Where you can find the cheapest public swimming pools in Victoria this summer

Looking for somewhere to cool off this summer or somewhere to get the kids out of the house? See the list of all the cheapest swimming pools in Victoria.

It is much cheaper to swim in regional Victoria than Melbourne. Picture: Supplied.

Families in Melbourne’s north are paying almost $100 for a day to use a council-owned pool — an increase of more than 17 per cent in just two years — with a swimming expert fearing a lack of skills could put youngsters at risk.

A day at the Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre in Pascoe Vale will set parents back a whopping $90.50, if the whole family wants to ride the water slide multiple times.

The centre, operated by the YMCA on behalf of Merri-bek City Council, has various water activities on offer, including a 50m heated outdoor pool with seven lanes, a 20m heated learner’s pool under shading, a kids’ water play splash pool and two giant water slides.

Kids, including Indigo, have a ball on the water slides at the Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre but it hits parents’ hip pockets to go there. Picture: Ellen Smith

Water slide passes start at $3.60 for one go on the slide, before rising to $7.20 for three times and $14 per person for an unlimited day of slides.

That’s on top of the $20.60 entry for a family of five people (with a maximum of two adults).

Across town in Greensborough, families are forking out as much as $62.80 for mum, dad and the two kids to ride the water slides at WaterMarc — an increase of almost 15 per cent since 2020.

Greensborough families are paying $62.50 to hit the water slides at WaterMarc. Picture: Andy Brownbill

And in Boronia, Knox Leisureworks charges $57.40 for a family to have a swim and unlimited rides on the water slides.

Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre, WaterMarc, Knox Leisureworks, Splash Aqua Park and Leisure Centre, Aquarena, and Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre all charge extra for rides on the water slides, while AquaPulse, Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre, Aquanation, Casey RACE, Noble Park Aquatic Centre, and Pines Forest Aquatic Centre include their water slides in general admission.

AquaPulse in Hoppers Crossing includes the water slides in its admission prices. Picture: Supplied.

Swim teacher Eleanor Park said pool entry prices can be a “real barrier” to swim education.

“For some families the budget is not covering groceries at the moment, let alone swimming lessons or time at the pool,” she said.

Ms Park said the more children swim the more competent they become in the water.

“As a swim teacher, I want my kids to be swimming as much as they can to help build their confidence and competency in the water,” she said.

“One lesson a week helps to build swimming skills but the kids who swim more are much stronger in the water.”

Families looking for a cheaper option should head out east, to the Yarra Ranges Shire, where three pools are free and the Olinda pool costs just $13.50 for two adults and four children.

And if they just want to supervise the kids swimming, parents should avoid pools in the cities of Yarra and Port Phillip, where they’ll pay $4 just to be a spectator, on top of at least $5.20 per child.

But it’s swimmers in regional Victoria who are getting the best value, with pools in the Ararat, Buloke, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Hepburn Shire, Hindmarsh, Mildura, Southern Grampians, Murrindindi, Yarra Ranges and the Mitchell Shire council areas offering free entry.

Geelong has the most expensive regional pool prices, with adults paying $8.80, children costing $6.70. Family passes aren’t available and access to the water slides is $13 per person (but does include entry).

Children under five could swim for free.

Camberwell mum of two Becky Thompson said the cost of taking her kids for a swim “really adds up”.

“In the summer, and especially in the school holidays, I take my boys to the pool twice a week,” she said.

“You want them out of the house, somewhere they can cool off and they absolutely love going for a swim.

“I would take them more if the pool cost less.”

Mrs Thompson takes her children to the Harold Holt Swim Centre in Glen Iris. Picture: Josie Hayden

Mrs Thompson said she would rather take her children to the pool than the beach because it was easier to keep an eye on them if she was not swimming with them.

“Sometimes when the weather is extremely hot or on some public holidays they will do free entry which I always try to take advantage of that,” she said.

“We don’t go to the pool enough to make a membership worth it, so I just buy ten visit passes over and over again.”