Burlingame Aquatic Center

Very clean pool and lots of space to swim. Be prepared to swim in long lanes.

Stay away at all costs! This is the dirtiest pool I have ever visited! While the pool deck itself looks nice, the water is so dirty. I have never seen so much debris inside such a large pool. I question if they ever clean it? While I can’t speak for the men’s locker room, the women’s locker room is a mess and also never seems to be cleaned or restocked. I had to use the restroom and every stall was out of toilet paper. There is only a small area to change and shower in, which would be fine if it were actually clean, but there is hair and dirt everywhere. (I’ve uploaded images) They also have very young lifeguards running the front desk on what seems like their down shift (I guarded in college) and who don’t seem to know what they’re doing. I’ve also tried to get in contact with management and they never respond to emails. Would not recommend this place.

Great place for recreational swim. It’s $ 5/​adult for rec swim and $ 7/​adult for lap swim. There are two pools: one that is 3.5 feet for kids and another that has lap and rec swim from 3 – 13 feet. It gets crowded and there’s no place near the pools for towels, so I had to put my towel and sunscreen on the floor.
The women’s locker room was small and moderately clean.

We’ve taken swimming lessons here for the past 7 years. Back when we started the swim lessons were separated by levels. My youngest at age five started in the big pool in level 2. I think he learned a lot more in the lower levels than his siblings did with the new swim program which has kids in the small pool until advanced 1. It’s too easy for the kids to stop trying to swim when they can stand in the pool. The five stars are well earned for their advanced, pre team, and swim team. Once kids are around pre swim team level they can really take off in the program. They push the swimmers and are a highly competitive program. Everyone is very friendly and responsive. There are a lot of kids working at the pool and they are friendly, and responsible. Their downside is they get their swim lesson and swim team calendars published WAY after all the local rec centers have their classes open to register so it makes it hard to plan around it. We’ve skipped many lessons and gone to other programs periodically over the years because of the issues with the calendars and registrations being published so far past all the other mid-​peninsula recreation centers and private programs calendars. If there was anything they could change that would be the most important for them. It was a lot easier when the pool was managed by the BG rec department. All in all great program for swimmers.

I love BAC! Club swimming here was always so fun, and now I swim there on the high school swim team.
They employ a lot of students which is very nice of them, and I urge people to be a little bit patient with the management because they might be a little bit less experience than you’re used to. They’ve always been so friendly to me!
The lanes are really wide, always plenty of room :)

This outdoor swimming pool has big wide lanes for short course and long course. They have various swim pass packages that you can purchase online. You can purchase family packages if you want to save some bucks. However, if you are the only one in your family that need to go to this money, then you don’t need to buy this package.
If you don’t know how to swim, this pool is for you. They offer aqua fit, private and group classes including for babies and adults. All the classes are 30 minutes. The price for private class is $ 40 but group classes change depending on package.
The water is warm, especially early morning and in cold weather. The babies pool is warmer, so, don’t worry your kids will enjoy the water!
You can easily get some buoys, paddle boards and fins here. They also sell accessories like swimmingly sunglasses, caps, etc.
There is a parking outside, just a minute walking distance from pool.
The regular staff is very nice and helpful. Don’t surprise if you meet different people every time at the front desk. Sometimes those people can’t answer all your questions, they even don’t know how to register you online
Although the swimming pool area is big and nice, there are many cons here too. The main thing that I don’t like at this swimming pool and give 4 stars, is their locker room. It’s very tiny and only one shower room with 3 showers. The one shower of those 3 doesn’t work for a long time and no one fixes it. I can’t say that this shower room is always clean either. The other cons, they don’t have dryers. So, bring extra bag for your wet clothes. There is only one changing table in the handicapped section in shower room. No changing tables for babies.

