YMCA Aquatic Center

This is not a bad facilty. Air quality sometimes is an issue when it is warm. When there is an event going on parking can sometimes be an issue or even the drive there as International Drive is sometimes a joke to drive on because of all the tourists.

I’m a big fan of the Aquatic Center. Several pool choices, deepening on how hard I’m willing to work! The fitness area isn’t the best in the area, but good for the basics. After all, it’s called the AQUATIC Center. Great little swim store, too, but limited hours, so check before you go. It can get very crowded on days with swim meets. I only wish that they had a swimsuit spinner like the Dr. Philips YMCA, to get the water out!
Great, friendly staff!

The sheer size of this aquatic facility is amazing unto itself. I don’t even think I have seen a high dive in TPA yet, but they have one here at this center. Two huge pools, with second level stadium seating. The pools looked to be in fantastic condition. They have large changing rooms, and a gym to boot. The only drawback is the gym is not open on Sundays. Beyond that this place was amazing.

Such a hidden treasure along I-​Drive!
Here’s the thing — I love to swim. But even more, I like to dive.
I haven’t been diving in a LONG time. Look around at the pools near you. There are no more diving boards!
When I was little (I know I’m sounding like an old person now…) there were diving boards at all the pools. Not only normal diving boards, but high dives.
We had so much fun diving, jumping and flipping.
Even in college, we would hit the pool and I even got adventurous enough to hit the diving platforms.
I couldn’t do anything more fancy than a backwards dive or a front pike. But damn did I nail them!
So imagine my excitement when I realized that the YMCA Aquatic Center is the one place in Central Florida where the public can dive!
Now, there are platforms, but those are for club members only. So OFF LIMITS!
But there are two diving boards open to the public and it’s hours of fun.
I’m already a YMCA member so I was happy to learn there’s no extra cost.
The only reason I can’t give it 5 starts — they are closed on Sundays.
Considering I work during the week and live a good 35 minutes away from the squatic center, the weekends are really the only option for me and a Sunday swim would be perfect!

What this YMCA really has to offer is three magnificent swimming pools under one roof — no surprise for a gym which bears the words «Aquatic Center» in its title. First of all, there’s the Competition Pool, an Olympic pool perfect for training — where the water is cool and the lanes are long. Next up is the 17 ft. deep Diving Well, a pool where it’s fun to watch the next Olympic hopefuls strut their stuff on the high board. When this one isn’t busy, it’s my favorite place for a deep water fitness workout with a flotation belt. Last up is the shallow 4ft. deep pool in the rear of the building, technically called the Teaching Pool, where the water is almost consistently kept at 86 degrees — perfect for arthritis therapy, water fitness classes, and toddler swim lessons.
There is also a gym with weight-​training equipment, treadmills, elliptical machines, recumbent bicycles, and all the rest, but to my way of thinking this is the least of what they do here. The main event at this YMCA is aquatic events and training. As the marquee boasts, this facility is the largest aquatic center in the Southeast and if you happen to arrive in midst of a state-​wide swim meet, you’ll realize the value of this center to our area. Just beware: once school is out, the facility is populated by kids and coaches from every type of aquatic camp imaginable, from Diving to Water Polo and everything in between.
Otherwise, it’s pretty spartan, i.e., no towel service, not much in the way of cutting-​edge fitness classes or great child care, and certainly no other amenities like steam rooms or saunas. Locker rooms and showers are no frills — as in high school — basic.
Ok, Gentle Reader, since I’m a regular here and not all *that* disenchanted with the facility, you might ask yourself: so why not more stars? In a word: management. Supervision is not good. At any time of day, you’re likely to see teenage girls walking or jogging on treadmills in flip flops. Scheduling is crazy: One regular aquatic instructor leaves halfway through the class because he has personal training appts. scheduled which conflict with the class. The attitude seems to be «don’t bother me, I won’t bother you.» Not good for any fitness facility.
Since its address is on Orlando’s infamous tourist strip — I-​Drive — this Y is friendly to tourists (for a fee) staying at nearby hotels. No excuse to miss a workout!

