National Aquatic Center

Silvermist13

Hello.

Thinking about joining the national aquatic center.

Just curious to know what are the male changing areas like.

Is there private cubicles (good)or is it communal (not so good).

And most importantly clean?

I've visited some poor cold changing areas before.

Reading earlier posts regarding the NAC it was felt it was to "expensive2 & "dirty"

Would you agree ?

RedRidge

Both the members and public changing rooms in the main pool are communal. The showers in both are sectioned off with side panels in both, members room also has a curtain for the shower if you want. In general the showers in the members room are better, variable heat and more powerful.
Never had any issues with cleanliness up them, vonstant see people going around cleaning the place.

In terms of value, it depends on what you use the place for, I try to use the pool 3/4 times a week and the gym 2 or 3. For that I pay 40 a month which I think is good enough. Good thing is that there is no sign on fee and if you pay monthly and dont like the place after a couple of months, you can just cancel.

The pool is great but can be frustratingly busy in the morning, particullarly this time of year, a few triathleton clubs start their swim training plans and start taking up lanes. Apart from that I have to recommend the place, the value will depend very much on your usage.

Cottonballs

I've been a pool only member of the NAC for a while now, gotta say, it's great value. I paid 290 for a year, even going twice a week makes it worth while. As Red Ridge said, you can pay by the month too for gym and pool and there is no cancellation fee. Previously, I'd have been paying anything between 6/7 euro for a swim in town somewhere like Markevicz or Mespil at lunchtime, and while both are decent pools, they can't really compare with the facilities up there.

I'd use the competition changing rooms(you don't have access to the gym changing facilities as a swim only member), they are communal - but from my experience, thats the changing room in a lot of swimming pools (such as the two referred to above). There are cubicles available opposite the competition changing rooms at the side of the Aquazone. In terms of cleanliness - they can get a bit scruffy but as RR said, there are always people in and out cleaning them.

As for availability, it is generally busy with lessons and swim squads etc but thats to be expected for what it is. I've swam up there early morning and late evenings and there's never an issue with space. Yep, there are tri clubs there in the mornings, along with some of the swim squads, but they generally stick to their own (booked, reserved) lanes. Again, that sort of thing is posted up around the NAC. The masters club is up there on a Thursday evening and have 4/5 lanes but there is still plenty of room to swim. It can get a little more congested around the times that there are swim classes on. Again you've got to keep an eye on the website/twitter/facebook pages and any alterations to timetables to accommodate galas, meets etc are posted on the changing rooms - in fairness to them, I think they are really improving on relaying the pool availability info to members (there's always room for more), for a while it was pretty bad.

And be sure to consider the normal pool layout during the week - when it's 50m, when it's 25m, if you want access to the 1m pool and the times of then re-configurations - you don't want to be landing up for a swim and having to wait for a half an hour for the pool to be adjusted. I swear, honest, I've never done it )

Silvermist13

Thanks very much for those detailed insights. Very much appreciated guys .

Visited today. Mightily impressed.

Staff were friendly. Swimming pool was comfortably warm.

Showers were great too.

Overall had a great first visit.

Would recommend.