With 19 municipalities covering nearly 3 260 square kilometres, and 1.5 million people, Adelaide is big by any metric. That means two things, with regard to swimming: you have many pools to choose from, and the best ones may be far away from you. So, while examining swimming centres in Adelaide, we did our best to get a fair distribution from across the city. These are the ones we liked the most.
The ARC Campbelltown
Anyone looking for indoor swimming pools in Adelaide is well-served; this metropolitan area is rich in these facilities. Of them all, ARC grabbed our attention, particularly for its program pool. This is a large aquatic resource with several zones, including for play and relaxation.
Once you and/or the kids have worn yourselves out in this heated pool area, you might head to the sauna. A session in dry heat will restore your muscles, and help you relax.
You can then grab a snack or drink at the café before heading home.
This facility offers medium and large function rooms for hire.
You may also book a meeting room that accommodates up to 12 people.
They all have an attached kitchenette, and the equipment needed for formal presentations.
If you're a swimming purist, you'll appreciate ARC's lap pool. This 25-metre heated basin fits eight lanes, and has an accessible ramp built-in. You can reserve a lane to ensure you get your laps in. Or, you may meet your swim coach there, to improve on your stroke technique.
📍Location: 531 Lower North East Road Campbelltown SA 5074
🕐Operating hours: Monday-Friday - 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM; Saturday/Sunday - 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM
💲Costs: Sign up for a free, 5-day trial pass; multiple membership packages available.
🌐Web address: https://www.arccampbelltown.com.au/swim
A final note about ARC: your trial pass includes access to the complex's fully equipped gym. There, you may avail yourself of all the cardio and strength training equipment, or work out with a personal trainer. Only a handful of top Brisbane aquatic facilities had a similar set-up.
Murray Bridge Swimming Centre
As summer is in full swing, most Aussies prefer to swim outdoors. In this category, too, swimming centres Adelaide oblige, with Murray Bridge leading the pack. This public pool promotes many initiatives to get people swimming. Among them, we find:
Royal Life Saving SA Holiday Swim
A 5-day program to teach children swim and survival skills.
VacSwim
A program to teach water confidence, water safety, and basic aquatic water procedures.
Watch Around Water
A program to raise public awareness of water safety.
It might seem that this pool offers little in the way of amenities, and its operating hours seem a bit short. For all that, this swim facility packs its schedule with birthday parties, and open access to the facility's water play park.
This play park features five kids' water slides, plus amenities for toddlers' enjoyment. For older kids and adults, the delight lies in thundering down the 48-metre tall SupaSlide.
📍Location: 40-58 Adelaide Road, Murray Bridge SA 5253
🕐Operating hours: Monday-Friday - 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM (school term hours), 12:00 PM to 5 PM during school holidays; Saturday/Sunday - 12:00 PM to 5 PM
💲Costs: adult entry: $7.50 (includes water slide access); family day passes and bundle passes available
🌐Web address: https://www.murraybridge.sa.gov.au/discover/facilities/mbswimmingcentre
Feel free to pack your picnic lunch, including what you wish to pitch onto the grill. Enjoying a nice poolside barbecue will make your adventure complete. In this regard, Murray Bridge is no different from select swim facilities in Sydney.
Waterworld Aquatic Centre
Leaving Murray Bridge behind and moving on to Tea Tree Gully, we find this more expansive water park. It, too, is a swimming pool with slides, including a massive, serpentine tunnel slide.
The main pool is 50 metres long, divided into eight lanes. A separate learners' pool (20 metres long) lets beginner swimmers practise their stroke technique and breathing before tackling longer laps. For the youngest swimmers, splashing around in the toddler's pool is all the delight they can stand.
We found the AquaRun inflatable challenge the most exciting. It stretches for 15 metres, and includes a series of hurdles to overcome. Failing and falling off is half the fun, because doing so dumps the challenger in the water.
📍Location: Golden Grove Rd Ridgehaven SA 5097
🕐Operating hours: Monday-Friday - 6:00 AM to 7:30 PM; Saturday - 7:00 AM to 6 PM; Sunday - 9:00 AM to 6 PM
💲Costs: adult entry: $10; family passes available
🌐Web address: https://www.teatreegully.sa.gov.au/community-and-recreation/waterworld-aquatic-centre/waterworld-facilities
In the water, you may take swimming lessons or take part in AquaFit classes. Outside the water, you'll find a swim shop, café, and a picnic area, complete with barbecue grills. You can make a day of it at Waterworld, just like Perthlings do at the best swim facilities in their area.
