Been here since my son was 3 year old. He is 9 now. Coach brian is good. Work with our son and he is very patience.

The receptionists, Max, and all the swim teachers at NOVA Swim have been respectful and supportive of both students and parents. I really appreciate that make-ups can be made any day, as long as the level that you are in is scheduled for that day and as long as the session you are signed up for is still in session. I really appreciate the amount of attention that I see students get, even with group sessions, and it's awesome that the initial swim evaluation to gauge which level students need to start off with is free! Plus, the pool area is well-kept. :) read more

Coach Max is awesome! We have been going here for a couple of months and have seen improvement with our child. He is very patient and has a good sense of humor. The office is also great, they respond quickly to emails. I appreciate their makeup policy, since we travel a good amount of the year. read more

We enrolled our girls last year in privates. Lessons are 15 minutes. I wish they were a little longer, but it is nice that there's a small area of the pool for their sibling to play in the water while they wait. It's outdoors, but it's nice that the pool is heated. My main reason for writing a review is to rave about Coach Alexis! GIVE THAT GIRL A RAISE! She is wonderful. My girls cry anytime their face gets wet. She was so patient with my 1 year old just crying in her arms every week. Both girls had so much fun with her specifically, that now they can't wait to get in the pool. All the instructors were patient, but none have left a lasting impression on our girls and built up their confidence in the water. Hoping for a slot to open up with Coach Alexis, so our girls can go back this year. read more

Awesome star club coaching. My son's improvement was great and he enjoyed the lessons. Thank you coach Brian!

DO NOT BE FOOLED!! DONT COME HERE!! Seriously regret enrolling my kids here. Absolutely 0 customer service from the office and they really don't care. Doesn't matter if weather didn't permit or kids were sick; no make ups; just wanted to get paid. Swim instructors were somewhat nice; but my last straw was when an instructor didn't pay attention to my kid and was too busy chit chatting with another instructor while my kid was DROWNING. Had to yell to get her attention... Seriously??? Office didn't even care. Just gave an unapologetic sorry; and that's it. Save your money and your sanity. Don't go here. There is nothing great or even remotely good about this place. This place should be shut down. read more

Instructors are very young and range from those who know how to talk to toddlers to those who don't. My son is 3 and a brand new swimmer and was dunked many times over the course of his 3 days at NOVA to the point where he doesn't even want to go near the pool anymore. I'm sure the instructors are fine with kids who know the basics of swimming, but if you're child is truly a newbie there are certainly better learning strategies to employ rather than "3-2-1 *dunk*" on a kid whose never been underwater. read more

This is a great swim school. My daughter learned to swim in 3 weeks. Pretty incredible. The instructors are patient and fun while also being stern and getting them to do what they need to do. The pool the little ones start out in is heated. During the summer months there is zero shade for parents waiting so I suggest bringing a hat or umbrella for yourself. After your kids are done with their lesson they offer goldfish crackers or animal crackers if you ask for them in the small office near the pool. I highly suggest this place. It seems like they have their program dialed in. read more

Nova Swim School - This is the heated pool they start the kiddos off learning in - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fountain Valley, California

My wife and I enrolled my son at Nova for a year. He made some progress, but he plateaued. Since he was starting kindergarten at a new school in August, we decided to suspend swim school with Nova in July 2024 until we and our son were more comfortable with the coming school schedule. My son's regular teacher, Coach Sara, would be on vacation for the last week of July. The school requires that we pay in advance for the coming month. Since Coach Sara would be on vacation and since our son would be ending his swim school anyway, we requested to be reimbursed for the last week of swim class for July that we paid in advance. Nova refused. They stated they could offer a replacement swim instructor for the weeks Coach Sara was on vacation. I replied that I did not want to start my son on a new swim instructor for the last swim class, since it takes time to build trust in a swim instructor. Even though he plateaued, my son trusted Coach Sara. Nova offered to provide one swim class for August in lieu of reimbursement for the last class in July. Again, this did not work for us because we wanted to keep our schedule clear because our son was going to a new school. Nova claimed that their policy is that they do not give refunds under no circumstances. They never provided me with written proof of the policy. The cost of one class is $30. Up till that point, I was satisfied with Nova despite my son plateauing, and we were considering enrolling my daughter at Nova once our schedules were stable. Nova's refusal to accommodate our reasonable request completely soured us on them. I was so upset that I was even considering filing a claim in small claims court, but I realized that my time is worth more than $30, no matter how unjust the charge is. Because of their inflexible responses to our request for reimbursement, I cannot recommend Nova Swim School. read more

