Pullen Aquatic Center

This is the worst pool I have ever been to. It’s nasty and dirty, lockers don’t lock, with the worst and unprofessional staff possible. The manager or life guard (whoever the big guy in red t-​shirt and a baseball hat at the fromt desk was) is very rude. Definitely I want to have nothing to do with this place anymore.

This review is for the warm water therapy pool. So far, so good. The staff are friendly and the pool is the right temperature, 89 degrees, and depth, 4 feet. They have a lot of availability if you can go in the morning– most days are open until 12pm or so. The only issue is that the surrounding air and the locker rooms are freezing. Since I go to aquatic therapy for a disability, it is very hard on my body to get out of the pool and have nowhere warm to go. Some heat in the locker rooms would be really useful or at least showers that warm up enough (they stay pretty tepid). The cold can be painful and undo some of what I’ve accomplished in the pool.

Looking for a fun, inexpensive way to shed a few winter hibernation pounds? Try the Pullen Park Pool. It’s open year round with plenty of convenient times to swim.
You don’t even have to know how to swim since you can stay in shallow water with your feet on the ground and even signal the lifeguard if needed. There are also plenty of swimming accessories like kick-​boards available for your use.
The Olympic-​sized pool (temp = 83 degrees F) is split into two separate areas for competition or lessons, and lap swimming. There is an additional, smaller therapy pool which is kept at 89 degrees F.
No membership fee. You can pay per visit, or buy a monthly or annual pass. Another option is to buy a 15-​visit punch pass which is valid for one year. Check out the rates here:
Your swimsuit may be disappointed to find that it can’t go for a post-​swim ride in a spin-​dryer which you won’t find in the locker room. No worries, it will still love you for jumping into the tropical Pullen Pool water.
You won’t even miss a hand-​held hair dryer if you bring your own. However, there are plenty of hand dryers positioned high enough for use as dual-​duty hair dryers. They’ll do the trick if you just want to avoid frozen hair when you step outside. Pretty sure you don’t have to worry about that in Raleigh, even in the dead of winter.
It’s not a spa, it’s a community pool and is a great benefit to local residents. As such, it rates a solid 4+ stars for value.
Go ahead, get your swim on.

Great place to take the kids and wear them out. .. especially when its cold outside. Kiddie pool goes as deep as 3 – 4 ft, its heated, and they offer free life jackets of all different sizes. I think it costs about 2 – 3 dollars a person but there are options available if you buy in bulk.
My only gripe is that they have a single family changing room and it can backed up sometimes when the place gets busy. If you don’t mind taking your child into the adult locker rooms, it wouldn’t be a problem though.
Lucky to have it around

Year-​Round, Indoor, Public Pool
Pullen Aquatic Center is located across the street from the recently remodeled and upgraded Pullen Park. The pool is open to the public and it is one of Raleigh’s 4 pools open all year since it is an indoor pool. One-​day admission is $ 4 but different package deals are available such as Annual, Monthly, and a 15 Punch Pass. My husband and I purchased a 15 Punch Pass for $ 45. You will need your ID to buy package deals to prove you are a local resident.
The pool is open daily. Since we are training for a triathlon, we are very happy that there is Adult Lap Swim from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday. We can easily find a convenient time to get in a swim workout. Also there is Adult Lap Swim on the weekends. This pool facility is huge with many lanes available for lap swim. We’ve been several times now and never had an issue finding an empty lane. This past Friday, there were tons of kids and even though it was crowded, there were still several open lap lanes. Speaking of children, there is a very shallow area for kids to play. There are diving boards too for kids to enjoy.
Pullen Aquatic offers a variety of classes like lifeguarding, water fitness, and swim lessons for adults and children. There are plenty of young men and women manning the lifeguard posts. This facility is very old and the bathrooms are a bit shabby. The pool water is relatively clean, not too overly chlorinated, and kept a little cooler than I prefer but after about 2 laps, it doesn’t bother me. For normal Adult Lap Swim, the short course is set up so the lanes run the width of the pool and the distance is 25 yards.
This is a great pool for lap swimming, lessons, and just playing around.