Great place to swim. perfect temperature. People were very kind at the front desk. It's a basic locker room. It has a few showers that are on sensors, but the temperature is good once it warms up. They let you take everything up by the pool and supply a chair to put your items on read more

i am hoping to become a regular. I have not been swimming in a long time and i have a present hip pain , and had trouble swimming so i did not spend long. the Water was warm reasonably , the air was cold,, i pulled myself out of the pool and next time i will look for steps or a ladder. The people were pleasant. there were lanes to swim in but it was April so ? not sure why it opens at 330pm but seems okay , i will try and swim now that i have been there once it was easy to d read more

Lap Swim and friendly staff! The pool and facility is clean. Great location! Been going here since the 1990's.

The facility was okay. Cheap to get in. The swim area for kids is pretty small for recreation swim and it gets really crowded. There's a huge pool for laps. There's a grassy area but it's by the lap pool so it's hard to use if you want to keep an eye on your kids. There are some lounge chairs and umbrellas but they get swooped up quick. We were the fourth in line when it opened and didn't get any chairs because families claim 4-5 lounge chairs at a time. My biggest gripe is that they don't allow life jackets at all. We were told they were a "no life jacket" facility which makes zero sense to me. We always have my daughter wear a coast guard approved life vest since she has autism and they told us she could not wear it. read more

Need evening swimming, 7 pm to 9-9:30. M-F. Thank you much ! This is a great time to go for people that have to stay out of the heat/sun. read more

Great place to take children. Even babies can have fun in the wading pool. Plenary of lifeguards. Highly recommended. :) read more

Had my daughter 10th birthday here last weekend. The staff was really nice and the kids really had a ton of fun!

Great place to come and swim. My kids learned to swim here and will be back again this summer to brush up. Rec swimming is cool. My nieghbor though had her son in the pool and one of the LG's on duty was kinda slow to react. Good thing he was only in 12" of water. My son had a field trip here a couple weeks back and he was Uber Happy! Dude... how many public pools have a huge slid!!! I also agree that they need more rec space thats deep. Maybe they could use ther other have of the diving hole? I also think they need a high dive. read more

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I absolutely love this place. It's cheap to swim, the facilities are nice, tons of lifeguards on staff and a separate lap pool. Really bummed that it is closed for winter and counting down the days until I can go back in the spring. read more

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It's a nice clean pool. It is outdoors. There are some patchy areas of grass were one could sit. It has a diving board in one of the pools. Altogether there are three pools including a small baby pool with a fountain in the middle. A great place for families or just to do labs in the lap pool read more

John Lemos Pool has three separate pools. One large pool for lap swimming and the very large water slide; one pool for general swimming with a separate diving well; and one pool for babies with an umbrella shaped waterfall fountain. The lifeguarding staff is excellent, very attentive and super quick to jump in the water if they think a swimmer needs help. The reasonably priced snack bar keeps kids happy and the shade trees and lawn keep parents happy. Summer free swim hours are 1:00 - 4:45pm residents: $3.00 for adults; $1.75 for kids non-residents: $5.00 for adults; $3.25 for kids goggles: $6.00 (white, purple, yellow, blue) read more

Thank you Benicia for your slide that allows me to stand amongst the little ones as I wait patiently to climb the steps and then spend, what feels like, 20 seconds of twisting and turning then a huge splash into your cool waters. For the ample amount of space to catch a tan. And the BBQ areas for your patrons to throw a true pool party. For efficient life guards that take their job seriously. The kiddie pool that gets clean so quickly when those little girls and boys decide to spice things up. For being so close to my home and for being so well worth the hot Benicia afternoons. read more

Overall, I am a fan of this pool. The recreational pool is spacious, the lap pool is nice, the kid pool is enjoyable for the youngsters and the slide is something not a lot of other public pools have. I don't like the power-tripping lifeguards. Yes, you're in high school. No, you're not police officers. I also don't like that there's no deep area (8 foot) where people can swim recreationally. There's a huge portion of the pool dedicated to the diving board, but it doesn't need that much space. read more

It's good for what it is. I never go anymore, because I decided I'd rather not be stuck in a place with screaming kids, but that's what this place is perfect for: screaming kids. There's a diving board, a kiddie pool with a giant mushroom, and a huge slide. Yes, a slide. So, if you need a place to drop off your hyperactive youngsters, this is it. And if they're good, you can take them to Spoonful of Sugar for their daily sugar high. Everybody wins. You can get rid of your kids, while you and your spouse can hang at O'Leary's. Don't you love Benicia? read more

Great place to take your family for fun in the sun but they are missing BBQ picnic areas to have during the summer along with staying open a little later than 4:30. read more

Not a bad small town pool. Changing rooms dirty and old. Nice lawn area if you are in to laying out in the sun. Water slide broken and being remove permanently. Big let down. read more

Awesome Pool & Staff!!!! We decided to go to the pool to celebrate 4 birthdays @ the absolute last minute!! The staff accommodated us with no problem. They brought out a table for us to set up our cake & foods upon. They were so welcoming and it was a lot of us (20+)! :) The baby pool was closed due to a leak but that was fine the kids enjoyed the pool & slide. Only thing is you aren't allowed to bring floats (which makes sense now that I think about it, you wouldn't want someone to get stuck under it while your just floating around). All in All this place is pretty awesome! Staff included! We will be back !! read more

Had a great time! The only bad things are when you come out, you hair feels super crispy and is very hard and gross. Also, you eyes BURN because of the water. Yes, when you go open your eyes in water your eyes burn at every pool, but it VERY bad here. read more

