has been almost a year now and my girls look forward to their swim lesson every week (and getting their sticker at the end of their lessons). Their instructors are patient and kind and make my girls feel comfortable and safe in the water. read more

I cannot say enough good things about Blue Buoy Swim School! After a really negative experience at another swim program (Aquatots), my daughter was left scared and resistant to getting in the water. A friend recommended Blue Buoy, and I am SO glad we gave it a try. From the very first trial class with Coach Turner, my daughter felt comfortable and safe. She usually hates putting her head in the water, but with his gentle guidance and encouragement, she did it without hesitation--something I never thought I'd see so soon! We've now been coming for 2 months, and the progress she has made is incredible. Not only has her confidence grown, but her skills in the water have improved so much. The staff is kind, patient, and genuinely cares about the kids. The environment feels warm and supportive, which makes all the difference. Coach turner really knows how to work with the kiddos ! If you're looking for a swim school that builds trust, confidence, and real results, Blue Buoy is the place to go. I'm so thankful we found them! read more

Brought our Nephew here for a trial small beginner group class on a Saturday. Went great, the instructor was amazing and the nephew loved it. Went to sign up for another class, however we were told by scheduling after the fact that the trial class was not just a trial class but a tested/assessment class (we were never disclosed that prior), fine no worries. Then we're told our nephew has been assessed to be a beginner - level 1 (which is fine that's what we signed him up for beginner lesson group class). Then we're told the instructor only teaches level-4 swimmers on Saturdays and teaches beginners during the week during extremely rough times for traffic and such. We end up saying fine, we'll make it work and we sign up for the more difficult time for the beginner small group class, we'll accomodate. The weekday class goes great...We get a call the next day to pay for a long term session (which we intended to do anyway) and then they tell us that the instructor claims our nephew insteads needs more costly private lessons rather than small group lessons. At this point the whole situation has become comical. As you can read and detail above. It seems very much like a bait and switch tactic...sign up for an great timed trial class, have your swimmer bond with an instructor and then get told your little swimmer was actually tested and needs to be put either with a different instructor or the same instructor at a difficult time slot...then once you agree to that they then decide your little swimmer needs much more expensive private lessons instead of the group lessons you signed up for. Mind you we made it very clear during all interactions that we're pretty tight on budget and that seems to have been lost on them. Overall they have solid instrutors and a nice facility but it seems there's a lot of underlining bait and switch tactics happening at the back office which makes us no longer want to go here which is sad because our nephew was bonding with the instructor. read more

Blue Buoy has been a big part of my son's life since he was 8 months old and took his first lesson. He is now 20 and through all the years of swimming at Blue Buoy, he developed a natural ease in the water. He swam on Varsity Water Polo his freshman year and medaled in high school swimming. I credit this to the way Blue Buoy teaches. They have an excellent approach and philosophy that makes a huge difference compared to other swim schools. Not only the technique and style with which they teach, but the love the owners have for the students and families, makes this the top choice for learning to swim. I highly recommend Blue Buoy if you want your child to love and respect the water. read more

I took my toddler son in for a group lesson trial at the recommendation of some mom friends. While there were only three students total in our class, my son got about two minutes of face time out of the 20 minute long lesson. That would have been fine had we received clear group direction but we found ourselves sort of wading and splashing around in the water which we could have done on our own. Our instructor was chatting away to one of the moms for a large portion of time. We didn't really get much out of the lesson at all and found the private lessons very distracting as we had to constantly avoid bumping into the other instructors and children. There were also numerous unused pool toys at the bottom of the pool that I kept stepping on during the circle dance which was uncomfortable. Such a shame because I have heard great things about this school. One positive to note - the water and facilities, while a bit dated, felt very clean. read more