Very rude customer service whoever the person that picked up the phone. Doesn't really care and just jumps in like a know it all. Probably need to hire new employees or educate them on customer service skills/ mannerism. read more

This place to me, is not a school to have your kids learn how to swim, but more of a price-gouging. Believe me 30minutes of lessons are not worth your time and money, Plenty of places to go, do yourself a favor and have your kids take lessons with people who cares for your kids. read more

Our 9 year old son was taking swim lesson for two summers at a local HOA pool, and he was frustrated that he wasn't swimming and no one corrected what he was doing wrong. We were introduced to NOVA and within three weeks, our son enjoyed swimming so much. He's still taking lessons after ten months, hoping to join the swim team eventually. The coaches are attentive and caring. We are happy to discover NOVA. read more

Swimmer beware!! I wouldn't bring my child back here if they paid me. This place is a disaster. The instructors are sweet young adults who seem to care but the office staff is the absolute biggest disaster I've ever dealt with. Bonnie is the definition of mean old lady, she is honesty vile. The other two in their tiny closet of an office aren't worth the chairs they sit on, they know absolutely nothing. They mess up the schedule every single week. They incorrectly and without authorization charge your credit card on file. And are rude and disrespectful to the staff and customers. If the office staff changed we would come back but not a day before all three of those nightmare woman are out and someone who knows how to run an office takes over. I watched Bonnie make a young female swim instructor dig through the outdoor public trash bin to get out a piece of paper she wanted, it was ridiculous!! The instructor had tears in her eyes. Bonnie should be fired immediately for that on top of everything else. read more

DO NOT COME HERE!! For 11 years, my family would return to Nova every summer. Customer service in the office was awful in the summer of 2023! The young swim instructors are wonderful, but the office staff is atrocious!!!! They were often rude to customers and had an attitude even when kids picked up swim snacks MOST IMPORTANTLY, it's necessary to pay for the following month's swim lessons and come into the office to do it. However, this time they saved our credit card information without our permission. When we cancelled for the following month, they charged our credit card without our permission. We returned to discuss the charge and requested a refund, but the person in the office instantly gave us attitude and answered no with the most dissatisfied face. We eventually obtained our refund after filing a bank dispute. This happened to one of our family members as well. This place has evolved dramatically throughout the years. We will never return again!!!! read more

These guys are good! Had taken my grandkids to a couple of other swim schools with no results, but at Nova positive results fast. All Instructors are very patient & knowledgeable. My grand kids are now loving the water & pool safe. This is the place to go!!! read more

Nova Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fountain Valley, California

Nova and the instructors there are awesome. Very interactive with the kids, good ratio and they are incredibly patient. We will take our daughter back again once the weather gets a bit warmer. Bring swim goggles and make sure they have a good fit, your child will have a better experience. Yes, I saw growth and skill advancement while our daughter was in the class over the course of a few months. It takes time to develop the life saving skills they need, let the instructors work with your child, they will progress. Arrive a few minutes prior to the class, as the parking lot is always full. Snacks are provided after and free swim is allowed as well too, in the same pool, but in a roped off area. Locker rooms are available in a building, which is good for changing. It's a busy place, sometimes with no chairs or spots near the swim class, not a big deal for me. read more

Awesome for my preschooler and toddler! For the last 3.5 years we have attended two different swim schools and saw hardly any progress. In the few weeks that we have attended Nova our children are progressing leaps and bounds with their swimming! We couldn't be more pleased with the instructors and their patience and concern. They encourage, challenge, and praise their students to help them improve and reach their goals. Very satisfied with this swim school. read more

My kid didn't learn anything after a month at this location. Mind you, he was on level 7 a week before we transition from aquatic works. We pulled him out after the month was up. read more

