Anonymous
Umgababa municipal swimming pool is a brand-new, state-of-the-art aquatics centre located in the most unlikely place. It is the result of an overly ambitious and expensive plan by the city of Durban to bid for hosting the Commonwealth Games a decade ago. There were never any Commonwealth Games, but the pool was built anyway and opened in 2021 (over budget and after seven years of construction).
Although built with a customised water heating system, the 50m pool is currently not heated (apparently the staff don't know how to operate the heating equipment); in winter water temperatures range from 17º to 19º C. There are no lane ropes, and it can be difficult swimming lengths (especially in summer) because of the many unsupervised children playing in the 50m pool. If you aim to swim laps, the best times are weekday mornings when the facility is quiet. Do not hope to swim in the afternoons, on weekends or during school holidays!!
The pool is closed for cleaning on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and opens around noon on these days.
The area of Umgababa is surrounded by extensive and rather intimidating informal settlements, but the pool and its parking precinct appear safe and under surveillance by a security guard. The access roads are potholed and not in good condition. Take care driving through Umgababa to the pool and be especially cautious of any people hanging around aimlessly.
Note: there is a dangerous level railway crossing to negotiate to reach the pool location. The Umgababa area also has frequent electricity outages due to the theft of electric cables; pool staff use any electricity outage as an excuse to close the pool for the day/week/month, so don't expect to find the pool open as advertised.
Although built with a customised water heating system, the 50m pool is currently not heated (apparently the staff don't know how to operate the heating equipment); in winter water temperatures range from 17º to 19º C. There are no lane ropes, and it can be difficult swimming lengths (especially in summer) because of the many unsupervised children playing in the 50m pool. If you aim to swim laps, the best times are weekday mornings when the facility is quiet. Do not hope to swim in the afternoons, on weekends or during school holidays!!
The pool is closed for cleaning on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and opens around noon on these days.
The area of Umgababa is surrounded by extensive and rather intimidating informal settlements, but the pool and its parking precinct appear safe and under surveillance by a security guard. The access roads are potholed and not in good condition. Take care driving through Umgababa to the pool and be especially cautious of any people hanging around aimlessly.
Note: there is a dangerous level railway crossing to negotiate to reach the pool location. The Umgababa area also has frequent electricity outages due to the theft of electric cables; pool staff use any electricity outage as an excuse to close the pool for the day/week/month, so don't expect to find the pool open as advertised.