We have tried several swim schools around the area and my kids have the most fun AND learn the most at Happy Fish. The instructors are nice and really try to get the kids comfortable with water. My youngest was very afraid of water and would only sit on the steps, but by day 3, he was comfortable to submerged his whole body in. We signed the kiddos up for the mini summer sessions which are Monday thru Thursdays for 30 minutes each day. The class size is 1 instructor to 4 kids. We have done 2 weeks now with Happy Fish and on week 3. We have seen significant improvement in the kids swimming abilities and they look forward to going to class every day, which is a huge win given both were scared of water. Happy that we found Happy Fish and will definitely be back next summer! Shoutout to Ms. Kira and Dexter for being so patient with my kids and making swimming so fun for them! read more

I am happy to report that Happy Fish Swim school followed up with me after I tried to contact them to start enrolling in a new class. It is a nice facility - clean and spacious. It has a small student-teacher ratio so kids can learn comfortably.I recommend it. read more

Happy Fish is Fremont is a great school with friendly staff who know how to work with all age groups. We've been taking lessons for years. The low turnover of staff is great for little learners to build trust and confidence in class. The different levels for lessons are achievable and not just pushing students through like some other schools. The facility is clean and plenty of stalls for changing. The baby changing station is very helpful. We're fortunate to have found this swim school. read more

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Staff is very friendly and supportive. My son did really well in this program and learned a lot during his time here. He's a better swimmer than me now! read more

Teachers are great and my son is actually learning how to swim. We've gone to another swim school previously and really felt that our son was just playing in the water and not really learning any skill. So glad we made the change to Happy Fish! read more

I did not like the aqua baby class. The class pacing was not good. The instructor was very nice though

We have been taking our 15 month old to the water babies class. The pool and facility is very clean! The class it self is very calm and I like its not super intense it gives a lot of freedom to enjoy with your baby. I just wish there was maybe more mats the floor can be slippery when walking around wet even by the chairs and tables. read more

Excellent experience so far! They let you pay per class as you go each week so it's not a big commitment and can sign up week by week depending on your schedule. We went to one waterbabies class so far with our 1.5 yr old, and will definitely be returning. The coach we had was super friendly and interactive. I like that one parents can be in water with baby while the other stands in the side taking photos and cheerleading :) They're quick to reply (via email) and classes are affordable. read more

Happy Fish Swim School - Daddy helping teach how to be on his back - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fremont, California

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Update: we recently started and finished our first Swim team prep sessions with Coach Calla and had a positive experience. Highly recommend this place. read more

I really like this facility. The staff are very friendly and helpful. They show they really care. Their online system is easy to use. The only down side, I would say is that it is hard to get someone on the phone, however, they are very responsive in email and will address any concerns you have through email. read more

We attended Happy Fish Swim School for about a year. My kid started from the beginner and now he's an intermediate swimmer. He had classes with Ms. Stacey, Mr. Marcus, Mr. Daniel, and few other teachers. His favorite was Mr. Marcus since he was strict yet fun at the same time. It really depends on the child to advance to the next level. My kid sometimes stuck to one level for months but then he sped through the next one fairly quickly. The thing that motivates my kid was getting the ribbon when he finishes the level. One drawback was short staffed & limited schedule. I felt that in the past 4 months, it's kinda hard to book the make up class. However, they sometimes has a special make up class on the weekend. Overall, the teachers are very good and are patient to teach all the techniques. I highly recommended this swim school. read more

My daughter has been going to happy fish since July. We tried one other swim school and we make a farther drive to take her here. The teachers are great and give feedback on what we can work on. My daughter is a much more confident swimmer now thanks to happy fish! read more

I've called them multiple times to get my kids enrolled and they never answer the phone. Very unprofessional.