My daughter is 5 years old and we started her in some general local city Parent & Me classes around Age 2.5 before deciding we needed a more personal touch and found Blue Buoy. It's a bit of a drive for us but let me tell you - this is NOT a cookie cutter corporate / national style swim school. When they say family, they mean family. The instructors are professionals and adults who clearly are committed to the establishment and its patrons. We have had several instructors over the last few years not because of the instructor per se but because of changing after school obligations and time preferences. Once you get a spot, grab it! You can be on a wait list for a time that better suits you; ultimately bc with school schedule changes, something you prefer WILL come up! Coach Andy, Coach Turner, Coach Jeremy, Coach Eric, Coach Lucas, I can't even go through the list of everyone! Coach Beatriz's smile and upbeat attitude at the front desk always brightens the day. We screwed up a make up time slot and ended up arriving late and Coach Adrian swooped her up and gave her a lesson. That's the kind of people that work here. We did our first swim meet yesterday. It was energetic and supportive. The love and respect that the employees have for each other, their leadership and the establish was palpable. I will admit, I tried some other "local" chain swim school simultaneously thinking it would help me with the commute etc. (I'm sorry Johnny, I was cheating on you for a second but I have repented for my sins!) Kids teaching kids. Odd floatation assistance devices. 3-4 kids per instructor. Small tiny lanes. Unsat. This 5 year old swam 20-yard freestyle and backstroke yesterday and was so dang proud of herself. At that "other place," she would still have some weird foam back pack and have the distance to swim 4 arm strokes before getting to the end of the corral. We are Blue Buoy fam for life. read more

My son has been a student here for almost 3 years and loves every second of it. We started in the parent and me and now he is in the semi private lessons. Adrian is an amazing instructor and is so great with our son. The focus on overall water safety on top of making sure the kids have fun is awesome. read more

Both my son and my daughter learned how to swim here. I tried two other places unsuccessfully with my son before I was lucky enough to find Blue Buoy, and my daughter went on to become a division one water polo player after getting her start at Blue Buoy at age two. This school is great. read more

I've been bringing my daughter to Blue Buoy Swim School for a little over a year now, and I couldn't be more grateful for the experience we've had, thanks to the amazing Ms. Ally. Watching my daughter become more confident in the water each week has been truly incredible. Learning to swim is such an essential life skill, and it's a huge relief as a parent to know she's becoming safer around water. Ms. Ally has been beyond wonderful as an instructor. She's patient, encouraging, and really knows how to make lessons engaging for young swimmers. My daughter looks forward to her time with Ms. Ally each week--not only because of the swimming but because she genuinely enjoys being with her. Ms. Ally brings a warm, personable approach to her lessons, which has made all the difference in my daughter's comfort and enthusiasm to learn. Thank you, Blue Buoy, and especially Ms. Ally, for your dedication and care. You've given my daughter a skill that will benefit her for the rest of her life, and I couldn't be more appreciative. Keep up the fantastic work--you're everything a parent could ask for in a swim instructor! read more

Our granddaughter loves it... Wonderful teachers Family friendly Great facility And WE do too read more

We loved taking our baby to swim at blue buoy. Jeremy was a great instructor, always nice, always chatty, and really is great with the kids. Can't recommend this place enough. read more

My daughter started taking Parent-and-Me classes with her dad and Adrian for the last 5 months and it has truly been special to not only her, but to me as her mom. We started her when she was 13 months and Adrian was so patient with her. At our trial lesson, she wouldn't let him carry her and started to cry, but Adrian just followed her lead on what she was comfortable with. After the 3rd or 4th lesson, she was so excited for her turn in the pool with Adrian. For a few months, the only person she would let hold her (apart from mom and dad) was Adrian. She learned how to go under water, kick her legs, and stroke her arms in a circular motion. She can walk into the pool and off the steps into my husbands arms. She can jump into the pool shoulder down from a sitting position. She has grown so much in her swimming prep AND social skills - we have the Blue Buoy to thank for that. The entire staff is amazing from entry to exit. The kids get a sticker at the office on their way out, and it has been wonderful to have that short and sweet interaction with other staff while receiving her sticker! Look no further, this is where you want to be for your kids to learn to swim! read more