One of the only YMCA’s I have seen that has a state of the art Olympic pool and aquatic center. Pretty cool to see swimming and diving competitions here. Long line of treadmills are set up along a wall of windows so you can watch the proceedings as you get your cardio in. The little kids are fearless when diving off of the highest boards — it’s crazy to watch how high up they are.
In stark contrast is the actual gym floor and equipment in the fitness center connected to it. There is a mish-​mosh of old and new Cybex machines, old Bodymasters machines, outdated racks and cables, and even older and more beat up free weights and racks. I feel as if I am working out in a Fred Flinstone caveman gym here. They do have lots of nice cardio equipment — ellipicals, treadmills, and bikes. Carpets are kind of frayed and beat up. The place definitely needs a refurbishment.
Can’t complain too much as they have long hours and it is only $ 10 a day as a walk in. Last night the girl at the front desk did not charge me — bonus! Close to the hotel I am staying at, and it never seems too crowded even if I come here in morning or night. I guess it is just good enough to use as a business travelor who just wants to get a decent workout in.

The YMCA Aquatic center has a long and I’m sure poignant history, which you can read all about on their website.
Our tale of woe begins: We arrived on Friday night at 5PM (their child care is only open from 5 — 7:30 p.m. — we’ll tell you later why that is a good thing) ready to test the child care and take a swim. We walked up to the check in desk and encountered the worst receptionist in the history of the review. The receptionist was an elderly man with glasses who after we walked in responded «What are you doing here?» I stammered a bit, coming to check out the Y, maybe take a swim, etc. He says «You know the teaching pool is closed, don’t you?» No, I said. «Well, we have the Southern something conference today, so the pool is closed.» Ok I say, we just want to check out the club. «OH, well, I suppose you could do some laps in the dive well, but the lights are off.» Hmm… I said, is the kids zone open? He says «You mean child development — its over there.» points. Quickly he turned and walked away leaving us in the lobby with a few couches and 2 unmarked doors. I chose one…
Child Development F
This is the worst child development /​nursery area I have ever seen, and that includes every church nursery I have ever been to. The center is a small, windowless room with one of those fake wood brown 8′ folding tables set up in the middle. In the center are two women, chatting and texting surrounded by women’s magazines and gossip magazines. Spread on the floor near the walls were small playtoys like legos and activity sets. No paint. No decoration except some colorful rugs (good thing — no place for kids to sit except on the floor).
This is the worst staff at any Y child development area I have ever seen. I talked myself through the sign in process and left. Nobody seemed to pay any attention. Once they took the form, they both sat down and went back to their magazines.
I guess it wasn’t dirty, crowded, or violent, but it was as if someone said, «oh, lets have a child center» and got a bunch of garage sale donations and two bored women to staff it. Sara’s review — «It was terrible. There were no windows. The workers weren’t very playful. They just were texting the whole time… ya know. like you do on the iphone.» James’ review — «they had a dinosaur toy.» I showed the kids the pool, and the excitement. They both said «Mom, we just want to go.»
The facility: D
In defense of this crappy facility I should mention that they did have quite an event going on. 600 students from all over the south participating in a giant swim meet complete with a parade of some sort where costumes were involved. There were booths set up and I bought a bottle of water for 1.00 There was even a nifty upstairs viewing area that people could watch the meets from.
Family locker room:
Couldn’t check — constantly in use by parents of above mentioned swimmers.
Women’s locker room: C–
Standard high school locker room if your high school has a pool. Metal see through lockers, group showers, completely wet floors and those rubber mats. Wet, cheap, and obviously designed for those who just throw on their clothes and leave.
Lots of lockers available, but no long lockers that I could find. The locker room was so bad, even though it was empty, I just left in my workout clothes. Lockers seem like they were designed to show any contraband that might have been brought into the facility. I can’t remember at this moment but there didn’t seem to be benches in front of the lockers to put your stuff down not on the wet floor as you changed.
The pool: A
They have a really big pool. There was a window into a darkened room where they have a different pool, and at the end of the really big pool was a diving board pool with the lights off. My friend once told me that this pool is so awesome and I should make a special pilgrimage down there to use it when I was training for my triathlon. But, I believe his memory of this facility has been tainted by «good old days syndrome» and/​or he was screwing with me intentionally.
The «gym» D–
Lets use that word loosely. I feel like the pool center got a memo one day that says «you’re supposed to have a gym» and some equipment was dropped off the next day. The nice thing about it is that the treadmills look out over the pool area through a tinted window — so I could watch the crazy swimming show as I ran. There are no towels of any kind at this gym. The facility is dark, with a low ceiling. I feel like it was probably a waiting/​viewing area for the pool before someone walled it off.
If you want to go to this Y, I would suggest a few things: (Even though, you have been warned)
Only go if you just want to use a really big pool.
Call ahead to find out if you can actually use it
Don’t bring your kids
Wear your swimsuit under your clothes.
Leave your purse in your car (although it is in a parking lot on International Drive, so don’t blame me if you lose it).
Don’t plan to use the gym.