I had taken my son to American Swim Academy and it was good at first and then they just kind of gave up and if they saw that my son wasn't interested they would just give him water toys to play with. So instead of us paying for swim lessons, we were paying them to have him sit and play. Summer comes around and I took him to a community pool for lessons and my son did fine, then I finally saw an opening for Happy Fish and we did our free trial and my son loved it. So I knew it wasn't just my son, it was the approach. Fast forward and we got him in officially and I can honestly say my son has improved so much. I love happy fish. My son enjoys going to his lessons and every week he gets better.I actually see the instructors teaching my son and not just giving him toys the entire time. And if my son is goofing off they don't just give up, they talk to him and give him something else to work on to keep him busy but it still applies to swimming. I'm extremely happy that we decided to go with happy fish and I constantly recommend them to any family looking for swim lessons. I'm just waiting g to get my daughter in once we come back from vacation and other extra curriculars are done. read more

I'm a huge fan! All of the employees are extremely kind, respectful and knowledgeable. The swim instructor made the lessons really fun and confidence-building. The prices are also super reasonable. The facility is clean and has tons of room for parents to wait for their kid as well as watch them in their lessons if you'd like to. I would definitely recommend Happy Fish Swim School! read more

three of four kids have now attended Happy Fish, Fremont and have passed the Happy Fish card. I now feel comfortable with my third child being in a large body of water whether it be from pool to ocean with the life skill Happy Fish instructors teaches about swimming. I am definitely going to sign up my youngest when she's ready for swimming good times. The card system works to keep me updated and keeps track of things students need to know. I would highly recommend this school to parents that want their children to learn this important life skill. read more

I have been attending the water babies class with my 6 month old daughter. And where do I begin, we absolutely love it! When you first walk in the ambience is very welcoming, friendly, and positive environment. The classes are small enough that the instructor, Mr. Scott can check in on all the babies and parents. The set up of this class is made in such a way for a baby to thrive, its at your own pace, but can build upon previous obstacles. My baby daughter loves it, as soon as we walk in and sees the water she begins to yell/scream of excitement. Mr. Scott is very kind, friendly, knowledgable and welcoming. He has a lot of patience to teach, knowledge of swimming and the physiology of the body in water and an uplifting spirit to help the babies thrive. Also, creates a fun, uplifting, and positive atmosphere for class. I feel welcome with the other parents and babies swimming. To enroll and pay for the swim classes is very easy! They have made it in such a hassle free way, for the parents and kids to just enjoy swimming and learn as much as possible. The inside is very spacious for swimmers, parents, and those waiting. There is even a waiting area with benches and a TV for kids waiting to hang out. On the walls there are inspiration quotes / sayings / mantras. I always read them and walk out feeling empowered. The music they play while we wait for class to start is an amazing playlist, very upbeat and positive but relating to the babies environment. I couldn't be more thankful and happy to come to Happy Fish Swim School, we are just starting but hope to be continue. read more

I used to take my daughter to American Swim Academy with my sister, but she moved away during Covid and ASA was going to charge me like $450 for the next season so I figured it was about time I found a new place. The rates were more reasonable here -- about $30 per class. My daughter is making great progress towards learning to swim and has a lot of fun. The whole building is nice and warm in the winter, there are big windows for parents to watch the lessons (free wifi if you'd rather poke at your phone), and the teachers wear plastic face shields to help minimize Covid. But the main reason I'll keep coming here is that I have social anxiety, and I barely have to talk to anyone when I come here. ASA wanted me to call them on the phone (!) for everything, even paying, and it was really hard to make any scheduling changes or sick day makeups. Here, all the payment and scheduling is done easily through the online portal, they're really responsive to email if not (even signing up for lessons initially was done 100% through email), and the only time I need to interact with people is to get feedback from the teacher at the end of the lesson to update me on how she's doing. Love it. read more

The 4:1 teacher to student ratio makes it hard for beginning swimmers to learn, especially little kids. My daughter went here for a month and just stood around a lot of the time. The facility is also not as nice as American Swim Academy. The price point is cheaper but I don't think it's worth the cost savings because it will just take longer for your child to learn how to swim. read more

We enrolled our 2 year old in the Water Babies class. We liked that they had lots of toys for her to play with. She definitely felt more comfortable in the water after attending these classes. She learned to "swim" forward, on her back, jump in the water, and climb along the side of the swimming pool. I like that you can sign up for a class each week (just in case you couldn't make it) but I had to sign up asap on Fridays because the weekend classes book up fast. A con is that they teach the same things in each class so she wasn't really progressing after the first few lessons so we stopped attending. read more

