Balboa Tennis Club

Played there for last 13 years — no complaints. 25 lit courts, filtered water and icel; great people; challenge court and 10S Channel

The courts are well surfaced and maintained. The cost is relatively inexpensive both for a day pass and for yearly and quarterly memberships. My quarterly membership cost $ 100.
The further courts, I believe 19 – 24, are well-​lit whereas some of the first courts are more poorly lit. I never really adjusted to playing in that kind of darkness.
I like the idea of the challenge court and took advantage of it a couple of times. I was left waiting once but in the meantime received an offer to warm up and found someone to play a singles match with. I imagine that as long as you are proactive you should be able to find someone to play, even if you are brand new to the club or to San Diego more generally. And the average skill level is reasonably high. One of the challenge courts is restricted on the weekend to players 4.5 and above which means that you should be able to locate some of the more advanced players as well.

If the goal is to get more paying members, then staff members (cough, George), probably shouldn’t be hostile towards new prospective members telling them, «there are no free rides». That automatically assumes a client has bad intentions and is just not a great way to start a relationship. People skills 101. Courts are maintained and it’s a nice park but I wont be joining. Zero tact.

I’ve been a member since 2012 and really enjoy the overall atmosphere and grounds. I am in my third membership year. Everything is clean ad orderly and normally if you call a day in advance you can usually get a court. There are over 25 courts and all are lighted. The lighting is important in the winter since it gets dark very early. I can always count on being able to play here during those months. They have a few challenge courts so if you don’t have a partner you can pick up a match by signing up and waiting.
They also offer free tennis clinics from time to time, usually on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a mix of ability levels, but a great perk.
The dues are reasonable for the amount of tennis you could play. If you play more than once per week getting a membership is totally worth it. New members pay $ 250 per year. If you are an existing member and renew before your expiration, it’s $ 225. The prices have gone up $ 25 in 2013 per year.

I played some tennis with a friend who is an avid player, but my no doubt a novice player who tends to miss the ball from time to time. At $ 6 for a day pass, it was a bargain to say the least.
The tennis courts are located at Morley field, they were in very good condition, and there are 25 of them (
). They also have continuing tournaments and friendly competitions. The have a ball machine for practice and a pro shop that is opened daily (
). You can also join men and women leagues for doubles play throughout the year.
The have a public restroom, and they use to have a small Baby Cakes café, but it has recently closed, which was to bad. To make a long story short about my tennis play, I am not very good.

This is a non-​profit organization, though I have never checked their finance records. What I know from being member for 2 years about this club is:
1. Great tennis courts — Weather in SD is not harsh on outdoor courts, but surfacing of courts is top notch. May be couple of courts are not the best, but that’s because some folks coming for tennis clinics do not wear non-​marking sole shoes. Hence the problem.
2. Lights — lights are very good on these courts. Though courts from 19 to 24 have better lights than others.
3. Challenge court — just show up, take a challenge slip and play. You will meet all kinds of players on challenge court. Few of them are Appholes, but most are cool to play with.
4. Cost — If you are member ($ 300 to start first year n then $ 225), you will get unlimited court time and can reserve a court well in advance. $ 6 for day pass to play, it’s not by hour.
5. Practice Wall — There is a wall to practice on and I have seen people practice there w/​o paying any fee, but it’s generally available for you to warm up.
6. Clubhouse — If you are club member you will get access to cleaner bathrooms.
7. Stadium court — this is quite good. I played on this court twice. Your shots will make «THAT» sound that you will hear while watching tennis on TV.
8. for spectator — if you are not playing tennis, there is plenty of space to sit and chill near the challenge court.
Guys at the club office (Sean, George, Peter) are very cool. Some of my games were stretched too close to (or sometimes past) club closing times and haven’t had to leave ever before finishing the set.
One star less because of pro shop (This is little more expensive than other local tennis shops) and court availability during tournament times (they host lot of tournaments) .
Ever since I moved out of SD I am trying to find something in my new city that will be as good n as cheap as this club and I am yet to find one.

Very nice ‘public’ courts that charge you $ 6 per person to play here. I don’t mind paying since you have access all day but i’m not sure how they can call it public. There seems to be a lot of tournaments going on here and I wish they had some sort of plan where you could purchase a months worth of free play or just a few sessions to keep on the books or something.

