Sava Pool

I used to swim here in the good ole days when there were globs of hair in the water and mold on the walls. In fact, this was one of the places I learned to swim so it brings back good memories.

A lot has changed since then and it has become one of my favorite swimming pools. I used to come here every day back when I was on the swim team for Lowell High School, so I came here right before and after the remodel. I remember being so amazed when I first saw that the nastiest pool in the city became the nicest one.

There was a time when I paid almost nothing to swim here, but it is now $7! I feel like it is still worth it because now I can't pay child price anymore, and I have a job that can help support the maintenance of this swimming pool. I am also able to save a few quarters if I buy 10 passes.

I came here a few weeks ago and had a whole entire lane to myself. I loved that the chlorine was not too strong and that the sun shined through the large windows when I swam. It was amazing!

Great pool for swimming and especially if you are learning since the pool isn't so deep. I came for a drop in a while ago and liked it. Only thing was that the pool was so crowded. Was in the fast lane but kept bumping into people a bit. Other than that. Great locker room and surrounding area. Definitely a blink and miss if you are driving around sunset or on 19th street.

Ugh, I don't know why I keep going to this pool. The only reason is the lap swim times fit my schedule, but from now on I'm going to Balboa pool.

Twice I have gotten hit by swimmers who A, think they own the lane and who swims to the beat of their own drums and B, don't understand that if there are 3 people in a lane, you have to communicate first with everyone that you need to circle swim. You don't just start swimming because that's how you can run into other swimmers and get hurt or injure someone else.

The water is always cold ad the amount of chlorine in the pool is just insane. The windows are open all the time making it even colder, and some of the staff have an attitude problem. They look so bored all the time staring off into space or looking at their cell phones.

AND Sava pool is the only pool that kicked me out of the locker room claiming that they were understaffed that day and they needed to prepare the locker room for the next batch of swimmers (which was the family swim). I was beyond irritated. I had to rush to finish up and get out of the locker room which has never happened to me before. Another time an employee "tried" to kick everyone out from the locker room because he wanted to go home. Seriously? Sava pool needs a major change in employees, attitude, and schedule.

At Balboa, no staff employee ever kicked me out of the locker room because they had to go home or because they had to prepare the locker room for the next batch of swimmers. They patiently waited until everyone was done, even if it was late at night after an evening lap swim.

At $7 for an adult lane swim, it's not too bad or good however I would not recommend this pool especially because the front desk teenagers were rude in terms of inquiring on when they would allow people to check in. The adult lane swim started at 1:30PM, but they didn't signify where the line would start and when people started to pile in like sardines, then they decided to finally do their jobs. One big con is that they don't check for vaccination cards, so you are basically swimming with the possibility of catching the aftermath of covid symptoms. Also, if you're looking to enjoy some alone time, you won't find it here because this woman in the locker room was literally walking around asking people what they do and where they live. I too converse with the Trader Joe's employees at the register, but I've never been interrogated on this level.

The pool is good and the shower stall ok. The water is barely heated, so will always feel cold unless moving. Very crowded during the recreational swim time and it's super hectic with kids playing water volleyball and taking over most of the pool.

Some people avoid payment and just walk in without showering before their swim. They just take off their bag and shoes and jump in.

Concrete, steel, three walls of windows and one in honeyed, slatted bamboo that warms up the Neo-Brutalist space.

The recent renovation certainly looks fantastic; I recognized some of the staff pulled from the recently closed Rossi pool so it's nice to have that connection. Check-in for lessons was very efficient and organized.

Like North Beach, they don't allow family in the pool room. You have to watch from a small ante room
on the same level as the pool so you have a very limited POV- disappointing.

But everything looks clean, my doppelgänger told me the water temperature is "refreshing" and cool and the instructors seem very engaged with all the kids, both beginners and more experienced swimmers.

Sava is msecond favorite of all the city pools where my child has learned to swim and hone his (formidable!) skills.

The design of the facility is pretty slick. I especially love the wall of windows and blue subway tile a la 19th St. Bart station.

As with all the public pools in SF, 'rec swim' is really informal lap swim time. You either go with that flow, if you will, or bring a squad of buddies to hang out with in the deep end to break of the lap lanes that invariably develop during this period. Futzing around, treading water & floating seem to be frowned upon by lappers who can't seem to manage visiting Sava during the hours dedicated solely for lap swimming. When I say 'frowned upon', I mean folk swim straight at you or riiiight next to you. If I bring my big, burly husband to the pool with me, this magically doesn't happen at all, I should add.

The ladies' locker room is kitted out with modern lockers of varying sizes. There are a few modesty areas for those who wish to change behind a curtain. The shower area (four standard heads and one ADA compliant set-up) fills up mighty quickly during busy periods. A line often forms as one waits to rinse off. Two hand-dryers affixed to the wall nearer the lockers are meant for drying one's hair.

Like the other SF public pool facilities, Sava doesn't have a modern payment system. A locked cash box accepts one's exact change & that's it. -no square for card payments, no opening the cash box to make change, no nada. Payments---even key-chain bar code scans from advanced, online purchases---are accepted at exactly (or rather a few minutes after) the hour at which swim sessions begin. So, if 'rec swim' is between 12.30 and 2p, then a guest is in the pool, at the absolute quickest, at 12.35. This means that people tend to line up usually ten minutes in advance of opening time at the payment window. What Sava could do is start taking payments five minutes early, tops, then folk who've paid could sit and wait--outside, on benches, where ever--and at 12.30 the doors to both the pool area and the change rooms could be opened letting folk in. It would be less stressful for both staff (who always seem so harried when busting through the payment line) and guests & there would be less of a clog of humans at the payment area which is incidentally just at the entrance to the facility.

I'll say this: there are certainly shabbier pools in town, so one could do worse.

*street parking only
*semi-secluded seating area directly adjacent to pool facility

Good place, fairly clean, wet - and being wet is a good thing when it comes to pools.

I've been here for fun swim with a friend, there were a lot of kids and adults, pretty nice group of people, in a lot of pools kids swim without ever looking forward and run into 1,083 people without ever thinking 'hey, maybe I need to pay attention to where I'm going' - not here. People are generally aware of their space.

I've done laps here and it was good, had a good lap partner, oddly enough someone that doesn't run into you when they're swimming is about all it takes. That and it's best to be on opposite sides of the pool most of the time so you pass in the middle. I would definitely go here again - unless I was going to Koret, that's the big Daddy or Queen of pools, but that doesn't make this less than 5 stars. For what this is they serve a broad audience and I would be happy if this was my home pool. (Some people have home bars - you're 'Local' aka 'Neighborhood' pool with a bar).

I grew up coming to this pool. It's not the cleanest place in the world, but honestly, it's hard to expect any public pool to be clean. The rates for a kid to go swimming was really good and that's the go to place for hanging out with friends back then. I'm sure much has changed but the people there were always different, there was often very little interaction between you and the staff

There are always things that can be added to improve convenience or ease, BUT this is a nice. clean public pool....with EXCELLENT staff.

I had reason to need low impact exercise for a few years & this was the location selected. Reasonable prices, basic safety features, area to change, shower & swim or exercise. Personally witnessed two people have medical emergencies & the program manager/supervisor was exceptional...attentive, caring, spot-on life saver!

Only real wish would be warmer water & additional options for paying. It can be difficult to always have exact change.