Incompetent admin staff, worst communication, and most terrible customer service experience ever. Do yourself a favor, pay a bit more and take your kids somewhere like petite baleen or elsewhere for youth swim lessons. Wish someone had told me that before I wasted my time and energy. I sent them 7 emails, called 3 times and they still claim I haven't responded. Still no refund. Also heard their summer camps for kids is a shit show of disorganization too. read more

The lifeguards on duty are incredibly stuck up and cruel, teenagers, don't bring your toddlers

Has my son become a better swimmer since joining the YPAC team? Is water wet? In just two months, what an amazing transformation in power and endurance when my son's competing. He's getting real coaching from two hands-on, talented coaches and has unlocked so much joy and confidence in himself from being on such a great team. Frequent communication with parents on upcoming meets and fun events like Friday night relays keep the sport fun and social. Everyone's treated with respect. Head coach Dave Moretz sets the tone: He inspires the kids and takes time coaching them how to improve without discouraging them. It's a gift. Coach is always on deck at every practice and at meets ready with stats on your child's timing, beaming praise or a sad tug of mouth acknowledging, "Yeahhh.. he DQ'd" (disqualified because of a wrong stroke or error). Highest recommendation, tremendous coaching, great team and swim training for all ages. read more

YMCA Letterman Aquatics Center - What a view, love The Presidio - Gyms Near Me - San Francisco, California

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This pool is getting even MORE ridiculous Today they had 2 lanes reserved exclusively for swim lessons ...and nobody was taking a class.WTH?!?! They stayed vacant while the rest of us crammed into the remaining lanes YMCA management: _please make some changes _Allow ppl to swim in the lanes, if classes aren't going on This is getting silly read more

YMCA Letterman Aquatics Center - Gyms Near Me - San Francisco, California

This pool is virtually useless for working adults looking to lap swim. Before work hours, 3 of 6 lanes are used for the masters swim team. The youth swim team uses all lanes, Monday - Friday from 4:30-7:00 YEAR-ROUND, making it basically impossible to swim as an adult after work during the week. After 7pm, there are only 2-3 lanes available for lap swim for about 1-1.5 hours. The other lanes are reserved for rec swim and swim lessons. An entire lane used for one person getting swim lessons. Crowded lap swim lanes, hard to get into a rhythm or flow or even get your heart rate up. Don't even think about using the pool anytime after 4:30pm on a Friday because all lanes are reserved for the swim team and water polo, all the way until closing hours. Weekend hours are also limited, closing by 4:30pm! While there may be more lanes available for lap swim, the facility hours are even shorter than during the week. If you do not have a flexible schedule, or cannot do very early mornings, do NOT use this pool. The only viable times to swim are the middle of the day, so if you're retired, self-employed, or have odd working hours maybe this pool is for you. As a working adult with a regular 9-5, I regret getting this membership. Facilities are fine, nothing to write home about. A no-frills facility that charges way too much such limited use. read more

YMCA treats paying members like second-class citizens. Swim teams, swim lessons, and water polo take over the pool with guaranteed access, while the majority of paying members are completely shut out during key hours. This isn't a temporary issue, it's been happening for a long time and continues to get worse. And now they have the audacity to announce yet another membership fee increase starting July 2025. They claim it's to "expand and improve services," but the truth is the exact opposite: services are being slashed, pool hours are being stolen, and members are getting nothing in return. It's dishonest, misleading, and frankly exploitative. Don't be fooled by the YMCA's "community-first" branding. The reality is they prioritize a few programs over the majority of their paying members, all while squeezing more money out of everyone. If you value honesty, fairness, and actual access to what you're paying for, look elsewhere. read more

Negatives - This is not a good pool for working individuals who want to swim. During prime weekend hours, several lanes are used for lessons or lifeguard training. For example, last weekend I came to swim around noon and there was only 2 out of 6 lanes available for lap swimming so I had to leave because the lanes were too crowded. This occurs regularly on weekends. During the week, you can only swim after 7 PM. I would recommend trying the JCC or USF for working adults. This pool is for kids mostly On the positive side, The Pool is very well maintained and always clean read more

The management of the Presidio YMCA pool has slowly declined over the past few years. They now prioritize swim lessons over regular full-paying members who come to swim laps by cutting back on the lap swim hours. In addition, the facilities are substandard and not maintained properly. One of the showers in the men's locker room has had extremely low water pressure for MONTHS and one of two hair dryers has not worked for MONTHS. This despite the fact they closed down both the gym and pool for a week for "cleaning and maintenance" in August. The maintenance part for the pool must have slipped their mind. I know, these are first world problems, but when you're paying a lot of money for your membership (with an unannounced increase in August) you expect things to work properly. It's too bad no one is being held accountable at the Presidio Y pool. read more