Nice place very clean my two children learn to swim there we always like to go for fun

The fam and I just went here for the first time on Saturday and I can not believe I have been suffering on hot days for the past 5 years!!! This place is awesome! Super cheap to get in, You can bring food and drinks in, there is plenty of shaded areas to relax if your not really in the mood to get into the water. Me and fam will definitely be back, only this time with our snacks so we can stay longer ;-D Because lets face it... every event is better with snacks !!! read more

I found this pool super swimmy. The water was quite wet and there is indeed water all the way to the bottom of the pool with no gaps - nice. No mermaids spotted yet, but the staff is always super helpful and has even saved me from drowning a few dozen times at no extra cost, which I appreciate. We Benicians' are quite lucky to have this wonderwaterworld in our back yards, yup yup, giddy up and go swimmin' :) read more

This review isn't for the friendly staff, but for the facility it self. Lets start w mold all over the womans' locker room showers! Health code violation? YES! Lets start with the full "recycle bin" outside that hasn't been emptied in oh a few months! Disgusting YES! How about the bathrooms, with pee all over the seats, yes pee bc its yellow! no toilette paper, full waste baskets. Just disgusting, the city should maybe think about taking care of the mold......just a thought. I took pictures just in case anyone came back with "not true"!! Clean up your pool Benicia, this is disgusting for this town...... read more

My kids really love this place. They are not swimmers yet, but there is no stopping them to wade in their 12 inches deep pool. It is very kid friendly. read more

Won't be back. Water was just a bit too cold. Kids are not allowed to play- no goggles or toys of any kind. Lifeguards are just doing their job, but yell at people for everything! Kids wanted to leave early. read more

We went for a birthday on Saturday morning. Great fun. The kids had a great time on the waterslide. The staff was great and even helped us with carrying things out. We will be back!!! read more

Very clean and the staff is welcoming, plenty of pools for everyone, very reasonable, would recommend this place. Hand's down one of the best pools in the area. read more

My kids took lessons here for most of the summer and have LOVED it. They went from not actually knowing how to swim to level three in 6 weeks and I definitely owe it to the patient, knowledgable and encouraging instructors. It can get crowded during open recreation swim times but they always have enough lifeguards on hand enforcing the rules so I don't worry. read more

Love Love Love this place! Super fun slide and diving board, excellent admission fees, clean locker rooms, very clean pool ,deck and seating. Super friendly lifeguards that always have safety and smiling as their #1 priorities! Bring your own snacks, sunscreen towels and prepare to have a great day! read more

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. The nightmare began this morning when the weather was predicted to be super hot. We immediately thought why don't we go to James Lemos? We looked online and found their phone number and called. And called. And called. Finally, we got a hold of a recording. "Open from 3:30-7:00" it said. So we show up, exited to go swimming and cool ourselves off, when they say lap swim only. Ok, we can lap swim we said. To make a long story short, the life guards yelled at me and my friend 3 times for stopping to catch our breath, kicked my little brother out to of the water for using my dad for help swimming (he can't swim yet) while another man stood right nearby doing the same thing as us. We used to love this place but now we hate it so much we will never come back to this place again. Good by James Lemos forever read more

My children LOVE to come here! We come here all summer long for our "pool parties" with our neighbors with young children. Lifeguards seem to always attentive (which I am too) but it is always nice to know others are watching as well. The snack bar is a nice treat for the kids. We will be coming here year in and year out, thats for sure. read more

Awesome, fantastic, had a wonderful time. My mother has lived in Benicia for a mighty long time and I figured I'd use the pool. I was skeptical at first because when I looked through the gate, it seems like there was a million and one people jumping and splashing in the pool. I was quite wrong. There is a baby/toddler pool where there are TWO lifeguards. One word, AWESOME. Not only do I have my eyes on my child...but I have 2 extra pairs of eyes on him too. There are 2 more pools, one rec pool w/ a diving board where all the teenagers and others hang out and then there is a lap pool with the water slide. There were a billion people here, but it did not seem at all crowded. I had my own lane in the lap pool for 30 minutes and my son did not get trampled in the kiddie pool. The weather is always great in Benicia, and the people are very nice. Only 4 stars because my mom (who does not swim) wanted to come in and watch my son wade in the kiddie pool and they wouldn't let her come in without paying. read more

I swim in the lap pool every day. This pool. Is disgusting. It smells terrible, and gets extremely foggy. Its salty and disgusting. I don't know if it is the filtration system but theres no way its sanitary. I guess thats the decision i make coming to a public pool though. I'll swim at Cunningham from now on. Although it is also public, their pool doesn't get like this at all. I've about had it with the bad smell and taste and the fogginess. Just gross. I've heard plenty of others complain as well. Its gross. Its an issue that needs to be fixed. Theres dirt at the bottom, leaves everywhere, hairballs, and today there were worms. In the pool. The locker rooms are moldy and disgusting. Very disappointing. read more

Wow what a fine value deal. I took three kids 3, 6 and 12 here on a hot Friday afternoon. Despite a summer camp group it did not feel too crowded we were able to find a spot on the grass under the trees. The mushroom splash pool was a big hot and the slide and diving board with the bigger kids. Tons of friendly lifeguards really every area had at least 2. Could have brought a picnic no food for sale there. A great afternoon. read more

The water is too COLD! They say it's heated but it's not heated enough. Even in the middle of summer when I go in with my son (he's 3) he is turning purple after 20 minutes. It's hard to teach your child to love swimming when he is freezing! read more

Pool is great. Lifeguards are terrific. The floor in the women's locker room is filthy. By mid season, it's slippery from the accumulated grime. read more