The Culver City Municipal Plunge

Fantastic, clean pool — with the perfect temperature for swimming. And, LONG COURSE every day — my first choice for lap swimming when I’m in LA.

My daughter started swimming here recently, as part of the Royals swim team. The facilities are well kept and the pool is very clean, with great water temperature.
The staff is helpful and the pool has convenient hours.

My favorite pool ever, and I’ve been swimming competitively for 24 years.
I love the relaxed feeling at this pool. Its just swimming, no reason to take it too seriously! If you don’t know what I mean head over to Santa Monica and try to keep your cool when a lifeguard with a megaphone thing yells in your face all passive-​aggressively «team swimmers clear the pool NOW» because you took an extra minute to warm down.
But I digress.
The staff is friendly and RELAXED. Sure sometimes it would be nice if they did a better job policing lane speed and the locker rooms could be better, but its a trade-​off. I’ll take long course every morning year around and being greeted on deck by a half dozen people before my feet hit the water any day.

A great location and facility, unfortunately there so many unnecessary rules that I am done going there. More freedom in the ocean with my kids.
I don’t mind rules when those are reasonable and not ridiculous.

Two stars for staff today. I’m a culver city resident who frequents this pool often, taking my gaggle of kids and their friends to the pool regularly. My kids also take swim lessons here. Today I was purchasing a rec swim pass for the kids and the staff person wasn’t knowledgeable about the pass so she responds with, «we only have the lap pass» so I pull out the old pass I had to show her. She shrugs her shoulders and locates the same pass in her drawer, then proceeds to charge me $ 35, not $ 20 for the resident, youth pass. Remembering I had paid less than this previously, I questioned the amt and my fiancé pulled up the prices online. We showed her that it should have been $ 20, and she says rudely, «…you want the youth rec pass, not the adult rec pass…» Well, I had five children with me and I was buying admission for them…“Yes, I wanted a youth pass.” The adult pass she charged me for was also for lap swimming – per their online list of passes, they don’t even sell an adult rec swim pass.
Really? Normally the staff is pretty good, but today I was taken back by this staff member’s rudeness and lack of knowledge regarding the passes they have for sale.
So, if you are buying a pass, double check the online prices before paying and if you are a resident, you will need to show your driver’s lic with CC address on it for the resident discount.

I haven’t been to many public pools (on the West Side), but this one feels like a winner. Take the plunge, and check it out!
PROS:
+Olympic Size: (for pools) Size matters. Depending on what time you come, the pool will either be split length or width wise. Typically M-​F during night lap swim, there’s at least 7+ width (short course) lanes available. The lanes are wide enough to split the lane into two.
+Hours: The lap swim hours here aren’t ungodly like most public pools. Though I never come on weekends, the fact that the lap swim hours don’t end before 10am is a major plus.
+Outdoors: I love that the pool is outside because it decreases the chlorine smell, and it’s nice to get fresh air. Plus, when it’s cold it means you better swim faster to «warm up!»
+Community: The staff and swimmers here are great. I like that when I come here, it actually feels like a community of «swimmers» — meaning, people who respect and know proper pool etiquette (ie: walkers know not to be in the fast lanes).
+Cost: $ 4 per entry for non-​residents or $ 50 for 15 entries for non-​residents (save $ 10). In comparison to other public pools I’ve been to (on the East Side), this is about the average price, so I’m content. Cash & credit is accepted.
CONS:
–Women’s Bathroom: I’m not a fan of walking barefoot in any public space, but especially spaces with water. The women’s bathroom is unfortunately the only downside to this place. The draining system needs serious renovation throughout — so be prepared to walk on your tippy toes!
TIPS:
*Free lot parking off of Culver Blvd M-​F (be sure to read the signs!)
*Complimentary kickboards and pull buoys (nice for those who don’t have for whatever reason, but clearly used)
*Lanes are marked into three tiers according to speed.

Best swim class program for kids!
My 5 year old has been at another place for a year and was still at level 2. He came here and in 6 weeks is diving in and swimming unassisted. The teachers are great, scaffolding the basic elements starting at the lowest level and building on them up through each level. Couldn’t be more pleased — everyone is so friendly, great with hesitant first timers, encourage all to do more each time and seem to truly enjoy teaching our little darlings.
I highly recommend the Plunge!

Nice pool but lessons for kids, not good. My son is on his 3^rd week and absolutely no progress. Too many kids in 1 class. Not enough instructors. Not enough space for the over 7 yr olds. I’ve already spent $ 250 for the 8 weeks of lessons, so i had high hopes for this place. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of money for him to splash about for 30 minutes every morning. Next time, I’m going to try the YMCA. Extremely disappointed. I’ve given 1 start for the pool.

Big swim meet at the Plunge over the weekend. Advertised as the Coast to Coast Swim Meet. Tons of people, tons of cars, tons of fun.