Robbing our money ... if kids was sick they can't make up the session. Managers is very aggressive and rude. don't sent your kids over there. Doesn't worst to spend your money for only 30 min for 5 min per kid. read more

unfortunately I found myself here writing a bad review for what I thought was a great swim team. The issues have been their choices of such young coaches that not have a little or none experience in managing/coaching teenagers or younger kids. Their little basically no-coaching skills caused lots of bullying between kids on deck. Found my son come back from training crying multiple times and even asked us to skip the class here and there... this tells you a lot from a kid that loves to swim and is committed to the sport. And the Nova way to manage these issues was REALLY poor regardless of their clear statement and code of conduct they have in place. We found ourselves tired of "accidents" happening between kids that were mishandled (my son ended up to the ER getting stitches on his chin because of another kid and had to hear that is normal fora kid playing sport to get hurt!!!) and changed team. To be honest the best decision ever, coaches are way more experienced and able help the kids thought what are challenging years for them. My son has never been happier to go to swimming (6x/week) and the kids form a great supporting group. Their coaches even offer free 1on1 class for who is interested. Yes Nova has given my son good technical swimming foundation but now that he is 14 and getting stronger, what he needs goes way beyond that and we didn't find it in the Nova team. GO CMAC! read more

The swim coaches are fantastic at the Fountain Valley location. The very rude LosCab front desk is absolutely the worst though. Many people have mentioned that she was a B.... to them also. She needs to learn how to communicate in a professional manner. And her manager also. Thankfully, The Nova swim coaches are great. read more

Kim and Tabatha both did an amazing job with private lessons for my 20 month old. They had him floating on his back by 15 lessons. It's such a great relief to have a pool safe child, especially when the grandparents have an ungated pool. Thanks Nova Swim!! read more

I really like going here for my kids learn swimming. Great staffs, amazing coachs. Outdoor swimming pools, clean and we can enjoy outdoor days. read more

Our family is excited that our son is starting a new chapter in swimming after being selected in the senior bronze team training. We are very thankful to Nova, coach Andy for his coaching and teaching techniques. The team coach was incredibly happy with the assessment and said that anyone coming from the coaching Andy will have a powerful base. We are lucky to have him as a coach. We wish coach Andy all the best. He can be an amazing future for team coaching! read more

I love this swim school. The trainers are professional. My son loves sưimming there. There is only one thing that is not good about this place is that it is crowded. read more

Love this place! I enrolled my nephew a few months back and everyone has been so patient with him. They offer snacks to the kids in the main office and the instructors know how to handle all the children. read more

My two year old daughter takes weekly lessons with Ginny and is far ahead of most her age in swimming. She has done parent-tot lessons and private. Ginny and the other instructors have taught her to float on her own, swim between locations and be confident in the water. At her last lesson, she was able to jump off the side into the pool, turn over and float without any assistance. The instructors really care about the kids and promote water safety. The best testament to these lessons came on a recent trip to Maui. Several people stopped us to tell us how impressed they were with my daughter's abilities. We saw kids twice her age who were not as strong or confident. She can hold her breath and knows to swim to the side if she gets into trouble. I am amazed at how far she has come in the last year and highly recommend Nova Swim School! read more

Bad customer service. Look like owner or manager treated customer like trash. Nova swim school doesn't need more customer, rip people money with no contract sign, so they get away with it. read more

Love, love, love Nova Swim School! Impressive history, instructors are amazing! I would highly recommend the school! I give the school a 4/5 at the moment, as my 4 yrs old loves her coach (Chris) and her class so much that she has been asking about private lessons or increasing her lessons to 2x/week. Let's see what happens! read more

I love this swim school. My son just turned 5 and needs to learn how to swim. I have spent a lot of money on private swim lessons at other locations. He was afraid to put his head underwater so the lessons were not very helpful. At his swim evaluation he was with Ginny and he put his head underwater, He realized it is nothing to be afraid of. Therefore he quickly gained a lot of confidence in the water. After a couple of private lessons he got moved up to grade 2 group lessons. Hooray! Also the location is wonderful. Los Cab is a few blocks behind the Costco in Fountain Valley. The children have a tot pool and the lessons take place in another kids pool that is pretty shallow. Around 3 feet deep. Children can have free swim before and after their lessons. read more

