The Cove Aquatic Center

I want to rate the Cove higher, but they are only open two hours per day for kids swim/​play. No wonder it is difficult to find someone that has taken their kids here.
Of no help at all is the online flyer that says they’re open into the evening. Vague at best, misleading at worst.
I would write more, but I have to calm down an upset four year old :/

I’m here visiting my parents and checked the website for basic rules and regs. I have 4 kiddos and my parents wanted to buy our passes for the day, I didn’t «walk in» with them (as I had to make a stop to a local Walmart for swim trunks for one of my kids… per rules and regs on their website). I get there and trying to get in thinking they allowed my folks to pre-​pay. NOPE. The lady at the front desk told them no. Not knowing this… I ask her «If I pay again would I be able to get a refund?» She replies… NO. «What about credit for another day?» NOPE. VERY rude and not helpful at all.
I pay, and find out from my parents that she refused them to pre-​pay me and my son. Not to mention she didn’t even complete the transaction as we had to go back and receive «tokens» for a bracelet. Horrible customer service and tons of teenagers life guarding worried about socializing rather than safety. Not to mention half of the attendees are wearing… PJ pants and T-​Shirts! Was pretty disappointed. The older lady/​manager had stopped me and asked me if I was taken care of. I tell her what happened and she says its done all the time for groups and clubs. Basically this lady just picks and chooses who to genuinely «help».
Sadly I would come again only bc there is nothing better to do in this small town for me and my 4 kiddos!

Saturday morning at 9:30 my husband goes in to see what it is like. He talked with a brown hair older lady there About the place. She tells him the prices and asks if he wants to take a tour. Well, he actually went in the wrong way and saw everything they had so he told her no and came back to the car and got me and our 5 kids. The oldest being 6 years old. We go in and immediately she’s asking how old our kids are. We tell her our oldest is 6 yrs old and says he can’t swim because only kids 5 and under can swim until 12. Then she goes off about how it wouldn’t be fun for our 6 year old because he would have to sit on the sidelines while his siblings would be swimming and tells my husband he should’ve taken the tour. Umm, how would that’ve helped! What annoyed me the most was her excuse for why only young kids could go in was for those kids who didn’t want to be there when the wave pool was going on at 12. The lady was rude and not helpful. She was trying to acting like it was his fault, even though she never told him only 5 and younger can swim. Just a nice «oh, I’m so sorry only kids 5 and younger can swim until noon.» Would have been great!
We will NEVER go there! If you want our business then you better hire polite people!
If anyone asks us about this place we wont hold back and we’ll tell them not to go here!

We wrote the following letter to the Cove today.
Today, I took my daughter and her three sons, 15, 12, and 7 to The Cove. After all, what else is there to do in Sierra Vista when the temperatures reach close to 100 degrees?!
The Cove has been a good place for my other grandchildren of various ages, but they were younger and were used to playing with the younger children.
We were told the 12 year old had to pass the deep water test. Okay. No problem. He went and stood in line to pass the test. 35 minutes later after watching one lifeguard testing these children, my grandson, who towers over everyone, is still standing and waiting behind 3 children. The Wave machine comes on every few minutes which stops the water testing.
I lost my patience. It is hot, humid, and miserable in The Cove unless you are swimming. I went to the front and politely asked for a manager. I waited just a couple of minutes until a young, friendly, blonde met me up front. She was very apologetic and said she would have another lifeguard help with the testing.
It was another 10 minutes and our oldest, 15, is done swimming and the 12 year old hasn’t even touched the water.
Finally, after more than a 45 minute wait, the 12 year old hits the water swimming with fast, strong strokes across the pool. He has lived with an 8′ deep pool in his yard since he was 5 years old. He could beat any of the children standing in line with him by twice the minutes. If he were asked to tread water, he could do it easily for 5 minutes.
Our 12 year old was watched by the original lifeguard (who had passed many little ones who didn’t even do a strong forward swim) as he did his forward swim. For some reason, the 2^nd lifeguard (a girl) watches Brady do his backstroke. He doesn’t do a pretty backstroke… that isn’t his strong point, but as I say he is a very strong swimmer and treader with a 5’5″ frame at 165 lbs.
If you have a certain criteria, then make sure that your lifeguards use the same criteria. It was obvious that the girl was more strict with her requirements.
Brady, 3 years, ago, took a rigorous swim test at Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base and passed with flying colors. Now, if your test is a safety test, as I was told, who decides the criteria necessary to see if it would make one safe for swimming in deep water?
My husband, in the Navy, was required to swim forward 4 laps. It didn’t matter if it was on the belly, on the back, etc. Just as long as he could do 4 laps. Then he had to tread water.
Use common sense… what emergency could actually happen IN YOUR POOL WITH NUMEROUS LIFEGUARDS that would require a strong swimmer with excellent treading skills to have to use a backstroke in order to save himself !?
In the end, Brady paid $ 4, waited 45 minutes for a test he didn’t pass and left humiliated.
The point of this letter is, in my opinion, you need to use appropriate safety criteria, and ensure all employees are trained on how to conduct the test in the same manner for all children.
We were so very disappointed in The Cove today.
Sincerely,
Darlene

How awesome is SV for having an indoor aquatic center with a heated pool year round?
I love that I can take my two little ones swimming for only $ 6 for a family of four. Everything is always clean and the front desk is always polite and friendly

indoor, heated pool. I go for the lap swims… only $ 3 per visit. I’m in the area during winter season, so a heated, indoor pool in town is awesome. Clean and spacious… if you’re looking to swim for exercise or just hang out, this is the place to go.

I only go to the morning sessions when they turn the wave pool off and my ten month daughter loves it. The prices are extremely low and we make it a weekly trip… Love this place.

This is an awesome place to take your family. On Tuesday-​Saturdays from 10−12am they host Splash Time for children 4 and under. The cost is only $ 2 per child, parents go free. They bring out splash toys, inflatable ride-​ons, and there’s even a water slide! On Saturdays from 12 – 5:30 p.m. the whole family can swim in the wave pool, sit in the warm pool with jacuzzi jets, or go down a great fast-​paced slide. It’s a great asset to the community. They do offer aquatic classes and swimming lessons for every age group if interested.