Waterfront Leisure Centre

I’ve been coming here since I was a child and will continue to go here. Great community leisure centre that has lots of activities to get involved with and really helpful staff. The gym facilities are perfect for a workout but the changing rooms leave a lot to be desired — not go here expecting Third Space or Gym Box. The lockers are a £1 but you get that back which is a plus in my eyes as other gyms in this chain charge you every time you open your locker. Something for all ages to get involved with

I’ve only played squash here and its pretty decent. 10 quid on weeknights and 7.8 on weekends.
They have 4 squash courts. They redid the place with a fresh coat of paint a few months back and the smell was really bad. Now that has dissipated. Its not heated and can get quite cold when playing.
I haven’t played squash anywhere else so I am not sure what bog-​standard squash courts are like. So its A-​Ok for now!

Before we started jumping on trains to reach swimming pools in the suburban towns surrounding London this was our go to pool. And for London this is good which is why we have been here dozens of times over the last 10 years. This is the only highlight set in grim Woolwich. A short stroll through the boarded up shops of the shopping centre from Woolwich Arsenal and you find a large leisure centre next to the Thames. It offers a gym, a soft play area and a pool. We only ever come for the pool.- well actually it is 4 pools. A large beach style main pool with the shallow end roped off — the deep end is large, quiet and has a good wave machine, one of the best. Three large water jets that shoot across the pool, a giant deep geyser that spurts occasionally. (most of the staff seem unsure about how to put it on) and a strong waterfall. Used to be perfect for diving here but was banned a few years ago. The beach area has some giant slippery balls for kids to climb on and a mushroom shower that does not work. Next to this is a shallow kids pool — perfect for little ones with two little animal themed slides — filled with parents and toddlers. There is a separate small jacuzzi pool next to this and another small separate kids pool with an island in the middle and a small wide slide. They often have floats in this pool for the kids to play on. The fourth pool is a 25m lane pool — great for training — even though they would never let the kids use it despite them being better swimmers than most of the adults. Anyway a great mix of pools that are perfect for families with kids over various ages. Towering over the pool is the single large slide — The Anaconda. Still a solid slide although we have discovered much better over the years as our search has taken us out of London. It was this slide that began our love affair with slides and flumes and is definitely worth the visit for a go on this alone. They also have a bank of five straight race slides that open at various intervals. A favourite with the kids. Poolside showers need renewing and the changing rooms are scruffy but plentiful. There is a café that is best avoided. Probably the best pool in London — can get busy. we used to jump on a train every couple of weeks after school and basically get the deep end to ourselves. If your kids love to swim this is a must visit!

People tend to want two very different things from a leisure centre — somewhere sensible to do laps or somewhere to splash around an have fun. The Waterfront Leisure Centre falls into the second camp with a wave machine, 5 lane slide, long snake shaped waterslide, fountains and baby pools. I took an 11 year old boy and we had a great time.
It is a bit old though. The changing rooms could do with being modernised, it’s good that there are family changing rooms but they’re not that nice, and the café upstairs wasn’t great. I don’t want to do something healthy like swimming and then be served chicken nuggets and chips.
But if you just want to splash about and have a good time, I’d recommend it. For laps, the straight swimming pool seemed a bit small. Might be worth looking elsewhere.