Martin Luther King Jr Pool

The pool is very well maintained and the staff are nice and friendly.
The only reason why i wouldn’t recommend this location is due to all the homeless drinking and laying around in the children’s playground area. My child and I felt very unsafe and it is hard to ignore. The bullet holes on the glass entrance door didn’t help either.

Best public pool in SF. Clean, warm, new, huge, not crowded and $ 6 a swim. Both the temperature of the room and the water are kept warm. Water temp is 83 degrees. Facilities are nicer than Garfield and water feels warmer.

I can’t believe it’s not private.
In other words, how can a public pool be so nice? When you walk in, the staff greets you with a smile – that alone is worth five stars! They’re super attentive and care about patron health and safety, and of course they work well with children. They’re diplomatic toward patrons who are bothering others and make sure that nothing ever gets out of hand.
The pool itself: a good length, and actually warm and clean. Win-​win-​win. The design of the pool makes it look airy and inviting. There’s a separate toddler pool so the little ones don’t get pushed out of the way by older ones. Plenty of room to swim around and the deep end is suitable for diving. During recreational swim, they have inner tubes but no balls, pool noodles, or things like that.
The locker rooms: bring flipflops. It’s clean overall, but some of the lockers are a little musty so it’d be good to wipe them down with a paper towel before you stow your things. Make sure to bring a lock. Showers are clean and the hot water runs. Hair dryer works. Swimsuit dryer does not.
Most public facilities suffer from the «Tragedy of the Commons» but MLK pool is doing just fine. Better than fine, actually. Much, much better.

Mermaid Friendly, that’s all I need to know

Great pool. Great pool employees. Super clean and perfect temperature. Sometimes its hard to mesh a work schedule up with theirs, but when you can its perfect. Parking along rear that is just on the street, but usually plenty of it. Male/​Female locker rooms. Great atmosphere.

I think this pool really deserves 5 starts on Unilocal rating. Because they have a very nice and helpful staff, and the pool is clean enough.
I’m going to this pool more than a month and still satisfy with their service. I observed how welcoming and helpful the staff there since my first visit there. I’m going there for prenatal swim because my prenatal advised me to swim during pregnancy.
The first day when I went there with my husband was a lunch time. The staff were having a lunch. One of them saw us and asked that if we need anything. I said that I can wait while he eats and then ask me questions. He said that it’s ok I can ask my questions. I asked the percentage of chlorine and mentioned that it’s important for me as I’m pregnant. He immediately stopped his food and said that he can help to find out that. I felt shame because I disturbed him during his lunch time but he did it in such a nice way that I couldn’t refuse his help. He approached to other staff and explained my situation and said that he isn’t sure about the percentage of the chlorine but he wants to give me the right information. The other staff who was also on a break took me and my husband to a small room where they have all the electric staff showing the heat, chlorine and everything else. And the good thing is that he wasn’t satisfied with that and took a small cup, added there something, then took some water from pool and checked the chlorine.
He answered to all my questions and explained everything in details about he it works and even congratulated me and my husband at the end :)
The next day we both (me and my husband) we went to the pool and we continue to go there from that time till now. The staff already know us and warmly welcome us every time. They are very attentive to customers, especially to swimmers. I noticed several times that they worn people who goes to the deep side of the people. I remember a few days ago, a man with his small kid swam to the deeper side of the pool and the staff immediately made him to leave that side and said that it’s dangerous for a baby. They always watch people who can’t swim but goes to deeper side.
I also like the pool itself, besides a good service there. The fitting room is clean. It has lots of lockers, 2 hair dryers — one for kids, and the other is for older (like for tall people). They also have dryer for swimming suits. It takes all the water out and dries well enough to bring it home without a water on it.
The only thing that sometimes makes me uncomfortable there the kids pool is closed now and all kids and older swim in one pool. Kids are very noisy in water, there isn’t enough place to swim when there are lots kids, as most of them don’t respect other swimmers, yell, through water at each other but again the staff takes care of them which is good.
Taking into consideration the good service and general condition of the pool, I’d give it a five star overall, as I enjoy going to Martin Luther King Jr Pool.

