Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Pool

This therapy pool is amazing.
My Mom had a brain aneurysm a few years ago that left her in a wheelchair. PT is teaching her to walk again and encouraged us to go swimming at this pool as much as possible.
Its super warm which is great for her.
Thankful San Francisco has pools like this for the disabled.
Everyone at the pool was super helpful getting her down and up the ramp.

My daughter started swimming there when she was 4. She is now 16 and everyone marvels at how good a swimmer she is. She is taking private lessons and her instructor Hardy is not only fantastic but is also in popular demand. The water is warm and I like the fact that they give priority to individuals with special needs. My mom goes in the morning to exercise and she raves and recommends it to everyone. They have group classes for infants and toddlers who always seem to be having a blast. If looking for a good pool in SF definitely check this one out.

We tried Le Petite Baleen first (see review) and I have to say that Pomeroy is by far the superior of the two. The instructors (Mary & Lisa) are amazing and seem genuinely interested in making sure your child has a wonderful swimming experience. The classes are 1 hour long and unlike LBP, my 10 month old manages to stay energized the whole time and would stay longer if she could. Each session begins with 15 minutes of recreational swim — which is great when you’re running late… followed by 30 minutes of group singing/​swim play… followed by 15 minutes of more individualized attention in a smaller group setting.

I tried to become a member of this pool for Rehabilitation purposes after my Doctor recommended that I go swimming. It is far out by the Zoo on the Taraval Line. I found the communication of this business to be very very poor. The website has all the information and if you email or call in they will redirect/​refer you back to the website. They also only accept certain insurances. For me this pool was too pricey and the communication was not on spot so instead of going to Pomeroy I just got an economic need Passport to the SF Recreation Pools being Sava & Rossi instead for swimming purposes and that worked out better for me. I was able to get Physical Therapy covered at UCSF, so the swimming component of my treatment is now done at other Pools.
Pomeroy disappointed me by not trying to welcome me in as a potential customer. Guess they don’t need any new customers.

We love the Pomeroy pool! The staff is knowledgeable and experienced. Many of the teachers have been there for years. 2 of our kids learned to swim there, 1 is currently taking lessons, and 1 will be starting soon. It’s just such a great place to start your young ones on swim lessons (up to level 3).

We are so happy to found this pool. We wish we would have something similar in Germany. But we haven’t found something like that in Germany.
We are visit SF since 3 year once a year for about three weeks and we visit this pool three times per week for physical therapy the entrance for assistants, therapists and carer is free.
And by the way a hint for my German mates, if you think your English knowledge is not good enough one of the pool supervisor /​lifesaver is German ;-)
The water is very warm, around 90 F or 35 C. It is fabulous! As my wife depends on her wheelchair it’s great that the Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Pool
has several PVC wheelchairs you could use to get into the water down the pool’s ramp.
And there are various Floating Plates and other swim equipment you might want.

I am a wheelchair user and go here for physical therapy and for exercise and open swim times. The water is very warm, around 92’F. It is fabulous! The room where the pool is is also kept pretty warm with heat lamps, and while the locker room is not perfect it is not totally freezing either. The locker room does not have lockers, or private changing areas and it has heavy doors. The pool itself has a ramp, very broad and shallow steps with handrails and many PVC wheelchairs you could use to get into the water down the ramp. There are vests and all the sorts of adaptive swim equipment you might want.
The arthritis classes are too hard for me, but no one seems to mind if I just do my own thing in the corner. It is 10 bucks a visit, after a $ 25 membership fee for 6 months. You have to have your doctor sign their application form. Over all this is comparable to the Abilities United pool (Betty Wright Center) in Palo Alto. I appreciate the nice big window looking out over trees and the skylight as well as the cute murals.
One extra note, if you have difficulty walking very far, or if you use a manual wheelchair, be aware there are only 5 «close» parking spaces at the top of the small hill where the Rec Center is and during the arthritis exercise class times these spaces can fill up. If you are not disabled you may not notice this as a «hill» but if you are, you will notice the trek up the hill from the parking spaces along Herbst Road. For public transit: the #18 bus goes down Herbst right across from the Center. The #23 bus gets you nearby as well but will leave you across a busy intersection half a mile away (if you are a powerchair or scooter user).

This review is for the kids aquatic program. This is a perfect place for babies to get used to water — instructors use songs and toys to help the adjustment. However I would not take older kids here if you want them to learn swimming. The instructors here believe that kids have no muscle memory till age 3, so we moved on to another program where the kids were given more independence at 2.

We tried the cuttlefish class today and LOVED it. First, the facility is nice, clean enough, large enough, designed well enough for families with little ones. Second, the pool water is warm and comfortable to get in and out. Third, the lesson was fun, everybody had big smiles on their faces – adults or babies or on-​lookers. Fourth, staffs are friendly and helpful. Such a wonderful experience. Will always go back.

Screw this place. $ 25 to «enroll» and $ 8 PER VISIT to use the pool. NO discount for Medi-​cal or Medicare patients whatsoever. (if you fight with your insurance you «might» get reimbursed.)
This is the main public rehabilitation pool in SF, and the only one I know of. But how are you helping those that are living on disability (and are thus struggling financially) by charging them this much? (for comparison, YMCA provides a discount to Medi-​cal holders and was $ 40 /​month last time I checked. Go in the pool as much as you want in that time)
also: you have to book everything in advance. no drop-​ins for the pool (unless during their very specific times). Talk about unnecessary bureaucracy. and the people on the phone were unnecessarily rude in that «oh you STILL have a question» kind of way.
Overcharging the poor elderly and crippled is not a public service. It’s no fun deciding each time you want to visit if the pain you’re in is worth an $ 8 soak + transportation. Just make it a flat monthly rate (and cheaper visits for medi-​cal patients!) and higher someone that doesn’t treat you like scum on the phone for asking a couple questions.
Note: to be on medi-​cal means you earn less than $ 1,500 a month (and usually much less). With San Francisco Rent and Food costs you can imagine why $ 8 (plus enrollment) is a lot. How are you helping those people Pomeroy center?

