Joyful Family Swimming

Which public pool is the warmest?? Find out in our guide to family swim and baby & toddler swimming classes in SF. Family swim hours are updated regularly.

Want to jump straight to the swim schedules? Try our new swim map! Now with automatic updates!

Thanks to a local mom’s petition, Mission Pool has extended family swim hours! Swimming and water play bring joy to many of us. With cold months approaching, the pool is a great way to spend family time. But where to swim and where to learn swimming is an evergreen topic on parents’ groups. We thought we’d recap what we’ve learned in our year of swimming with a baby and two toddlers!

Pool Cost and Warmth

This guide to publicly accessible swimming pools’ temperatures and locations is pretty much up to date. The only thing is that prices have gone up: $8 per adult ($6.90 if you buy a 10-pack pass) and $2 per kid for public pools, and $20-25 per adult at private swimming pools (such as YMCA, JCCSF and UCSF — kids are often free). Hours change every few months, and we recap them below. All of the public pools are heated. North Beach is the warmest public swimming pool (86F versus 82F). Garfield also appears to be set warmer than the average pool, and Balboa is generally warmer than advertised due to large bay windows. Hamilton is the only public pool with slides (which have just reopened on Saturday). Mission is the only outdoor pool.

Family Swim hours

We keep an updated list of family swim hours automatically pulled from the SF Recreation & Parks Activity API at swim.joyfulparentingsf.com.

Swimming classes for the under 5

While SF parks and Recreation offer swimming classes, there are only three spots open to the public in each class, and they are gone within one minute of registration opening. 😱 And lifeguards cannot allow private lessons in public pools due to safety concerns. Many parents swear by La Petite Baleen (in San Francisco and San Bruno), but cost, distance and availability of weekend classes may be prohibitive. YMCA, JCCSF and AC Swim in San Rafael have swimming classes for toddlers, but they’re all very costly programs. Pomeroy is a more affordable hidden gem offering classes every couple months.

Now, toddlers don’t need swimming classes, and don’t believe Instagram videos: not all babies learn to swim in a month. And that’s alright. It’s easy for parents to teach the basics and help their child be comfortable in water. Key skills include going underwater, learning how to float on their back, entering the pool, but most importantly: having fun! Sing with your little one, use the pool’s balls (no outside toys at public swimming pools) and splash around.

More Public Pools Please!!!

San Francisco has only 1.1 public pool per 100 000 inhabitants. 🤯 The family swim hours have greatly improved, to take into account the needs of working families, thanks to the efforts of SF Kids Swim parents volunteers. But we can and should ask for more! Aside from being fun, robust swim facilities and education prevents drowning at all ages. If these hours don’t work for you (we sure would love to see pools open on Sundays!), you can support Parks and Rec, write to your district supervisor, fill the SF Kids Swim form and subscribe to the newsletter for updates, and bring your little ones to public pools! Happy swimming :)

🐠🐠🐠

For more joyful parenting events and content, follow us on Meetup.com, Twitter, or Instagram

[cover photo courtesy of stockvault]

P.S. Since this post was written — SF Rec & Park announced swim on Sundays!! Different pools have different schedules, staggered so that there are multiple pools open every day of the week.