This pool is a fantastic asset to the city. In addition to providing great facilities and programs to the general public, they are very supportive of private aquatic sports clubs. The staff is helpful and friendly, and the facilities are clean. I travel to this pool from my home in North Beach and it’s worth passing up several other City Pools to get to.

Best lap pool in the city. Clean, lots of lanes and consistent schedule. A++

This may be San Francisco’s best kept secret… dare I give it away
Super clean.
New locker rooms.
Lap swim schedule is the most reasonable of all the SF pools.
Rarely, if ever, crowded (still contemplating whether to give away the secret)
Swimsuit spinner/​dryer thing… who invented these? Genius!

They’ve remodeled the pool and its great! Good schedule, clean locker room with warmish showers and you CAN shampoo here unlike other city pools.
Its nice because the shallow end goes across the length of a pool and is great for people learning to swim.
Water exercise here is fun — Maria was great, friendly and welcoming.

I have been swimming at MLK since I was pregnant with my last child. This pool is clean and well kept. I love the toddler pool and the guy in charge, Don Lane is very cool.
Over the years, I think we have done a little bit of everything there. I have been an avid follower of the water aerobics classes… evening and daytime classes. The daytime classes are geared more towards Seniors and people who need a little more time, attention and require a slower-​paced class. It’s great for expecting mothers too (of course you should check with your doctor first)! The evening class is more upbeat and more people usually attend. It’s a great class if you are looking to get in shape. I did it while I was pregnant. But, if you are new to water aerobics, you should sit and watch first.
The kids programs have always been stellar. However, with the CA budget the way it is, I am figuring this has trickled down to public recreational facilities. DAMN THAT GOVERNATOR!!!
Saturday, I took the kids for lessons and it was just a hot mess!
The lifeguards were teaching the kids and watching the front desk. They had NO to time to lifeguard at all. So, it was «every man/​woman for themselves». Plus, people kept showing up with kids that were within the age group… but too small for the class. Understandably, these parents were upset. But, I REFUSE to believe that it never crossed their minds while they were enrolling «Little Johnny» online that their 3′ child would just barely be able to stand up and even be seen in the water! I absolutely refuse to go out like that. So, the lifeguard/​teacher/​receptionists had to spend WAYYYYYYY too much time talking to these folks because these parents were SERIOUSLY acting like they wanted them to drain some of the water out of the pool so that «Little Johnny» could participate in the lesson.
ANYWAYS…
These guys have too many responsibilities!!! Yet and still they were affable, responsive and helpful (especially Don) and I appreciate that so much.
We will continue to attend lessons here and see how things go. I will continue to take aerobics classes when I can.
But, I have to give you one warning: This pool is in DRUG-​ADDICT ALLEY!!! So, DO NOT (and I repeat) DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING OF ANY VALUE IN YOUR CAR!!! My windows have been smashed for coats, CDs, chump change… WHATEVER THEY CAN SEE, THEY WILL TAKE! Leave your belongings at home. Bring your towels, goggles, flip flops and some spare chonies and call it a day.

Wow. was i shocked when i went here. Very nice facility. warm pool. cute kids pool. decent locker room.
I bet you there is not a nicer public pool in the city.

love love love this pool!
staff is so nice
and the pool and pool areas are so clean!

This is a great pool. It’s well-​kept and clean. I like the fact that there’s a separate shallow kids pool – it makes it easy to bring more than one young child swimming at a time (I have found that most SF pools start at 3′ deep).

I’ve been to many of the public pools in SF as well as some private school pools throughout SF and this is hands down the nicest. It is pristine, well-​cleaned, with friendly staff and a just-​right temp for a serious swim workout. Don’t let the drive discourage you, it’s not all that far and well worth it! Starting in April the new MUNI line (T I believe) will be running right to it. Happy swimming!

the pool is great
the staff is great
the water is a little warm
the drive out there sucks