We love the instructors at Blue Buoy! My kids have worked with many of them and they always have a great time. Thank you for teaching my family water safety! The kids also love the swim meets during the summer. They can't wait for the next race to show off their skills! read more

Family-owned and operated, Blue Buoy is what you wish all businesses were like - personable, charming, caring and provides consistent, high quality service. They have a waiting list for a reason! Our kids LOVE going to swim class and have bonded so much with their teachers. Big thanks to Johnny, Cindy, Turner & Scott. I can't recommend them enough. read more

This review is years over due! My son who is now almost 8 learned how to swim at age 3 with a wonderful instructor, Ms. Alayah who has moved on to work in a university (we miss her so much)! She stayed with my son consistently until he was a little over 7 years old as we took a break from attending swim classes. But it was amazing to see how he progressed throughout the years and the staff is dedicated! Fast forward to present day, my daughter is now 2.5 years old and does semi private with with Ms. Rachel. In the short 3 months of consistently attending once a week she has made leaps in swimming. She can hold her breath and is confident when in the water. Ms. Rachel's teaching is gentle but fun. Thank you Ms. Rachel, we hope you can stay along for the ride until our girl also becomes a swimmer through Blue Buoy Swim School! read more

Blue Buoy Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Tustin, California

I can't say enough good things about this swim school ! I've been taking both my kids there for almost 5 months now, and we all love it! My 5-year-old son can swim now! We've had classes with most of the instructors and love them all! read more

Scott P is the kindest and most patient instructor. Always encouraging even when things are hard. He has a huge heart and is amazing with my child. read more

This establishment stands as quite the exceedingly good swim school for my son as he is planning on moving to a swim team in his years of high school, and I can foresee in the future that this school will help him grow exceedingly in many ways! read more

I will forever sing the praises of Blue Buoy and have recommended at least 4-5 people to go who are also big fans! My son is 3.5 and we've been going for about 2 years. My son was NOT a fan when we started in the parent and me classes or even semi-privates. There were days we just sat and watched other kids and they were so patient with him! We have had multiple teachers but Turner has been our regular teacher. My son is a new kid and he absolutely loves classes now. He asks every single day to go to swim class. He's developing so fast now and I feel so much safer around water. So grateful to everyone at Blue Buoy! read more

Loving this swim school. Really like the instruction from Jonny. So far so good! Thank you

My toddler is 18 months and never had swimming lessons. Last week was our first week and Jeremy was so wonderful!! My toddler is very apprehensive around new faces and often will cling to me, but with Jeremy she went right to him. My toddler was very happy and didn't want swim lesson to be over. We signed up for 8 months and plan to continue after that. read more

My daughter went from being afraid of the water to swimming competitively thanks to Blue Buoy. Thank u!!

Nice and clean facility plus great instructors. My daughter lived the small pool full of toys available for the children to warm up before class. read more

We found Blue Buoy this past July and have been very pleased. My 2-kids (10&8 yrs) take a semi-private lesson together once a week with Instructor Turner. For them it's like taking a lesson with a cooler big-brother. Earlier in the summer my son (age 7 at the time) failed his swim-test at summer camp. I think this really embarrassed him. He had to miss out on all the fun water activities. He had lessons in the past (not at Blue Buoy) so he could swim but lacked confidence in deeper water. This had me on a journey to find him good swim instruction when he got back from camp. They have learned a lot over the past few months and my son & daughter have greatly improved. They look forward to class every single week. read more

Blue Buoy Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

I am sad to leave this review. I had heard great things about this school but I wasn't happy at all. My 9 month old went for his swim lesson and I was watching as my husband and my baby just did their own thing in the pool with no direction from the instructor. It was pointless. I could have done this same thing at the pool in my home read more

We have been doing private lessons with Jeremy for the last few months and he's awesome! He's such a nice person and we really look forward to seeing him each week. He is wonderful with little kids, very skilled and very caring. Our son was nervous at first and Jeremy was very patient. Overall, just a great swim school and overall feeling! read more