For kid swim lessons-- great instructors, clean facilities with towels, good pricing for low-ratio swim lessons! Like most swim classes, they do fill up quick after open registration day! read more

I agree with some of the previous reviewers. Regular swimmers also complain constantly. This pool is set up for trainings and swim lessons, and lap swimmers are an afterthought. It is chaos During prime hours when the pool is busy- There is nobody to check in swimmers and have them placed in the appropriate lane- Therefore, you have fast swimmers trying to circle swim with slow swimmers. Inexperienced swimmers often jump into lanes without telling swimmers On the positive side- The pool is very well maintained and very clean read more

This is the PERFECT place for kid's swim lessons in SF - a few reasons why... 1. No BS waiting lists. They have lessons going all year and it's a never crazy registration process. 2. Four week packs, low commitment! 3. Very reasonably priced compared to other SF pools. 4. Teachers are lovely. The whole operation is run by high school students but you can tell they all take their jobs seriously. 5. Easy parking or a short walk if you live in the Marina! 6. Clean, normal changing rooms with loads of fresh towels! The pool is welcoming too! I could go on, but I think you get the point - we love this place! read more

Seems like a good place for kids' swim lessons. But don't try taking pictures of them while at it -- not allowed.

I've been a life long swimmer and since moving to SF a few years ago, I've been dying to find a decent pool and masters program. Halle-freaking-lueja! I recently found the Letterman Pool through the Presidio YMCA. This is one of the nicest indoor pools for the price in the northern 7x7. Unlike other gym-based indoor pools in the area, this one is clean, well staffed and well-maintained. The water was a perfect temperature and it wasn't too crowded after 7pm. The Masters program is posted on a white board and has had decent workouts that are both challenging and fun. The spa was also very clean and kept at a nice 104* for a post workout clense. The pool its self is 8 lanes by 25 yards with a wading pool and spa. The only drawback is that you have to be a YMCA member to use or pay a drop in fee. read more

YMCA Letterman Aquatics Center - Gyms Near Me - San Francisco, California

At this point, I would give this Y a minus 5 stars if I could. This is after an almost 20 year membership. I am a very senior disabled woman and I only used the pool for the shallow water aerobics. These exercises are very important for my health, as are the friends that I have made there. I have been banned because I have complained about some of the actions, lack of action, and attitude by the same two people mentioned in SR G.'s review, Kristen and Tyler. I remember when the staff, including the directors, were focused on member services. That is irrelevant for some of them now. The straw that seemed to hit their deepest nerve was when I reminded Kristen that we, the members, pay their salaries so out of respect, she should pay some attention to what we're saying. I'm really sorry about having to write this kind of review. I hope that things change. I'd love to write a positive review. read more

I purchased a membership to the Presidio YMCA during the pandemic restrictions. I was very unable to do my exercise with a mask on. I have always had a harder time breathing and keep my mouth open to feel enough air coming into my lungs. Probably something I need to have checked out :-) I have been unable to go swimming in the Letterman pool. OMG. I called Frank at the Presidio location and he said it will not open until September 7. It feels like an eternity. I asked Frank about the hours that it will be open and his response was greatly different from the hours I got on simply googling the hours. It appears that the pool is only open during weekday mornings until noon and only about a total of four-six hours on the weekends. I am mostly excited to go swimming because I finished my last round of chemotherapy for stage one breast cancer on April, 2 2021. I also want to bring my 86 year old father who is undergoing treatment for stage four liver cancer. Also, I would like to bring my preschool age daughter and take photos of just us. I see that someone mentioned no pictures :-( read more

