Saanich Commonwealth Place

For swimmers (and for parents in search of a diversion for their spawn) this place is outstanding. The aquatic center is absolutely badass, with five-?-if memory serves me-​competition-​sized pools and one amply sized kiddie wave pool with a pirate ship structure and a wild corkscrewing waterslide. It’s the shit. Prices are crazy low (I think it was like $ 4.50 for use of both the gym and the aquatics center; they have monthly fees which I’m also told are very reasonable. It’ll set you back a quarter to get a locker token, but it’s Canada, so… you know. No one’s gonna touch your stuff, because that would be wrong. In other news, I have never seen so many white people.
Returning to the facilities, they have a great handle on what happens in which pool, and they vary their temperatures intelligently. The aggressive lap-​swim pools are kept cooler; when I was there, three were occupied with competitive club teams and a synchronized swimming group (this sport freaks me out, but that’s ancillary). The pool they used for laps had a swim club in the first three lanes, leaving another 3 – 5 lanes for lap swimmers. It was a weekend day and I had a lane all to myself. The pool’s cooler temperature was perfect for brisk swimming without overheating.
Afterward, you can relax in the hot tub (which does get a bit full). Happily, there’s an additional hot tub just for the kiddos and their parents (the temperature is not as high, which is safer for younglings).
I think this place is nirvana for swimmers, but I will say they do the unwelcoming cattle-​style showers I really don’t like, and the locker room is not particularly large for such a large facility (and it is just an open, cement-​floored room). I wish they’d put a little bit of love into their locker rooms; it makes a difference psychologically to have a bit more privacy or locker rows with movable benches, that type of thing… also some floor mats might be useful, as the floor doesn’t drain perfectly and I nearly bit it hard when walking in from the showers, as the floor was wet and very slippery.
On the entry level of the facility there’s a little bare-​bones cafeteria/​coffee shop with Wifi.
The gym portion above is decent, though it’s clear that the priority for space allotment here was the aquatics offerings. The gym overlooks the pool, which is kind of fun, and the cardio equipment, while adequate, is nothing to wax poetic about (although the treadmill I was on felt pretty stripped down, it did have a built-​in iPhone charger, however). There’s a good selection of free weights and a mix of older and newer exercise machines. Because it’s in Canada, people are friendly and mind their own business, so it’s an unswervingly polite experience.