Maindy Centre

The pool has two shallow ends and is deeper middle, but it's still less than two metres deep at most. It was divided into three, speed-segregated (F-M-S), double-wide lanes, with plenty of room to pass in the middle. Most people swam in the correct lane and were very courteous. It's one of the slower pools I’ve been in, but as regards courtesy and pool etiquette, it's one of the better. There were two to four (max) people per lane. The water was not the clearest I’ve ever seen, but there were no floaters or debris on bottom.

There are separate male and female change rooms, as well as separate wet and dry (pool v. gym) facilities. The floors here are drier and cleaner than many of the “village/booth/communal” types of change rooms are.

This is a cashless facility (except that a £1 refundable coin is needed for the lockers). This facility is operated by “Better.org” a recreational facilities management company (operating as a charity). I have run into this organization elsewhere in the southwest UK and going cashless seems to be part of their thing. If you see “Better.org" in its web pageURL, it’s probably best to assume they won’t take your entry fee in cash. At my first swim here, I couldn’t get my Canadian debit card to work (not the first time with this organization and where my card has about 50% swipe success rate). After trying to tap, swipe, and insert my card, the nice person at reception told me to just go in. The second time I visited, I brought a better card.

The facility has a good web site to let you know what’s going on. It's about a 2.5 km walk from the center of town and there are lots of buses. I really enjoyed this place: pool, staff, other swimmers.

An excellent pool for instruction and kids, but small for exersise purposes. When crowded, as it often is, it's like a cattle market. The facilities are very modern, and highly recommended, as long as there aren't too many people using them at once.