Love. This. Pool. Outdoors. Long course. Clean water. Well kept locker rooms. I only swim here Sunday from 12:30 — 1:30 with SCAQ masters group so I can’t speak much to hours or what the swim is like at other times. One of the best public pools in the county.

i love this pool! facilities are clean and the staff is cool. they let us beginner swimmers swim in the deep end for practice. i know that sounds silly but f*ckin LACES would not allow us to do that! it’s also in a great area! nearby dt culver city so we can grab excellent food after! fun family crowd :)

Pool is wonderful. Clean, well kept and not overly chlorinated. Deck area is also well maintained. I would have rated the pool as a solid five but the locker rooms (women) are really substandard. In the evening, the locker room floor is a giant puddle and there is not any dry spots to stand in and dress. Shower room is tiled and cleaned but if the drains are not kept free of hair, the water backs up. Perhaps this will be addressed when the pool opens again in 2015. If the locker room is straightened out, I will be back. Staff is friendly and helpful.

One of the best public pools I’ve been too.
Don’t be fooled by the exterior appearance of this place. Plenty of amenities in this place such as modern looking locker rooms almost felt like I was in a 5 star hotel, by the way never been in a 5 star hotel haha… But I’m sure if they had a pool lockers would look similar to this.
They a gadget that drys your swimming trunks in a few seconds. Showers are clean and the floor again looks very fancy with a big mirror right on front of the showers.
The pool does seem to get pretty crowed it, it looked like if swimming teams use the pool as well so most of the lanes have to be shared.
Yes I will be visiting this pool!

The best public pool in Los Angeles! The pool are extremely clean and great for recreational swimming and training. Lanes are clearly marked for speed and use, so beginners don’t have to feel like they are getting in the way. There’s plenty of lockers, staff is friendly and very helpful, and water aerobics. Check the schedule as they change the pool from short to long length daily.
Parking can get crowded as the facilities is next to a park with some basketball courts, a basball field, and a playground.

First time there recently. Pool is clean. Has around 18 lanes for lap swimming. Which is great but it was totally full! Three –four people a lane. I gave it three stars because the locker rooms were not clean. In fact they were pretty gross. The gal at the front desk was not friendly and acted like she didn’t want to be there. Which I’m sure she didn’t. All in all. Three out of five stars. I would go back when it’s less busy.
I asked at the front when was their least busy times during the day. No one could answer me. So there ya go.

my husband is a big lap swimmer and goes to pools all over the South Bay, but he really likes the Plunge. They have an Olympic size pool and the pool is well run and clean. When they have the full lanes open it is for serious swimmers where they divide the lanes into slow, medium and fast. Great idea. They sometimes shorten the lanes and have the shallow end for kids and others to hang out.
I come every once in while and sit on the nice pool lounges.

I like to swim laps. This is a great place to do just that.
Clean pool and orderly lane swimming.

A friend spoke about this pool. We went to check it out today, Sunday and I liked that their staff were very friendly and welcoming. It is the nicest pool I think on the westside being big, open and outdoors. Much bigger than the usual pool I swim in. The parking was not bad at all, considering we entered off Overland Ave. Their nondescript driveway is easy to miss.
We were told their aim is to keep the pool temp at 81 degrees. Knelt down beside the pool and stuck our hands in the water. It felt marvelous.
The women’s locker room was basic with no frills whatsoever. However it did have adequate privacy as some of the changing rooms were partitioned off. Looks it is necessary to bring your own lock if you want to keep your belongings in their lockers.

I love this pool!
I come here once per year for a charity event, the Coast 2 Coast Challenge. Aside from that, it is too far for me to drive to go swimming. I pass at least 4 nice pools on the drive there from South Redondo Beach. I wish that it was located in Hermosa Beach, which does not have a pool.
The Culver City Plunge is big and clean. The water is nice. There is ample deck space surrounding the water, and a free parking lot. The pool is located far enough inland that even when the beach is socked in with fog, it is sunny here. It’s an outdoor pool so the odor is not a problem like with indoor pools. I love a nice outdoor pool!
The Coast 2 Coast Challenge is a charity event that raises money so that underprivileged kids can take swimming lessons. It takes place here once per year, around the end of May or beginning of June. It’s really fun! There are Olympic swimmers and local celebrities on site. It is a very good cause so I will continue to make the drive every year. There is a $ 25 donation, and 100% of the money is used to provide free swim lessons.

This is a fantastic place for a swim workout! The facility looks nearly brand new. The maintenance of the place has done wonders. Lots of lanes open and I’ve never seen it even close to crowded, so there’s plenty of room to get a good workout in.
Pros:
— Long course during the morning and early afternoon. Swim workouts seem to go faster without all the turns… maybe it’s just me.
— Lanes divided up by speed, which people actually follow. Who would’ve thought?
— Clean pool, water doesn’t have an odd smell, and tight lane lines
— Large lockers and grated floor boards that drain well so you aren’t standing in a puddle while changing.
— Clean, non-​smelly, perfectly working showers.
— Outdoor (during spring/​summer).
— Credit cards accepted for entry.
— Friendly staff!
Cons:
— $ 4 per visit, ouch!
— Outdoor (during winter)
I’ll be making my way down there for some more workouts this summer!