Overall: 20/10 The highest review I've ever given a…read morebusiness. Dominic Latella works miracles for swimmers! I took his "treading water" clinic and in 10 minutes, I was treading water effortlessly; something I've struggled doing for years and even after taking numerous lessons with private instructors (not affiliated with SwimBox). He's taught for 22+ years! and it shows. He simply knows how to coach all the minute details in swimming mechanics. I've always 'm someone with a high muscle to fat ratio and have ALWAYS sank like a rock. He taught me 3 styles to use my hands to tread and 4 styles using my feet. He demonstrated things in the water (such as corkscrews) that I've never seen/heard of before. He's very friendly and personable as well. I've taken the swim analysis and it was super helpful/beneficial. Looking forward to signing up for more classes! Highly recommend!

Another attempt at learning to tread water. Another rip off. My single goal was to learn to be able…read moreto jump into deep water and to swim back with my head above water. Basically, vacation-style swimming where you jump off a boat, tread for a bit, and swim back to the boat. I asked if I could learn this at SwimBox. I was told I could. If they don't teach this, they should have said so. Instead, I took 10 classes and was never taught either of these things. The instructor, as usual, wasted time in the beginning treating me like I'm afraid of water. I can already swim underwater and on my back (not expertly, of course). Instructors should start off with new swimmers by allowing them to show what they can already do vs. starting them with blowing bubbles and floating. At SwimBox, they have no incentive to move you along quickly since dragging out the lessons equals more classes, which equals more money for them. I gave the instructor the benefit of the doubt that she was teaching me some basic things I needed to know. However, as the classes went along, I noticed we were headed towards what I feared -- teaching me freestyle swimming and perfecting my form. This IS NOT what I asked to learn! I don't plan to swim laps or join the Olympics. When I clarified again that I wanted to learn to swim with my head above water, she dismissed that type of swimming as not real swimming. Well, that's how people swim socially and that's what I asked, upfront, to learn. Finally, I was lied to when I was told we would work on treading water, which is the MAIN THING that I wanted to learn. The pools are, obviously, not deep, but I was duped into believing I would still be taught. Each time I take swim lessons, they teach what they want to teach. I will just have to get a friend to teach me because formal instructors are apparently hard wired to teach every new swimmer freestyle. I wasted my money.

A great place for swimmers of all capabilities -staff helpful if needed-clean locker rooms pool is…read morewell kept-rarely are there 3 people to a lane-friendly people. Have never seen any problems among the swimmers-have never heard many complaints from swimmers(once in a while the water temperature might be a bit cold or warm-but never lasts for 1-2days) You can't please all the people all the time -but most if not all swimmers are grateful to have such a great facility near by.

The staff here are all wonderful and very helpful! I always enjoy coming here for practice.read more

I did the adult learn to swim program for about 5 months (at Waterside Fitness & Swim Club), and it…read morewas fantastic. I went from being able to stay afloat and kind of move around in the water, to being able to do all of the strokes and diving. Coach BJ and Harper were both fantastic instructors; adaptive, responsive, and fun to work with. Highly recommended! Great communication with the staff office too, in terms of rescheduling as needed, and whenever issues came up with needing to substitute instructors as needed.

Awesome swim instructor, terrible management. Our makeup lesson was cancelled with less than 2…read morehours notice after we rearranged our entire schedule to make it work. Also, two weeks after we signed up for a full summer of lessons, they moved the location most days of the week to a new location we cannot easily get to. They are also hard to reach by phone, so when they are unclear about cancellations, good luck figuring it out. So great instructor, but unprofessional management.

Kudos to Sunsational Swim School!…read more It is believed that the average adult swim novice learns how to swim in about 20 hours or less. With Sunsational, if you have an instructor like Horace, you will learn to swim in record time--- using the proper techniques. Upon our initial introduction, Horace made me feel comfortable in the water, and he was encouraging. My goal was to learn how to side breathe properly, keep legs from dragging, and to produce high elbows for a strong stroke. In short, I was "a mess in the water". With Horace, once he noticed that I had performed one task sufficiently, he quickly introduced another helpful skill so that I could piece together the whole swim rhythm. This kept me constantly learning while perfecting the swim. Once swimming the front crawl correctly was performed, Horace taught me quite a few exercises to help me solidify all that was achieved! How cool! I certainly recommend Sunsational Swim School for adult swim lessons, and if you are lucky enough to be taught by a patient pro like Horace, what a fantastic bonus!!