I love this swimming school! My 5-year old son has been a student here for about a month now and he loves going every week and I have to drag him out when it's time to leave! He loves his semi-private lessons with Aalayah and the entire staff are all just so friendly. The instructors here all have their profiles and bio on the website and many of them were students of BB themselves as infants/kids! They offer different types of lessons, based on your child's needs. There is a lot of flexibility in the schedule, too since they have so many instructors and long hours. The website offers a ton of information so when you're ready to tour or take advantage of one free lesson, you should be good to go and without too many questions. The school is tucked next to an apartment community and kind of hidden away. The parking lot is large enough but it can get crowded on weekday evenings since that seems to be the more popular time for the kids and parents to come. If you're looking to sign up your child for swimming lessons, look no further! read more

The best place for your kiddos! Started our daughter here around 5 months. Classes with Mr. Johnny are the best. We will be back with our 2nd! read more

We love Blue Buoy! We've been taking lessons for almost 1 year now. My oldest son is 5 yrs old and is doing the semi-private lessons (2 people). Sometimes we get lucky with a private! My youngest is in the parent-and-me classes. We love the environment and how it's family-owned and operated. Every teacher that we've had has been fantastic and our kids have truly learned so much and LOVE going to swimming each week. I really like how the classes for their older kids are all semi-private with 2 kids max. I think they get better attention and they have their process down to accommodate both kids efficiently. It's also very competitive in pricing in comparison to other swim schools we looked at. Their front office staff for scheduling is amazing and always very accommodating and it's easy to report an absence online via their website. I also love that they have coffee there for the parents :) read more

I am compelled to say the cons in a Yelp review, but there's not much negativity here. The lesson instructors in both semi-private and in parent-and-me are all great with me and my kids. Management seems easy to get in touch with on site during lessons. There's always extra lifeguard teachers watching for extra support. They have snacks for kids when they finish their lessons. They let you keep all of your missed (if reported) days permanently as long as you're active when you use them. They have random open swim times. You can relax as long as you'd like after your lessons and let the kids swim. The online site, though not appealing, makes missing days, signing up, and paying relatively easy. I mean, the place is really great. I will say that it's not "cheap," but it's not particularly expensive either. You'll get what you pay for. read more

Absolutely the best swim school in Orange County. The instructors have been there for many many years. I don't know how they manage to keep very experienced instructors at the same school for so long. All the teachers are super nice, very experienced, and works well with the kids. Don't have to worry about getting a bad sub or another instructor. Nice outdoor heated pool with shade sails. There's 2 of them. A deep end for more advanced kids or beginners in getting them use to deeper water but doing so safely. Office staff wonderful. All of them. Super friendly. Only down side.. somewhat limited hours so prime time usually requires a wait list. It'll be nice if one day they can bring back open swim. Great class size with only private and semi private lessons (1:2) with exception of their stroke prep classes, etc. Pool doesn't feel too crowded. Plenty of space to maneuver. We pulled our kids out from Aqua Tots with almost a year there. The kids are much happier and progressing more quickly at Blue Buoy. I pay the same amount too! Wonderful well established family owned swim school. read more

We love Blue Buoy swim school! We started with Parent and Me when my oldest was little, she's now 3 and loves going to swim class every week. She has learned so much and is becoming a great swimmer. My youngest is 2 and is going for semi-private weekly lessons too, she also loves it. The instructors do a great job making it fun for the kids while they learn lots of new skills. I can't say enough good things about this swim school, highly recommend read more

Dear Friends I have experienced different pools for my son and I can honestly say this was the best place I have ever been and my son Mohammad loves it here. I am very grateful to Ms. Cindy for her kindness and useful advice and compassionate help; My special thanks to Mr. Scott for his kindness, patience, effort, and his respectful behavior. Also, I want to say thank you to Ms. Beatriz for her great heart, patience, and considerate behavior. In my opinion, this group really deserves the best and I love and respect them from the bottom of my heart, my son and I are both very happy to be with these friends. I wish them eternal success from the bottom of my heart. read more

