Watersafe Swim School

My nieces and nephews take swim lessons at Watersafe and while I think the instructors are fantastic and would give them 5 stars, my review is actually of the facilities front room that they have that you can reserve. I held an Essential Oils Class in the front room and it was great! The room was clean and very spacious. There was ample parking for all of my guests even with swim lessons being held in the other areas of the facility. Coordinating with the staff was easy and they were beyond courteous and helpful. I’d give this place 10 stars if I could, but I guess 5 will have to do. I would definitely reserve this room for my next party/​event.

Some of the teachers here are amazing and some are not so good, so you may have to try a few. We have had very inconsistent experiences here. The facility is beautiful though.

We took our oldest daughter there, and will be taking our youngest there in a couple of months. The instructors are great and very caring. I HIGHLY recommend their Los Alamitos location!

**UNSAFE SWIM EXPERIENCE AT THIS LOCATION. BUYER BEWARE**
We had a dangerous swim experience during a kid birthday part that necessitated a parent to jump in the water and save a struggling child … while the «lifeguard» stood and watched. This was an entirely unacceptable experience, and dangerous. Not to mention that a place that calls itself Watersafe Swim School should ever let something like this happen.
I hesitated before writing this, because I’ve heard good things about the place, and some of the kids at the party (all around the age of 5) attend the school, including the birthday boy. And it’s likely that most of the teaching that goes on is solid and good. But what happened today was a systemic failure, and these kind of failures usually point to how a business is constructed and run.
Details of the incident:
One of my son’s pre-​school friends was having his 5^th birthday party at this location, and after swimming for two hours, the kids were nearing time for cake and presents. At the outdoor but covered pool there were two company employees lifeguarding. Both were dressed in street clothes, and at first I wasn’t sure if they were, indeed, the lifeguards.
As we stood at the pool edge watching our children swim, one of the girls started to struggle. Something had happened to make her panic, and she started trying to float on her back — as she had been taught to do by this school. Her mom and the employee/​lifeguard began to notice, and started to talk to her. Quickly, however, the girl started to visibly struggle, and it was clear she was in danger.
The employee/​lifeguard is a teacher at the school (as I later learned) and she was talking sternly to the girl. The girl started to sink, and our collective alarm increased.
And at this time, the employee/​lifeguard did one of the strangest things I’ve ever heard a lifeguard do — she called to another one of the kids in the pool to save the struggling child. «Grab her! Grab her!» she yelled.
WTF???
It was at this point that my wife — a teacher and former lifeguard — put down her phone and jumped, fully-​clothed, into the pool. She grabbed the child and brought her safely back to the edge.
The girl was fine, and seemed in good spirits later in the party. But it was abundantly clear that there was a glaring misread of the situation, and that the girl was in trouble. Someone needed to take action, and it wasn’t going to be the lifeguard.
I confronted the «lifeguard» afterwards, and she was neither apologetic nor repentant. She said that the girl was doing what she was taught to do, and that her response to panic was normal. «What about her going under water?» I asked. «That’s normal. Kids go under, then they come up, spit up water, and they’re fine.» She then told me to look at the videos on the website to understand their method.
I would have bought this, except for the «lifeguard» yelling to another 5 year-​old to «Grab her!» It was at this point that she should have recognized the situation and taken action. You don’t rely on another 5 year old to do your job.
There’s also a very big difference between a classroom setting and a birthday party. A social event is the wrong time to be teaching someone to swim, especially if your method is, uh, a bit controversial.
I talked to the manager afterwards (there was no manager at the location this day — also very troubling) and she seemed to understand. But understanding is different than ensuring that my child is 100% in this facility, and I don’t think they get that.
The pools where I swim have trained, identifiable lifeguards watching the pools. You know they’re lifeguards because they’re wearing red, and they look like they’re about to jump in the water. All are wearing bathing suits, and most of them have that funny looking red buoy across their chest. I’m sure most of them are trained, and know basic emergency care.
I had/​have zero confidence of the lifeguarding at the Waterside Swim School — it’s clear they were a couple of people content to work on a Sunday (but not eager to get wet.) I would doubt either has had lifeguard training, because a trained lifeguard would have reacted very differently.
As I wrote at the beginning, I’m sure most of the teaching at this and the other schools is sound and good, and that kids are learning to be safe in the water. But this incident was an indication that there is a gross failure in one of the most obvious areas of water safety, and I feel the need/​duty to let other know about our experience.
I hope yours is different.

This is the newly opened location of Watersafe Swim School in Los Alamitos. I had previously enrolled the kidlet in one-​on-​one lessons at a different school, but he just wasn’t making much progress in the year he was there. Many of our friends had their kiddos at WSS and they were much more advanced within the same length of time. The previous closest location of WSS was in Seal Beach which was too inconvenient for us. But when the Los Al location finally opened around July, I took our son out of the previous school and enrolled him here.
It is a beautiful new facility. There is a large competition type pool that is outside and uncovered, and another large pool that is covered. Both pools are heated year-​round to a comfy 92 degrees. There are also convenient outdoor showers to rinse off or shower after a lesson. Inside the office area there are private closed door changing rooms and several restrooms. For infants there are changing counters with trashcans underneath. There is even an adorable enclosed play area with fake grass, seats, a slide and toys for siblings or students to hang out in while they wait for class to begin.
They take infants as young as 2 weeks old, and I’ve even seen a gentleman in his 50’s having a lesson. They utilize the Smart Fish Swim Method here that operates on a set schedule of steps to master swim fundamentals. At each stage, they give your little swimmer a colored bracelet recognizing that step. Our main concern was that our son be able to swim to safety should he ever fall into a body of water. Once your child is ready, they give them a survival test where they throw the child into the pool fully clothed and with shoes on, and they must backfloat and kick to the side and pull themselves out of the pool. Happily, after about a month at WSS, our son was able to pass his survival test.
All the instructors that I’ve observed seem great with the kiddos. They are fun, but firm. Classes are quite short at only 15 minutes. But the length of time seems to work out well for my short attention span son. The lessons are not inexpensive. You pay monthly for one 15 min class per week (you have a normal time/​day slot with the same instructor) at $ 114. If you have to cancel or if the school is closed like it is this week for Thanksgiving, you still pay the same monthly amount. If you cancel due to illness, you can get a makeup class on the books which I believe is good for 6 months. But once a year they offer an «all you can swim» month where you can call the day of to see if there are open classes, and get your kid into extra lessons for no additional cost. They even offer swim birthday parties here.
Lessons include parent and tot, private one on ones, and also swim team. Overall I have been pleased with the progress our son has made here and am impressed with the swanky new facility. And as an added bonus, right next door is Volcano Burger. Winning!

Really love this school. The facilities are brand new so everything is clean and nice! The water is warm, and the staff is all great. Our daughter started a little over a year and at first was NOT a fan, but after 2 months she loves it!!! She is excited to go to class and even practices at home on the couch.

Can’t say enough good things about this swim school! Wonderful staff and clean facility. Christie has been teaching my almost 3yr old son for 2 months now. Sawyer has gone from NOT being able to swim or hold his breath under water to a very strong and independent swimmer! She has been very patient, nurturing and effective teacher with our son. He enjoys his lessons and looks forward to seeing Christie!

So far impressed!
More parking, more seats, friendly staff.
Right by volcano burger too