I’m not one to write bad reviews but this place is terrible. It is easily the most unprofessional business I’ve been to, and honestly should not be open to the public. Listen to the reviews here on Unilocal.BAC offered a coupon to those who wrote a review on Google+ hence the 4 – 5 star reviews there and the much less satisfactory ones here.
When you get to the front desk, it’s a mess. Completely disorganized and dirty. and when you approach, the staff looks like they couldn’t care less about helping you. Most of the time they’d rather be staring at their phone screens. They don’t tell you anything, just a simple «have a nice swim!» that management has seemed to brainwash them into saying. Other than that, they’re rude and indifferent. On more than one occasion the twenty something brunette with bangs has been especially rude to me. They don’t answer phone calls or respond to emails either. The bathrooms are the WORST i have ever encountered. I don’t mind changing around people but even the showers are cramped. I swam here the entire summer through November and not once was there soap or toilet paper. Not to mention the fact that it’s completely filthy and only once have I seen a lifeguard cleaning it or taking out the trash. The pool itself is nice, but the deck and surrounding areas are unorganized and just look a mess. The lifeguards are nice and seem competent. Most of them are teenagers, but they don’t seem to know how to answer questions or do anything other than well. Lifeguard. This fact wouldn’t bother me if BAC actually employed other staff members, but it’s almost always JUST LIFEGUARDS running the place and they don’t know anything.
Bottom line — If I were you I’d take the extra 5 – 10 minute drive down to San Mateo or neighboring pools. I’ve recently switched to another Aquatic Center and cannot believe the differences.

Missing your Vitamin D on the rainy days?
Why not go for an outdoor swim?! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s already pretty wet in the pool, and it is extremely pleasant to let the pitter patter cool off your face while you work out.
The BAC pool is gorgeous and perfect in design: 50 meter pool, and they do switch to long course several times a week, year-​round. The flags are always up, and it doesn’t seem to get too crowded. They have a small, side pool (i.e. pee-​containment unit) for babies and kids swim lessons. Hawt water polo players to ogle while you’re kicking.
Unfortunately, it seems to be closed a lot — whether for swim meets or for maintenance, it’s pretty regular — good news is they email you about it if you have a pass. The pool is generally pretty clean, although it could be better. The single worst feature of the facility is the teeny tiny locker room and accompanying miniscule shower set-​up. If you love showering *closely* with two other women you don’t know, and then sticking your butt in their faces as you hop around on one foot trying to get dressed in the tent size dressing space, then this set-​up is for you. Forget about trying to shower when swim club/​masters’ has just finished their work-​outs.
But really, I don’t go swimming to lounge around in a locker room. The pool itself is really quite nice, and you can’t beat the outdoor swimming — rain or shine (hold the lightning).

We signed my 16 month old daughter up for swim lessons here based on a recommendation from a coworker. I agree with the other reviewers — horrible front desk customer service. We walk in & I explain that we are there for her first class & the girl says, «Go ahead» with an attitude, without explaining where to go or how it works — do we sign in? etc.
The teachers changed from her first class to the second class. There are too many people in the class for the teachers to focus on the kiddies. They only provide general instruction to all of the parents and sing songs.
The small pool for little kids is filthy. There are rocks on the bottom and hair floating around. The instructor even grabbed a clump of hair & said, «Oh this is just great!» It’s disgusting.
The changing room only has one changing table in the handicap stall & not much seating for babies elsewhere. There was garbage, an empty lotion tube, and an empty water bottle on the benches the last time we were there.
After two classes we are not going back. I’m very disappointed at the waste of money. They should use some of the time and effort they put into their website and emails to improve their customer service and clean their dirty facility.

For the last year I’ve taken my son to lessons here. The instructors are hit or miss. Some are very engaging and actually teach, some just make the kids do laps. That’s okay with me, he’s swimming and that’s the point.
Recently, I had several bad interactions with a front desk person and emailed the Director and Executive Director with no response. I’m not quite sure how not responding to emails is a good business practice or good customer experience, but I guess it’s time to find another facility for swim lessons. I refuse to deal with front desk teenagers who are lazy and disrespectful.