My son and I love instructor Ally!! We signed up for a free trial class a month ago, my 3.5 year old son has attended 4 or 5 classes so far and I am in awe of how much he has learned and how comfortable in the water he has gotten in this short period of time. I can't help but feel so lucky that we got instructor Ally that first time. She is a perfect match for my sons personality! She is kind, gentle, compassionate and so knowledgeable. My son doesn't warm up to new people very easily but he did with her. It was very important to me that he feels safe and secure in the water while learning. He does with Ally! She knows just what she's doing. My son loves getting the sticker at the end of the class, and all the staff are kind to us when we are there, thank you! read more

Today at swim my son who is learning how to talk was using his voice and the teacher put her hand over his face. I was so furious I froze then later he was wiggling around and she made a comment about him me a trouble or problem child. I was so upset and mad. I waited until we got home to call. They called back and made me feel bad that she was in tears about the situation and never mentioned to her about her putting her hands I my son's face the supervisor laughed half of the time. This is a very serious situation and they are saying there's nothing they can do. They didn't even fire her!!!!! I'm apparently getting a phone call from the owner Monday. I'm hoping I don't have to waste me time with anything legal and they fire this girl. SO sad my son loved coming here. JUST GOT A CALL FROM THE OWNER She called to tell me it was my misunderstanding! LOL I just want a full refund and a refund of the money I gave to future classes. I can't believe their drama she was so rude too!!!! If you are a parent STAY AWAY from this place!!!! Just got a full refund for the class and future classes we payed for. Absolutely bummed this happened and can't believe the drama I got from the owner. What makes me so mad is that she and they are all saying nothing happened and that I misunderstood. Also said that supervisor with laughing about something else in the office not at our conversation which is just mind blowing. read more

We LOVE Blue Buoy Swim School. Our daughter started swim classes about 2 months ago and she's already learned so much. Rachel is a very sweet and talented teacher. Our daughter has grown so much after each lesson. She always looks forward to her class with Rachel, because she truly enjoys her time here. The entire staff is kind, responsive, efficient, and friendly. We're so lucky to have found this swim school. You can tell all the teachers are truly dedicated to their students. It's wonderful. Thank you!! read more

Amazing place! Passionate and knowledgeable staff and instructors. My son had a traumatic event at another swim school and it took some time for him to get his confidence back. I am so grateful for Ally. She has been so patient. So glad we found this place read more

Blue Buoy Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Tustin, California

Today my son had his first free trial swim lesson with instructor ERIC. And may I say he was amazing. Although my son is not afraid of water he is 100% shy and scared of people he does not know. I for sure thought this lesson would end in 2 minutes but Eric made my 2 year old son feel so comfortable and gained his trust within 5 minutes. This is amazing for my child. We will definitely be returning and signing him up for months to come.Thank you Eric read more

Blue Buoy Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

We LOVE blue buoy! My son has been attending private lessons for a few months and has gotten so comfortable in the water. He was terrified before! Each lesson they introduce something a bit different. It's also very "covid safe" as its pretty wide open. I highly recommended swim lessons here! read more

We have been bringing our kids here for the past 5 years. I have had only positive experiences with this swim school and staff. I am always treated with courtesy and respect, particularly when I call on the phone and there is always a live person there to answer who is attentive to my needs and clearly cares about clients. Kudos to the phone staff particularly - they juggle my lesson times, makeup times, etc with ease and courtesy as I move my schedule around almost on a weekly basis. Front desk staff knows the families, goes out of their way to help, always very attentive. Facility is CLEAN. Water is always WARM! Plenty of heaters indoors and outdoors for parents and swimmers! Excellent seating! Coffee for parents ! Treats for the swimmers ! Wow and most importantly ? My kids can swim. And are strong, confident swimmers. Oh, and regarding diversity, this place is as diverse as it gets. Diversity in instructors and staff (age, race, gender) and diversity in clients/families who attend. Proud to be a part of this blue buoy family. read more