We took a trial class at this swim school and it felt ok to enroll in summer swim classes. My kids already have been doing swimming but despite of that they were in level 1. We took two classes and both classes they stood in the water for 25 mins out of 30 mins and did nothing! By the end of 2nd class they moved to level 2 already. I felt cheated that we paid for 30 mins class and got not even 5 mins proper attention to them and they were level 2 already and wasted two classes being in level 1. We ended the sessions in two classes. We drove 30 mins just for these classes as word of mouth was great from a friend of ours and wasted $ for 2 sessions 2 kids plus they charged $10 for cancelation. Just wanted to do this review to let management know that parents send their kids to learn not to just stand in water and waste money! Pretty disappointing. read more

We signed up our son here around October 2022, and he absolutely loves it! We enrolled him for the purpose to be brave and confident in the water on his own. Happy fish is doing exactly that! His main teachers are Mr. James and Mr. Blaise. He's had other teachers for make up classes but we noticed he does really well with Mr. James and Mr. Blaise. All the staff are extremely friendly, nice, and communication is great! Our son loves the school so much, that we increased him to twice a week! Each class is about 30 mins long and you will always get feed back from the teacher after class has ended. Since it's summer now, you can take advantage of their summer mini sessions, which is 4 classes a week! Everything can be done online through their website. From enrollment, payments, adding classes, etc. make up classes are extremely lenient! If my son missed a class, he gets 30 days to make it up for no additional fee! There are plenty of changing rooms for swimmers to change in and a couple of showers for rinsing off. Plenty of benches, tables and chairs for parents to watch or work on their laptops. They even provide free wifi! They also have big windows for parents to watch too. You can even sit inside the pool area with benches. Swimmers are given cards so they can see their progress which helps them pass their levels. My son loves ringing the bell whenever he passes. He is currently now in the intermediate level, Jellyfish. We are excited to see him finish all the levels! Of course, all on his time and pace. We have so many good things to say about Happy Fish, that I can't think of any cons/bad thing to say. We have recommended a few friends and they all feel the same way after starting here! What are you waiting for?? Sign up already! (No registration fee!) read more

I came to yelp to see what other people had to say about Happy Fish in general, because I wasn't sure if I was just spoiled by the last swim school we attended. I was surprised to see so many 4-5 star ratings until I saw the rude responses of the 1-3 star ratings! Yikes. I'm going to go ahead and leave a review anyway and hope that I don't get my head chopped off for it. Although the staff is friendly, and they have a "well oiled machine" when it comes to the limited space, the classes are WAY too full and the pools are so crammed. I was really hoping my daughter would be able to continue advancing her skills, but with so many kids per class, she only got a turn 2 or 3 times within the 30 minutes she was in the pool. She spent most of the class bored and asked if she could stop taking swim lessons all together. :( We decided to stick to it for a whole month to see if things were better once she moved to the correct skill level (I accidentally enrolled her as beginner when she should have been intermediate), but unfortunately even though she was in the bigger part of the pool, she still wasn't getting enough swim time. Although the price is much more affordable, unfortunately it still wasn't worth the money considering how little she actually got to swim. Maybe the morning classes are better as far as student to teacher ratio, but unfortunately she's in school at the time. Oh well, maybe we'll try again another time and hopefully they'll enroll less kids at a time. read more

Prices are reasonable, pool gets cleaned often, very friendly instructors and staff plus they communicate promptly Will definitely recommend read more

My 2 kids (10 and 7 years old) love it and have made quick progress in their short time taking lessons. Staff are all friendly and the skills needed to pass on to each level are reasonable and transparent. My only wish was that the classes were longer. 30 minutes a week doesn't feel like enough time sometimes. read more

I had a hiccup with them the first time with timing and understanding. I was holding my thought until I finally took my son to his first session of swimming. Scott is a very great teacher who makes sure each child learns some quality things big or small from his session. I don't know how to swim myself so I had trouble with certain movements and Scott would observe each parent and child, and makes himself available to help when needed. We had a blast with our first session which was beyond my expectations. I would highly recommend this place. read more

Staff is great + Teachers are great+ Pool is also decent size + Ample changing rooms + Only 3 open showers -- Each teacher has around 4+ kids -- so for 1/2 hr class, each kid gets teachers attention for about 5+ minutes of learning each week so the learning curve is very slow. They have 11 levels from start to finish and each level has around 4 skills to finish this course with 5 minutes of teaching kids to take around 3-4 years to cross those 11 levels, I wish there would be only 2 kids per teacher or they have this program available I would have given 4 stars read more