Miles was so good with teaching my daughter Charlotte. He was excellent at redirecting when she got…read moredistracted and brought boards, toys, etc. to make the lesson fun. He was always prompt, prepared, and was extremely flexible with rescheduling due to weather. She learned how to hold her breath, go under without fear, blow bubbles, kick, float, and always looked forward to her swim lesson. My daughter has shown major improvement in the water in just six sessions!

Headed up North for Region 3 Junior Olympic Region meet. The location sits outside the local…read morefootball stadium and while poorly marked, the maps take you right onto the space. There is varied parking. Lots B and C are closest to the track but the back lot has more than enough room for overflow. The track is tucked behind fencing cut there is more than enough space for tents and space to camp out outside the venue. While it's no VA Beach or Greensboro, the space does the job. The staff was kind and the park had more than enough police presence to keep it safe.

If you like people, this is the spot for you! There's a whole myriad of them scattered all over…read morethe place. All ages, all sizes! If you want to have no parking, yep, come on down. This is THEE hub. Because of the egregious amount of people, expect to park far as hell from the complex. Even better, use your phone flashlight to illuminate your walkway because there only a few street lamps. Perhaps this is why, even in the crosswalk, you too can have an invigorating rush as your life flashes before your eyes in the stark headlights of a metro bus who never heard of a brake! Finally, enjoy the amenities in the aquatic center two informational desks down in a basement where lockers require $1.00 in coins. Quarters to be exact! Because why not! You've paid for a membership and/or a class, why not pay for the nostalgia of loose change! Who needs the year 2026?! Extroverts, this is the spot. Introverts, you will feel overwhelmed and wonder what fresh hell did you step in, probably try to power through until the pesky locker thwarts all defenses. You'll throw your hands up and peace tf out and say to yourself, yep I shall stick to the aquatic centers only. More manageable.

The park next door: This is SUCH a cool park! So few parks…read morehave swings and this one has baby swings and normal swings and the back support swings! In addition to the swings, there's a baby park, and a big kid park, AND a splash park. What more could you ask for?!

Wonderful community center. I go for the tennis courts but there is basketball, baseball, and…read moreplaygrounds. A wonderful green space in the middle of the city. The tennis courts are good fun. Lots of community spirit, music, and local flavor. Usually can be a waiting line but the courts are decent and also well lit

This gym is in a great location with waterfront metro a few blocks away. They have a great, warm…read moreindoor pool and lounge chairs with their outdoor pool. They also have two locker rooms near the indoor pool (which is not insulated) and I'm the main gym area. Towel service is included with your membership! I actually like that it is a regular, basic gym and not high tech and fancy. Two minor issues is the showers by the indoor pool take a bit to warm up, if at all...and some do not have shower curtains. The second issue, again with the same locker room is it's hard to find a working one. Initial fee pp is $75 and we got the family membership for $120/month. For the holidays they are offering 50% off your initial fee if you bring in 5 canned items!

I've been a member here for 3 years. This gym is designed for someone who needs a convenient and…read morecost-effective place to work out. Though the equipment is not brand-new (don't expect a personal tv on your treadmill) and the space is limited (only 4 treadmills, 2 ellpiticals, and 2 bikes) Waterside Fitness is a neighborhood gym where the staff will recognize you and you'll get to know others who attend as well. The gym has a few classes including aerobics, yoga, and strength and there's no extra fee to attend if you're a member. All in all, it's just what I need on a daily basis. But if you're looking for a cutting edge place like WSC where there are rows and rows of equipment and a full schedule of back-to-back classes, you'll be disappointed. The membership fees are around $50/month and they'll give you a guest pass for a day to check it out before you join.