Warmest pool in SF probably
Great for kids who are special needs and typical kids!
Instructors somehow make swimming drills FUN
We especially like Joe, Mary, and Gregory as teachers!
We have done sea otters class a few times as well as the one before it (penguin?) and have loved both. Some people say it is hard to get in class but we have found if you get on the email mailing list and call the first day that it opens up to outside enrollment — they usually have slots to choose from.
Price is soooo reasonable too!

Great swimming pool for kids
Lovely and warm, beach area to learn swimming skills
My kids 5/​3yr were both floating front and back within a few rec swims
Water toys to play with, friendly staff
Only wish they have a family changing room nothing beats a warm shower after a swim
Coming up our 5^th? Rec session
Love it here :)

I’ve brought my 9 month old here for the cuttlefish (hehe) class twice now & we love it. The locker rooms are a good size and have a big low counter area where you can easily lay your little one down to change, in addition to a koala care changing table. There are plenty of showers, too. There are no lockers but there are benches out in the pool area for you to keep your stuff. You can bring a stroller, too, which I found to be very convenient when trying to change with a squirmy worm who can’t stand on his own. But I digress.
Once your class time begins, you start with 15 minutes of free swim. I like that there’s a spacious gradual step area where the kids can ease in to the water during this time. Then, everyone goes to the deeper end of the pool for ~20 minutes of whole group singing + movements. There are plenty of pool toys babies can hold on to (and chew on) if they aren’t doing hand motions quite yet. Finally we split into two groups and do more focused skill work until the end of class. An hour is a long time but most of the babes stay engaged because the activities are so fun. The nice thing is that you have the flexibility to step out from the group instruction if your child needs a break.
Another bonus is that the pool is part of a larger rec center that has some grassy areas where you can have a picnic. And it’s located right next to Lake Merced; if you’re ambitious enough to go for a walk after class, that’s another great picnic spot.
All in all I’m glad I chose Pomeroy for my son’s swim lessons. We get a great experience for a good price.

I have been taking my son to the cuttlefish swimming class for the past 6 months. I am very happy that we decided to take baby swimming classes here and not anywhere else. The teachers are great, water is warm, classes are fun and the price is unbeatable. They have a huge free parking lot. We have missed a class a couple of times and there was no problem with coming on a different day for a make up class.
It’s an old building, changing rooms area is little run down but everything else makes up for it.
The most important thing — my baby boy loves it. He claps and cheers when he sees the water after we come out of the changing room.

I’ve been taking my kids to mommy and me lessons here for many years! I love the teachers, songs, activities, warm pool… I could go on and on! My older two are on the swim team and my baby loves water too!

My son comes with my mom here for swim lessons. I went to watch and was happy with what I saw. The instructors are so amazing they have great games to teach the kids. They are all therapists as well so they have better training. Great place for the little ones to learn how to swim! And it’s heated!

I love the Aquatics program here. I have two kids under three and have been coming here with them since my oldest was 6 months old. He was pretty unhappy about it at first and gets very overwhelmed and stressed out easily but within a few short months became quite the water baby. The staff work at just having the kids be comfortable in the water and there is no pressure for the kids to achieve anything other then have fun. This definitely helps. We sing songs, splash and play with balls etc and learn swim skills without even realizing!
We took a break while I was pregnant with my second and now we are back to going twice a week. The staff are all great, I can’t fault anyone. They are laid back, friendly, great teachers and all pleasant to interact with. I like the people that use this place too and that it’s a diverse mix of parents and kids, people using the pool for rehabilitative purposes and also people with disabilities. I think its important that our kids grow up understanding that disabled people are no different to them and sharing facilities definitely helps with that!
The building is old and there are definitely no frills but the water is warm and you can’t beat the price. They also let you make up a class if you miss one which I don’t think many places let you do and that is huge in my book as we are always missing one here and there due to colds, Drs appointments etc.

I recommend this place for you child to learn to swim over all others. My kids have had classes at different places including La Petite Baleen. My kids have learned to swim there in just one year of lessons. They have zero fear of the water, are completely confident in their skills and are water safe. They are 4 and 7.
The instructors are all water therapists and they teach the children to be confident, comfortable and relaxed in the water. Their method appears to lack discipline, but it really is extremely disciplined because the kids get extensive practice in all the requirements for water safety — breathing on their own, going under water, floating, basic strokes. The water is so warm that the kids don’t get cold waiting around for «their turn.»

Wanted to give a quick update: Son #1 has moved all the way up to their level two swim class (seems to average two sessions per level) and LOVES the water. He goes for one swim lesson and two rec swims per week. Son #2 tags along to rec swims and thoroughly enjoys puttering around in the shallow end. We’ve experienced about half the teachers who work there, and all have been fantastic.

What a nice open reception hall! There’s a big stage, plenty of space for seating and dancing. (We were here for a wedding reception.) Plenty of nice open windows. The audio seemed okay and the visual hookups seemed fine too.
There’s a real (commercial) kitchen! (My SO decided to taunt me with the commercial mixer… lol)
Plenty of parking.
My only complaint, is that there is only one way in and one way out, and they need better signs (especially for night time driving.)