Noarlunga Aquatic Centre
Roughly 32 kilometres south of Adelaide's City Centre, lies Onkaparinga, home to this swim facility. Here, you will find a range of water amenities, including 50- and 25-metre indoor pools. This complex also contains a gym and a fully kitted-out fitness centre.
This is the perfect place for learning how to swim, and to take water exercise classes. The swim programs welcome all ages and abilities; you'll even find an infant and toddler swim program.
Among the group exercise classes, you'll find:
- programs for 50+, including water aerobics and strength and balance workouts
- aqua aerobics: open to all ages and abilities
- yoga, Pilates, and circuit fusion group classes
- strength and cardio training
- water-based exercise classes for disability and inclusion
📍Location: Seaman Road, Noarlunga Centre SA 5168
🕐Operating hours: Monday-Friday - 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM; Saturday - 7:00 AM to 4 PM; Sunday - 9:00 AM to 4 PM
💲Costs: adult entry: $9; family packages and memberships available.
🌐Web address: https://www.onkaparingacity.com/Community-facilities-support/Sport-and-recreation/Noarlunga-Aquatic-Centre
This aquatic sports facility is clearly more than just a place to swim. We found this same blend of fun and fitness in swimming complexes across Australia.
Aquadome (Playford)
Of all the indoor swimming pools Adelaide we visited, we found this one the most compelling. Like many swim facilities in and around this city, it is a complete fitness and leisure complex. Here, you'll find land-based, and water-based fitness initiatives. And lots of fun, too.
You and/or your child can take swimming lessons, to make the most of your aquatic experience. For infants, Aquadome runs Splash Time classes, an early start to babies' water confidence, as well as a great bonding experience.
Aquadome provides crèche services, so that you may enjoy the complex after Splash Time while your baby is safe and sound, and entertained.
This Aquadome location features a 50-metre indoor pool for laps, and a 25-metre basin with beach entry, for fun. Before plunging in, you might work out in the facility's health club, or take part in a fitness class. Afterwards, reward yourself with a treat from Aquadome's café.
📍Location: 1 Crockerton Rd, Elizabeth SA 5112
🕐Operating hours: Monday-Thursday - 5:30 AM to 9:00 PM; Friday - 5:30 AM to 8:00 Saturday - 7:00 AM to 6 PM; Sunday - 9:00 AM to 5 PM (winter schedule)
💲Costs: adult entry: $9; full access entry: $18; various membership packages available.
🌐Web address: https://playfordaquadome.com.au/learn-to-swim/
This Aquadome rivals one of the top aquatics complexes in Canberra. Both for its amenities, and its super friendly, helpful staff.
Learn to Swim with Superprof
Many of the swimming pools Adelaide we visited offered swimming lessons. Far fewer of them had private swim coaches available. However, should you arrive for lessons with your own swim coach, none of these facilities would mind. All you need now is a Superprof swim coach.
Adelaide's 9 Superprof swim tutors are ready to meet you at your nearby pool. They will assess your aquatic abilities, understand your swimming goals, and help you reach them. Not all of them at once, of course, only the one you select from the Superprof platform.
Splash Town Copper Coast
We end our exposé with the best kind of water fun in Adelaide: the free kind! The Copper Coast Council installed slides - racer slides, and slides for kids, as well as water mushrooms, a big tipping bucket, and other water attractions. Splash town is not only a great place to play, it's a fantastic way to cool off on hot summer days.
Note that this isn't a pool, per se. However, it is a maintained water facility, and the foreshore reserve includes beaches and swimming areas. If you're uncertain of your swimming and water safety skills, a few sessions with a Superprof swim coach will help you prepare for your outing.
📍Location: Moonta Bay foreshore in the Copper Coast
🕐Operating hours: daily, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
💲Cost: free!
🌐Web address: https://visitcoppercoast.com.au/splashtown
As broad as the selection of swimming ventures in Melbourne is, we found nothing that quite compares to this generous Council concession. Lucky Adelaideans!
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