A most wonderful pool with good depth and length for lap swim. Friendly staff too and the changing…read moreroom and general environment are kept clean. They now have a guard posted at the entrance which is new. Probably for security.

Been coming to this center for toddler's swimming lessons last 3 quarters. The facilities are…read moregreat, I love how warm the kids pool is compared to the Long Bridge Aquatic center - me and toddler were shivering in the Long Bridge pool. The instructors for the APS swim classes really hit or miss compared to the county classes. We loved the first lady instructor, she always started classes on time and ended on time, knew what she wanted to do in the class, and had her songs with swimming movements ready. Last 2 sessions were with a gentleman instructor (who says he's been teaching swimming at APS for 15+ years) as the main instructor and recently he's been training this other lady and it's been so bad: 1. classes don't start on time half the time (one time started going around checking the kids in at the time class was supposed to start and that took 10 minutes, another time it's already time to start the class but instructor was standing around chatting for 5 minutes) and sometimes runs out of things to do class ended 5 min early 2. runs out of things to do in the class or don't know what songs to sing as we practice swimming movements and they start singing random songs or ask all the parents what song would you like to sing !!?? Could you do a little bit of prep beforehand or bring a cheatsheet into the pool so you know what to do next. Maybe it's the toddler class that's bad because kids are young... won't be doing the toddler class again here unless we get the first instructor back. Will wait for the class for older kids or go to county classes.

Great teachers and great staff! My kids have truly learned to swim and are confident in the water!…read moreThey love it here! Clean facilities and kind and attentive staff.

Our son enjoyed swim lessons here until he grew out of them…read more Pros: warm water, small groups, overall good instruction Cons: lots of staff turnover so hard to keep the same teacher, complicated process for moving to the next level (and the turnover doesn't help), and most of all cost. $40 a lesson is very expensive for this format.

Rating corporate gyms in the DMV area solely off the one thing that matters to me: temperature. I…read morejust moved here about a year ago, and the one thing I've noticed is that no gyms in this area are cooled properly. Yes--cooled. The temperature should be from 60-65, and anyone getting a good sweat and workout in would understand why that's ideal. Here, I was literally dripping sweat after a couple of sets on the leg press. No cardio before. Ridiculous. Oh, and the towels to dry off all the sweat? They were full size. That's all they had. No regular towels for the hot gym that causes you to drip sweat. I've lived in Texas, California, and Arizona--all of which were just as if not more hot than the DMV, with sufficiently cooled gyms. All I keep getting from gyms around here when I ask are excuses. I'm tired of it. It's unacceptable for a large corporate gym. If anyone knows of a COLD gym to lift at please, let me know.

If I could leave 0 stars I would…read more I joined as part of their pre-opening discount. However my job changed and I am now traveling 4-5 days a week. I called the club and asked to cancel, they referred me to their Gm who confirmed via email that my membership was cancelled (with 30 days notice which was fine with me). Life is good right? Then the drama starts... This email was on 3/11/25 so any reasonable person would thing it was cancelled 4/11/25. Instead they hit my Amex on 4/25/25 for the nexts months membership. I email the GM multiple times with no response (again I'm now traveling constantly so coming in person is not an option). Finally at my wits end I dispute with Amex. Amex approves the dispute with my proof in writing (and blocks all further charges from them). Then not only did they ghost me. Their 3P harasses me for payment on a membership I have clearly cancelled (in writing). And threatens me with collections. When I forwarded them the written confirmation of cancellation they stated that it wasn't sufficient and not in the clubs policy - I have to pay $450+ despite having written documentation my cancellation. WHAT?! So hear me out - an employee, at the club. With a club email said my membership was cancelled. Why am I now being threatened with collections for $450+ because of this and they refuse a Golds gym email as proof of cancellation! No one will call me back from the gym, and their 3P is abysmal. This is the horror story you hear about gym memberships. People screw up, but honor the screw up - especially when it's in writing. Spend the $ and go to equinox - this gym and their admin function is trash