Very happy to have discovered lap swimming here. It’s very close to my house and the pool is great.
If it weren’t for the fact that swimming has greatly improved my quality of life I would might give 2 stars simply for the «service.»
Do not expect to even be given a tour or shown where anything is the first time you go. They simply say «enjoy your swim», and I’m like… um where is everything?
Do not expect the slightest level of interest or normal interactions with lifeguards when you have an issue.
My first time there I had left my towel and flip flops on the bleachers by my lane. They came and took everything away while I was swimming assuming everything on the bleachers was left there by the kids at the kids camp. I never got it back.
One lifeguard started to kind of help me and went looking for my towel then kind of disappeared. Then I flagged down a different guy and he just got me another towel to use from lost and found. When I asked the girl at the front desk about it when I was leaving she was totally unhelpful and disinterested.
I had to use a random dirty towel from the lost and found but the worst was the lack of apology, guidance, or interest from anyone there.
Locker rooms are lame. It could be less expensive but hey I have a place I can swim at and I’ve yet to have a circle swim situation and have actually only had to split a lane one time.

I’ve been a lifeguard for 10 years now (I am 26) and I have never been so aloof as any of the LGs that work here (even when I was 16). I am pretty confident that if there was a medical emergency, they could pull through and handle it, but their customer service is awful. As a LG, you are face of the business, and, it would be nice to have a friendly face to say hello to, instead of some deadpan kid saying «uhhhhhh» every other word.
When I signed up to do lap swimming (I bought a 3 mo groupon for $ 70ish), they didn’t even give me any sort of orientation and they also didn’t let me know just how often they change their schedule. They could have just kindly let me know, «the high school uses this pool, and there are a lot of swim meets held here, so times change pretty often»… But I got nothing. Since there was no orientation or dialogue whatsoever, I also walked through the men’s locker room and no one stopped me. Yea, my own fault for not reading signs, but really, be a little bit more aware and concerned for your new members.
They also do not return phone calls, and when they do pick up the phone, it is hard to get out any reasonable information from them. I really do understand having a bunch of unhappy patrons calling you is difficult, BUT if you are answering the phone, you should know how to answer questions instead of getting flustered and not having an answer for me.
Horrible locker room facilities. I’m not modest, I don’t mind communal showers, but I do mind not having anywhere to change.
The pool is clean and nice. Good cool temperature. I love an outdoor pool. But, it’s still a business, act like you want to make your patrons happy so that they’ll come back.

This is a really nice pool. The locker rooms are pretty small. My stuff barely fit into the lockers. The showers are all open but were nice and hot with hooks nearby. It wasn’t too crowded on a Sunday morning, although occasionally it will be closed for a swim meet, so be sure to check the website. I like that it’s sometimes set up as a 50 M length — again, this is listed on the website. A word of warning — if you lose something, the lost and found is pretty wild and not very well maintained.

4.5 stars for this place.
Large sized pool with 3 levels of deepness. $ 5 to get in whether you are a local resident or not which is great.
Pros: –decent entry fee
–relatively easy parking outside in a good safe neighbourhood
–sufficiently heated but you gotta keep swimming to be warm
–large pool for a great workout
–SEPARATE small kiddie pool for kids. YES! Less pee to wade through!
–available fins and floatation board for use
–warm warm showers with enough pressure
–soap available in the showers
–I thought the ladies locker rooms were decently well kept and clean. Maybe there were less people that day but Ive seen WAY worse at the Sava pool in SF before they renovated the place which had rot, shower mold, etc. Here I didnt see any. El Camino HS pool locker rooms were WAY more horrifying than this.
— large active clock and timer which I could read without my glasses in the pool from a far ways off to time laps and tread sessions
–courteous attentive lifeguards
–good amount of lanes even during rec swim
Cons:-small locker room
–one open shower room with 3 showers for ladies. Heads up if you are afraid of undressing in front of others
–can get kind of cold when you stop swimming.
–wish the pool can stay open later than 4:30pm on Sundays