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This swim school is awesome. My 9 year old was a beginner and has breezed through to advanced in three weeks thanks to the summer mini sessions. The teachers have all been fantastic! The communication with staff has also been so easy. I've made a few mistakes with scheduling and they were so easy to work with. read more

If you want your kid to build the confidence and learn how to swim, this is the best place. My 5 year old daughter went from only wanting to be on the stairs of the pool to actually swimming within the 5th swim class. Thanks to swim coach Daniel, my daughter has built up the courage and always looks forward to her next class. We will definitely be putting our son in class pretty soon. read more

Happy Fish Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fremont, California

My Daughter has recently completed the Swim Clinic! She loved it all through. The trainers are really good and very patient with kids, a big shout out to Daniel, Catalina and Violet for being such great trainers! Thank you!!! Highly recommend for kids who are beginners and want to learn swimming with having fun! read more

My review is mainly towards the make up class process. I had a make up class scheduled and unfortunately my child got the sickness. I tried calling the centre so many times (but they never ever pickup). I also emailed them to reschedule the class as I do not want others to get infected They got back to me 2 days later saying that make class can not be rescheduled for any reason. So, seems like are OK if your instructors and other kids get infected with sickness because the policies are so inefficient I am really disappointed with this. read more

Very good swim school. Teachers are very nice and friendly. We love Ms Leah and Ms Kaitlyn who are excellent and very patient with our daughter. They have family practice time on weekends which is nice. They don't have private lessons which is a bummer. In a group lesson of 4 kids, 30 mins is not enough since your kid will get 8 mins of attention. So the progression can be a little slow (it depends on the kid too). read more

TO ALL OTHER PARENTS, IF YOUR KID WAS ALSO TREATED THE SAME WAY AT THIS FACILITY, PLEASE CONTACT ME PRIVATELY. 11/12/2017 My 3-year-old boy enjoyed coming to this place for last several months util today. He just earned his Dolphin pass yesterday so he was so happy to come back for a makeup class with Ms. Barbra at 11:55 am today. As usual I was sitting in the waiting room to watch him through window. Around 12:10 pm, in a routine practice that each kid takes turn to jump into the water then climb up. I saw my kid was crying after he climbed out of the water. I thought he was injured or something so I approached to the swimming pool and stood against the wall to watch him. I didn't want to interrupt the class so I didn't call his name neither he saw me. A minute or so, he stopped crying and later jumped into the swimming pool again. A few seconds after his head went above the water, Ms. Barbra used force to push my kid's head back to the water. I have watched how other instructors trained my kid but this is new to me. I thought maybe this is some sort of special technique used by Ms. Barbra so I continued to observe how she trained other 2 kids. No, she didn't push the other 2 kids' heads back into the water. A few minutes later, the class was over so she had all 3 kids hold the wall to walk back to the stairs. My kid was the last one. She then grabbed my kid and put him in the water. When my kid almost reached the stairs, Ms. Barbra used force to push my kid's head back to water again and I was standing right there. Apparently my son got shocked and scared, he stopped walking. After I called his name several times, he finally heard me and saw me then immediately started crying hard very hard. I asked the lady sit on the lifeguard's chair for the facility manager and she told me she IS the manager. I then asked her if she saw how Ms. Barbra just pushed my kid's head back to water and she said YES and she offered me a free class and said she will talk to Ms. Barbra. The manager was in full dress not swimming suit and she sit on the lifeguard's chair. I am going to stop writing here. I will ask for a justice for my 3-year-old boy and you use your own judgement to see whether to bring your kid to this swimming school or not. ------------------------------ 11/13/17 I filed a police report today and the police officer called me back after talking to the manager and the instructor. They now claim the instructor was using a 'technique' to train my kid. If you want someone to drawn your kid, this is definitely the place to go. I am going to post police report once I got it and let everyone know the teaching technique they use at this school is to push your kid head down while he/she is walking back out of water. ------------------------------ 11/16/17 After checking YELP reviews, it turned out my kid was not the only victim of this school. There are 2 other families kids also had same experiences. Please check them out for your own kids! https://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-fish-swim-school-fremont?hrid=j59Ihys9mLWjg5n8qw89Pw&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct) https://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-fish-swim-school-fremont?hrid=0BPC5EOeCpV8UyRPmnozwg&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct) ------------------------------ 11/19/17 To the owner Scott, I called back a couple of times and Scott you should know your business better than anyone else. As another reviewer mentioned, you guys rarely picked up phone calls. yelp.com/biz/happy-fish-... The reason I didn't try to call back is because you are the one supposed to call me and seek for a solution not me. I don't feel needed to call back and hear lies again. No apology has ever been made and this instructor has been working at this business for several years. As an owner, Scott you never called me at all. You had branch manager to deal with me. I will not tolerate someone treat my kid like this. You will get a fair treatment. Admit the instructor mis-treated my son then fire her. After that, we can start having some conversations. It's really up to you now. read more

