Payneham Swimming Centre

Certainly not as glam as other Adelaide pools, but this one has everything you could ask for from a public outside swim centre: wasps, a kiosk, a kiddy pool, lifeguards, and of course, a lot of people wearing speedo’s and bikinis who really really shouldn’t be. The best thing about Payneham Pool is that you can almost always get a lane to yourself for lap swimming (as long as you don’t go during swim carnivals obviously), I like being able to rock up at my leisure and have a lane of my own.
This place has enough room for kids and adults to swim and have a good day without fearing for their lives: this is not so much the case at the big leisure centres that are packed with madness and slides. The staff here are really nice (as you don’t dive over the lane ropes, don’t do that), and there’s heaps of shaded grass areas to hang out in. It’s a beautiful day and a nice relaxed vibe, dive on in.

Payneham’s a bit behind. Nostalgia almost made me grant this a five-​star review. My primary school was right next door to the centre, and we used to go here ALL the time. But on a recent excursion, all the usual things happened: everything seemed a great deal less exciting, and a great deal smaller.
Payneham feels like the underdog in the pool business. It only has three pools and meager facilities, and it doesn’t have a slide, but the kiosk is stocked with your usual treats and you’re allowed to borrow any selection of pool toys.
If you’ve got young ones, they’ll still have a ball. They may have a bigger and better time at somewhere with a big water slide, but if this is nearby or more convenient, I’m sure they’ll still love it. And if you’re just here to do laps, the big lap pool is more than capable of providing your with the exercise you’re looking for.

Local northeast swimming centre with 3 different sized pools, 1 for the toddlers, 1 medium waist deep pool and one 50m pool with diving blocks and lanes.
I have had heaps of summer holiday days here with friends where the pool gives out fun equipment like inner tubes, beach balls, volleyball nets and floating mats.
It’s not too busy usually, and there is plenty of outside grass area with some benches to chill out. But bring the sunscreen because there isn’t much shade.
Now that the aquatic centre had been improved, as well as Marion swimming centre with watersides and more pools etc, payneham doesn’t receive much attention, and it could use some upgrading itself.