+s:
–Big wide lanes and never a problem with circle swim. Everyone that I have encountered is very friendly
–Some buoys, paddle boards and fins to use
–warm water
–outdoor
–Lifeguard on duty
–Package passes and quarterly passes available
–Long course and short course swim times available
–parking in the area not bad
–s:
–womens locker room — TINY AND GROSS (ie. dirty?!). No individual showers just one giant room to shower and the locker room /​changing area is TINY. Bring a lock if you plan to use their lockers. They do have a hard dryer
–fins — some need to be replaced as they are cracked/​broken etc.
–no quick dry bathing suit dryer so bring a bag to put your wet gear into

Pros:
Lots and lots of lanes
Short and long course
Good water temperature for swimming
Salt water filtration
Cons:
Gutter systems a tad outdated
Locker rooms are small and gross
Good to swim in. Easy parking. Swim, then shower at home. No problem!

After moving back to San Mateo I wanted to find a pool for aqua aerobics and signed up with BAC and one other pool. I received good details from BAC staff about classes and was excited to start. Only after signing up and paying did I discover San Mateo Athletic Club at CSM. Since SMAC is close to my home it was the obvious choice and I realized that I would be better off going there. I emailed the BAC office asking if they would please refund my money as I had made a mistake.
I received a somewhat curt response from a director that they do not offer refunds and was asked why I signed up only to cancel. I was frustrated but realized that I was likely stuck. On another occasion I called to see if they would reconsider a refund. No response.
After several months I drove to BAC to attend a Noon aqua fit class — it was designated as «high intensity» and I looked forward to giving it a try. Granted, the drive was long, parking was scarce, and I already knew that the locker room was non-​existent — but, it was $ 80 that I needed to use up. One of the directors was behind the counter and I explained my situation. She was all smiley and said that I should try the class but that maybe there was something that could be worked out. I was elated and figured I’d give the class a good try and then speak with her after.
The instructor was nice and tried to make it a fun workout, but she was the only one having fun — up on the pool deck dancing the moves — the rest of us were in the cold water trying to keep warm. This class was not high intensity and was likely one of the lowest intensity classes I’ve attended. I went back to the front desk and told the director that it was not for me. Sadly, the smiles were gone and I was told that no refunds are given. So much for working it out.
At that point I figured I had just made a donation to BAC and that my money was gone, however, one day I received an email about a new early morning class to be held for roughly two months. I saw that it was offered on Mondays and thought I could use up my remaining «pass» toward these classes so that it would not be a total loss. I sent my original receipt of payment to both directors (separately) asking if I could use the remaining balance toward these classes. I NEVER heard back. My one year has lapsed and my money is gone.
Bottom line: I am the one who purchased the pass and I own that responsibility, but I am disappointed with the lack of customer service to at least try to work this out. They’ve also had a car break-​in near the pool which has kept me from dropping in to see if I could use my leftover funds toward the early class.

For a local pool it’s ok, but there’s definitely better choices out there.
The temp is a few degrees colder than ideal, even for hard working swimmers who heat up. The locker room showers are dirty and only 1 or 2 of the shower heads really works well.
The biggest turn off is the schedule. I’ve gone for lap swim and many times and more than a handful swims have been cut short due to other events that haven’t been listed on their site. Frustrating to get in a short swim. Especially with that expensive $ 7 a visit for walk in lap swims. If you swim more than 3 times a week you may want to consider other pools in the area that offer more flexible, and consistent, open hours. PJCC in foster city comes to mind, and with that competitive price you get a gym and many other things.

Fine, clean, spacious pool. Sometimes the water temp is too cold, though. Friendly staff. Locker rooms tiny. Parking can be difficult on school days, but I usually find a space somewhere.
I like my masters workout a lot. Ray is easy-​going, and doesn’t seem to mind having to repeat the set.

Being a swimmer and water polo player, I appreciate a nice aquatic facility and thats what Burlingame aquatic center is all about. The pool is pretty darn sweet. Deep gutters. good temp and its 50 meter by 25 yard. nuf said.
check out
for the lap swim schedule.