We didn’t have a reservation bu were willing to wait a half hour to play, and the kind man comped us our game :)

I joined the BTC based on recommendations from friends who live in the area and tennis enthusiast who swear it’s the place to be for any tennis players. They are right. I love the courts at Balboa. The courts are gorgeous, the facility is clean, and there are always courts available. The membership price is reasonable and Sean (who takes reservation) is always very cheerful. You can come almost any time of the week and find someone to challenge or hit with. There is also a pro shop on site to restring your racket and a place where you can order food.

Cool place to play tennis, but the management and customer service suck. They feel entitled, let’s not forget your on city of San Diego land that is paid for by my tax money.
If they want to be a «Private Club» then vacate the public land your on and find some other place to feel entitled about.

Balboa Tennis Club is the best public facility I’ve ever seen. Its well maintained, affordable, and friendly to all. They have great instructors and its easy to get into a clinic or to sign up for a group/​individual lesson-​just go to the pro shop. Getting a court as a walk in is usually no problem either, but they do fill up fast right after work or especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I’d recommend this place to every level of player.

Pretty nice facility w/​plenty of tennis courts!

To Michael R who was complaining that non-​members could not reserve a court. That is why it a «club». Members who pay dues to help maintain the tennis courts and pay for the lights should get preferential treatment. I am not a member and I dont have a problem getting a court when showing up. There are some prime time hours to avoid like Saturday and Sunday mornings and while there is a tournament going.
I want to be a member but I wish they had an electronic reservation system like Penasquitos Tennis Club.

You cant go wrong if you like to play a lot of tennis. It is super affordable and the people are all really nice. There are plenty of courts and tons of new people to meet and play with.

I played a tennis tournament here and actually won it. But anyway, this place is great! The center court looks like a center court that the pros would play on. The courts are nice and the benches offer shade no matter if it is hot or cold. I don’t think the pro shop is nearly as nice as the San Diego Tennis and Racquet club but is still okay. The courts are very nice as are the people who work their are. This place is really cool.

Courts are really nice… but don’t try to make a reservation without being a member of their club… you have little to no chance of getting a reservation and if they put you on the «wait list» you’ll essentially wait there for no reason.

I started taking beginner lessons here a couple of years ago and I love it! The instructors are amazingly patient and very helpful. They also have Saturday clinics that are 90 minutes for $ 12 (if you buy 5). You get to meet lots of other players and have fun at the same time. It can get windy but the courts are well kept and there’s usually a beginner court available during the weekday for practice.

Decent place, has always been very available when I’ve gone on weekdays in the late morning. The staff is friendly and efficient. It’s a little bit out of the way for me, and gets SUPER hot in the summer, but otherwise fine.
I’m not a member and pay $ 5 per person for 90 minutes.
One problem was that there was a black widow spider in the cracks of a bench last time I went. After the match I reported it, hope they did something about it. And yes, it was a black widow, with the gloss black body and red hourglass on the belly. Pretty crazy. They should probably go out every morning with a can of Raid and check on those things.

Though I wouldn’t call it a true «tennis club» I definitely enjoy my weekends there! They have a rotating court for 4.5 and above doubles, which is a good way to meet some new people to hit with! I have only run into a few snobby people there, unfortunately one of them was the person who actually introduced me to the place, and the staff is quite friendly! The courts are in very good condition but like others have said, the wind can be pretty harsh! All in all its very cheap and is always a good place to go hit around and possibly make a new friend or two!

I love this place. Whenever the same ‘ol workout routine becomes excruciatingly boring, I hit Balboa Tennis Club. I’m not a member or anything, but I love it all the same.
Not sure what the annual fees are to use the courts anytime you want, but I know that if I want to use one of their courts for a couple of hours, it only costs $ 5. Sure, the argument could be made that it’s free if you just jump the fence at a local high school, but 5 bones ain’t no big thing to throw down every month or so to ensure some wannabe Paul Blart Mall Cop doesn’t write me a citation.
Very rarely are the courts completely full. I’ve only walked up once when at least one wasn’t available. BUT, it freed up in about 20 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. You can play well into the night too, as they have lights to illuminate the courts. If you’re getting off of work late and wanna meet a buddy for some friendly back-​and-​forth, you can totally make it happen over here.
Beware of the tennis snobs that look at you funny if you don’t look exactly like Andy Roddick or Arther Ashe. Next time one of those elitists makes a wisecrack or looks at me funny, I’m gonna tell him he looks and sounds like a bitch when he returns a forehand. Because honestly, I’m embarrassed for mankind when I hear some of these dudes grunting on the courts. This guy next to me last time sounded like he was having an orgasm every time he stroked his balls. Tennis balls, that is…