We too completely disagree with the negative reviews. We had been coming to Nova swim school since 2006 after trying other swim schools and programs to get our children water safe because we have a pool. My daughter started at 1 1/2 in small group lessons and my son at 4 months old initially with parent-and-me class and eventually in semi-private classes.They both learned to flip over on their own within a couple of months and were both swimming like a fish and diving down for toys by 2 yrs old. Everywhere we went world wide people were impressed. Sure, our goal was to get them water safe and quickly and the wonderful instructors accomplished that with encouragement and patience. I agreed with their curriculum completely. I have seen these instructors deal with students of all ages and capabilities (including those with special needs and those with higher levels of anxiety in water) with much patience and skill. It is indeed a professional yet friendly encironment. Yes it feels like family after awhile and we all eventually "small talk" amongst the parents and staff but that is a simple reflection of how much the teachers end up caring about each child that they spend so much time with as it should be. Los Caballeros is a nice private club that houses Nova Swim School and I do not disagree with respecting the members' right to use their own facilities with some very reasonable rules to follow. It is generally very friendly and provides very nice environment hat do not give a feeling of restriction. It's like being a nice guest at someone's house--I don't understand the opposition to a basic tenet and old fashioned value. Our 3rd child fell in love with swimming so much because of his wonderful teacher (Ms.Tabitha who started with him around 1 year old) that he has progressed to join their pre-competition Star Club program. It is quite impressive and we are happy that he is learning discipline and while still having lots of fun. Overall we highly recommend Nova Swim School for their top notch curriculum and look forward to continued mutual support for years to come. Thank you Nova Swim School! read more

Don't get sucked into this swim program. After years of volunteering and personal sacrifice for this club, they ultimately do not have your child's best interest at heart. They are a business and not child centered. You witness this from the beginning with the philosophy of their swim school all the way to the management at the senior levels. Your child will dedicate hours and hours of hard work. As a parent you will sacrifice an ungodly amount of time and money all to ultimately be disheartened. There is zero concern for the personal well being of the child, but 100% concern with financial and personal security of the staff and organization. It is sad. You and your child will have invested too much to be treated with such disregard. Perhaps, if you are extremely high achieving and of Asian descent then this is the team for you. Otherwise, stay away. If you think this team will make your child faster, it will not be worth the emotional and personal sacrifice that your family makes. Go to a friendlier, smaller, more child centered team. You and your child are insignificant to this team. Go somewhere that cares about you. read more

This is a very professional and affordable swimming facility for kids. My son has been taking 6 classes so far, and he loves it! I would highly recommend this place . read more

I dont know what to say. I thought the instructors here was train to take care of kids and understand them and keep them safe. The manager drew at nova definitely need angermangement training. Yesterday he yelled at all the kids in the range of 5-10 to get out of the pool for no reason. He didnt realized all the parents was around to witness this incident. For sure he didnt think none of the parents here understand English. My kids got freak out and so as other kids. Only explanation for his yelling was a parent complaint. I have left several messages for bonnie his upper management to call me back to address my concern for the safety of the kids. Not even a call back. The pool is not own by nova and members can still use the pool also that's why we pay membership fees. I have address this to Mr. Wallace the part owner of the facility. Since bonnie does not care for what parents think or their input so definitely reflect her management skill. I will address this matter to city of fountain valley and child safety. Bottom line Drew we understand english not because we are Asian and you have no rights to yell at kids and harrass them. I will address this matter to my vietnamese community. You should be remove from your position and should not represent nova. You do not own this facility. read more

My eight-year-old son was in Star 1 and he really didn't like the teachers. They were critical and not positive at all. If you have a sensitive child, this is not the place for you. read more

Do not agree with these negative reviews. Both my kids went through nova at Los cab location. They started when they were infants and I remember distinctly my daughters crying because she didn't want to float on her back. She is a stubborn child! Lol. The instructors were patient and kind. Great program, highly recommend! read more