It's with a heavy heart that we write this review, as all 3 of our kids have effectively grown up at the Y -- getting swim lessons there for the majority of their lives thus far. When we started, there was a very experienced leader of all things Aquatics at the Letterman Aquatics center (D'Arcy). She was tremendous at all aspects that go into it -- from understanding the technical side of swimming to the unique needs of all kinds of preschool and school age kids. She created a safe, inclusive, developmentally-appropriate environment for all 3 of our kids (who each have very different learning styles and needs). She also had high expectations of her swimming instructors and really seemed to mentor the younger ones. She was also adept at parent communications -- she felt like a true partner and educator, was a naturally high EQ person and an absolute pleasure to work with. In our first few years, even when we had moments of not being happy with the specific teacher/instructor our kids had, she would engage and resolve quickly. The price was also relatively affordable vs. alternative options and we felt like we were getting tremendous value. Fast forward to the past few years after that experienced leader left, and we've seen a precipitous drop in teaching quality combined with a significant increase in cost (North of 50% monthly), which now has the YMCA (even for members) more expensive than Petite Baleen and the JCC, among others. The drop in quality has resulted in a series of consistent complaints from our kids whenever they've been put with certain of their teenage teachers, most of whom have some swimming background, but minimal background in teaching or experience managing younger kids. All of this was recently escalated to the Aquatics Director Tyler, who reacted defensively. He initially reached out indicating he wanted to discuss potential paths forward, which we were encouraged by. After we questioned the drop in teaching quality, the fact that all 3 of our kids have been complaining regularly of late and especially the circumstances of our son being uncomfortable, he reacted like a petulant child by banning our 7 year old son from the pool and blamed him for his discomfort and the situation. In that discussion, he disrespectfully cut us off repeatedly and put the phone down on us. He expressed zero empathy or understanding of our son being very uncomfortable with his most recent teacher and took no responsibility for the consistent drop in quality we've seen since D'Arcy left. We then spoke briefly with Tyler's boss Kristen. While she was professional, she also expressed very little empathy, support or understanding, and (only when pressed) took a drop of responsibility for the teaching quality, saying inexperienced, teenage teachers are, "what the Y can afford." Alas -- we won't be coming back. If you want a safe, inclusive and (at least) decent swim lesson experience for your kids, we'd recommend avoiding the Letterman pool at all costs unless there's a dramatic change. read more

Went swimming here last week. I did a drop-in to try it out which was $15 bucks. The locker room was pretty messy and overall the vibe was eh. From other pools in the city I use this has been the weakest. The pool itself is a bit weird. At the shallow end it gets 3.5 feet which made me feel like I was going to bump my head every-time I did a kick turn. Had a chlorine smell for a while after I left the pool not sure if that's poor pool management or just the types of chemicals used. read more

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We love it. Great place for Adults and specially for children. We love the toddler's swimming classes.

This is a wonderful neighborhood pool. Great aerobics swimming classes for adults and staff overall is friendly and helpful. If you're upset about something- talk to the staff and they will do what they can to accommodate! read more

I have to agree with other parents who complained the low quality of swim classes. It seems like they are going through some major turn overs with their instructors and all the new ones are high school/college students with no teaching backgrounds. I'm sure they're great swimmers but that doesn't mean they can teach, especially pre-k to kindergarten age kids who are not quite equipped to listen and follow directions. It almost seems irresponsible to pair inexperienced instructors with 3-4 very young kids who are not comfortable in the water at all. I was observing the lessons in both bigger pool and the smaller one and NOT one instructor seemed to have a control over their students. I really miss older instructors my kids had during the summer. What happened? I saw 2 little kids in what seemed to be a near drowning position(head in the water, arms flailing, etc.) during the 30 minutes i was there and it took 3 lifeguards on duty a while to notice them, too. It was infuriating to watch such incompetence. I'm done wasting my money on the swim lessons at this place.. read more

6 x 25-yard lanes in main pool + 1 shallow rec pool for children (warmer temp) + 1 hot tub. Lane allocation changes throughout the day and during week, so for lap swimmers, get their schedule from check-in area or their web site since during class or masters swim, free use lap lanes are reduced. They supply kickboards, paddles and other items to use. Swim caps required. They also discourage perfumes (better rinse it off before swim), which I appreciate. There is no music in the pool, which is great, compared to some places I've been to. Deep end of main pool is around 8 ft, and shallow end around 3.5 ft. The parking is inexpensive but not free during business hours. Bus line # 43 stops closeby. Locker room is basic, but there's a separate one for families if you want to accompany young children. Towels and liquid soap dispensers are provided but you may want to bring your own shampoo. There's a set of small lockers for valuables in lobby. read more

Clean, well maintained facilities with friendly staff, decent locker rooms, and plenty of opportunity for lap swim throughout the day. The master's swim program is included in membership and is fantastic, Coach Corey is very knowledgeable, supportive and crafts a great work out. read more

This is a well maintained and organized pool. They are clear about different activities in each lane (rec swim, lessons, masters team/tri team, open laps). Overall it's never been overly crowded (circle swim definitely happens but it's never been more than 3-4 in a lane which isn't terrible) and the lifeguards here are attentive. read more