Happy Fish got my 8 year old from a serious fear of water, getting his face wet, and putting his head under water to a good and more importantly enthusiastic swimmer. We went from that to our son REQUESTING MORE swim sessions and now swimming laps. He enjoys himself so much at Happy Fish and now loves swimming in public and hotel pools too. It's been an amazing experience and Dan in particular really worked with his fears and took the baby steps necessary to make him a swimmer. Can't say enough great things! read more

We had a great time with our 20 month old. The facility is simple, we checked- in then went to the changing area, seating area and into the pool. The 45 class was easy to follow and nicely structured. Mr. Scott was calm and patient with both parents and children. He was confident in helping the children which was reassuring. Very nice experience. read more

Hi, This is the best place for kids to learn swimming, it's clean and staff is very helpful. Schedules are very flexible. One of my friend referred this place and kids are happy here at Happy Fish read more

Happy Fish Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fremont, California

It was my first time here for the the adult swim class. I came early and waited at the back. I was told that someone would announce when the adult session will start once the kid class cleared. Class started at 8pm and at 8:25 no one announced the adult swim class so I thought there was just a delay. And they even assigned my name to a instructor at the front so I thought they would know that a student is missing. I went to check at the front and she told me that it already started. I went in quickly and I only got half the instruction time. I was not late and was waiting for the announcement. I reached out to Scott about the situation he was very nice about. He solved the problem very professionally and started to do roll call. Class set up: They assign you to a instructor depending on what you are working on and how much you already know. My first instructor was very nice and patient (forgot her name). I never swam in my life and she helped me while I was practicing and watch me and gave me feedbacks. The second class, I got Barbara. She wasn't as helpful for me. She just showed me how to do it and let me practiced on my own. Every time I struggle and I look at her she did not even give me feed back or come help me. Once in awhile she will ask "how is everything?" I tell her I'm not able to do it. And she says "it takes practice". I agree it takes practice but I also want to know what I can improve on or need to correct to do it properly. I never swam in my life and she's a swimming instructor. She should be more understanding with student different experience and needs. If I knew how to swim I would just keep practicing on my own and not need a instructor to teach me. But overall, I still recommend this school. Only place I found with adult only class and during the evening (good for working adul read more

Both teachers (Daniel and James) and front desk staff are friendly and kind. They really do look happy to help in any way they can. There are more than enough changing rooms, hair dryers for all the kids after my daughters class. I especially like their makeup policy which is not limited to a certain number per semester. My child can makeup any missed class within thirty days of the missed class. The teacher always gives feedback at the end of class and I can end the classes anytime with a thirty day notice. Plus, there is no registration fee. I think these features makes Happy Fish the best option for my family who needs flexibility. For parents or siblings, there are tables and chairs which are convenient for working. read more

Happy Fish Swim School - pool area - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fremont, California

Swim fish is a friendly swim school operated by excellent staff. My daughter loves to swim here every weekend. Their schedule is flexible, and if they cancel class, they will refund your account without asking. The markup class is easy to schedule too. We have been here since the pandemic time, and I'm recommended it to everyone. read more

We love the indoor heated pool specially our daughter who started swimming lessons at age ten months old. She loves playing in the water...truly a summer baby...splashing all around, she loves to jump in as her daddy catches her in his arms. She loves to hang on to the foam animals as her dad guides her while she kicks the water happily. She enjoys dunking her head in and out of the water. One thing we wish they had more of are changing rooms. But other than that, the instructors are great at making learning how to swim not only safe but fun at the same time. read more