My son has group lesson level 7-8 of 4 kids. I don't know how different the coach evaluate the students. They place 4 kids at different levels in same group. For the whole 30 mins the coach only spent time on the slowest kid in the group and just gave out instruction to tell other kids to do what stroke she wants them to do. She is too busy with the 2 slowest kids in the group and did not have time spending with other 2 fast kids, did not even look if they swim with correct technique or not. THIS IS NOT FAIR AT ALL. As parents, we spent not only money but also time to take kids to swim and we would like to see improvement. If this is the way NOVA teach kids to swim, it will take forever for kids to get to where they want to be. If this is the way Nova train kids to swim, parents don't have to go here, just buy a ticket to public heated pool and follow instruction on YouTube and tell your kids to do. They collect $20 each student for 30 mins for a group of 4. They are making $160 per hour for that kind of quality????. They don't care about students and just want to squeeze students to the group of 4 to maximize the profit for school. Hope that Nova will improve on management soon. read more

Lots of problems from the start. My daughters evaluator said she was a level 2, so we signed up and paid for classes, then the first day of class the instructor said she's a level one and can't be in the class. I then rescheduled and signed up for a level one class, which happened to also change our days, and the staff didn't tell me we also had to change pools (didn't even know there was more than one pool). I waited til 5 min after class started before going to the office because I didn't see any swimmers. They told me I was at the wrong pool and after they "take this incoming call" they would walk me to the back. That call was 10 min long which put us 15 min late to class. Complete waste of money, rude office staff. Sands privates are much better. In this case, you don't get what you pay for, because Nova is known as a more pricey swim school. read more

I'm writing this to hopefully save another parent the negative experience we had with this swim school. Signed up for the Dana Point location after going in for a free evaluation. Met with Gabby and really liked her and her approach with my son who was extremely uncomfortable in the water. Called and signed him up the next day. We had a total of 3 lessons, in which my son was finally getting comfortable in the water and really enjoying his instructor and was sent an e-mail that the lessons would not be continued due to the fact that there was a camp impeding on the quality of the lessons (outside of the Nova schools control, which we completely understood). We then went to the Aliso Viejo location and had a negative experience with the instructor at this location. My son was basically crying almost the whole lesson and I could see why he was uncomfortable with the teacher. Even watching from the sides before the lesson, there were 2 children in the class before that were crying. I could see that he didn't have a great way of dealing with children that are uncomfortable in the water. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get my son out of the water with this instructor. The other issue was that this location was not easy for us to get to as well. I contacted the school because of the circumstances of only getting 3 quality lessons of possibly receiving the $15 registration fee back. I didn't want money back for any of the lessons but I would have used the registration fee to possibly apply it toward other lessons that we would actually be able to continue. I left a message with Marissa and never got a call back so 2 weeks later I called again. I finally got a callback and spoke with Bonnie (apparently the manager) and was basically told that the money would not be refunded and that it was a processing fee ( which I am not sure exactly what that means, considering you call in, give them a credit card number and they sign your child up for lessons). I guess that is what a processing fee entails, 5 minutes of a phone conversation. She was unwilling to work with me and her attitude was so incredibly poor. I have worked in customer service in the past and she obviously has absolutely no idea what that entails. I have read other reviews with complaints and I have to say I received the same experience from her as well. Again, I'm not complaining about the circumstances beyond their control, but I am upset at their lack of willingness to work with us and her general attitude about it. Side note: I'm giving 1 star because of Gabby, who was wonderful and now teaching at the Fountain Valley location. If I have any advice, please save your money and go elsewhere because if you do end up having to deal with "management", it won't be worth it. read more

We love Ms. Tabitha. She is the best. My 4 year old swims like a fish and is very comfortable in the water. She taught him big arms and it is amazing to see a little boy swim like that. My almost two year old can now back float on her own. She loves the water, loves her time with Ms. Tabby, and is getting to be water safe. I haven't had any issues with the office and they have been very accommodating when we need to reschedule. As a side note only private lessons are eligible for a make up. If you miss a group lesson, no such luck. Keep that in mind when factoring price of group versus private lessons. read more