Tarka Leisure Centre

Positive experience: Disappointed that we couldn't take our two year old in to swim until 12:00 because of the lane swimming. The weekends re the only time we can go as a family, but two year olds need naps so this time isnt suitable for us (I'm sure we aren't the only ones). The website isn't great, too many clicks to find what you want.

Fantastic experience: Clean , lovely staff good that there's an overflow carpark which is only £2.50 for the day which is really good x

Fantastic experience: Good facilities, very popular place. Has swimming pool with lane swimming. Could do with more cubicle showers, but has open showers. Gym, all clean and modern. Lots of learning options. Cafe but not tried.

Positive experience: Good facilities, but very over priced. They charged me an extra £10 on top of a £19.80 family swim ticket for the training pool, because they had thrown a dozen inflatables in there. The changing rooms are often grubby, too. We now do the inflatable session at South Molton pool; cleaner and cheaper.

Positive experience: The yoga sessions are amazing, and I can highly recommend them. The gym is pretty well equipped, and facilities are great. Staff are super friendly and helpful.

Positive experience: Excellent class run by Ellie, such a star. The facilities could be cleaner.

Positive experience: Typical town leisure centre with 25m swimming pool and kids pool at the side

Negative experience: Coffee flavourless taste like dishwater Loud environment

Fantastic experience: The best facility in Barnstaple and the staff are amazing. 100% recommend

Negative experience: No-one answers phone, timetable doesn't match what's available

Negative experience: Why do you have a phone with 4 extensions if no one answers for 2 hours straight? Just need to know if there are spots for swimming or if you are full, it's a simple question, before I drag my butt all the way to your door only to be told you're full and I need to head back home feeling sad for not being able to swim in 1square meter of swimming pool because half of the mums and kids are off school. If you can't answer the phone stick it on your website. It's the 21st century Jonathan.. and you just made me turn into a Karen. Just hire a 17 year old to answer the phone all day, you charge £43 for gym membership surely you can afford to employ an extra person. Have a nice day

Negative experience: Very difficult to get hold of on the phone or via online messages. Paid for the car park and went in and was told they were full. They couldn't refund the car parking fee as it wasn't their carpark, although they rely on it for their centre. They then phoned back for our earlier enquiry as we left saying we could swim, which wasn't true. Disappointing as we drove for nearly an hour. They don't have a booking system so you gamble on whether you can swim or not.

Fantastic experience: Great classes, always clean. Just the best value for money in Devon

Fantastic experience: Lovely clean leisure centre. Staff are friendly and helpful. Used swimming pool, which was clean and the changing facilities were good.

Fantastic experience: Excellent centre was working locally so got flexible membership cancel any time no contract

Positive experience: It's abit disorganised on the front desk.

Fantastic experience: Took my home educated kids there for swimming in the daytime. They needed to practice laps and diving. They had a great experience with staff (unfortunately some adult members of the public were quite hostile to them in the lanes but that is not the centers fault). I played with my 1yr old in the cafe area and was able to have a nice drink whilst she played in the soft play. We also go to tennis in the evening and the staff have been lovely.

Fantastic experience: A very friendly and welcoming club with fantastic facilities.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely love swimming

Fantastic experience: Super friendly, helpful staff. Made me feel so welcome, went through my gym induction really well, understood everything I wanted to gain & offered great advice. Feel really glad I chose to sign up to this gym.

Fantastic experience: I have a membership here and it is well worth it for the classes alone, but the pool for Lane swimming, and the kids classes just make this excellent. My only "gripe" would be that it's a shame they don't have a sauna/steam room. Hopefully this is something that will be added in future.

Negative experience: My daughter started swimming lessons in May 2021 in the old pool, my son started a few months later. They moved to the new pool when it opened and left when we moved in January this year. The new facilities are great. Staff are lovely but never in a hurry, even if the line is 5 people long and the phone is ringing, which can be frustrating when you are waiting. What we were really unhappy about is the lessons themselves. My daughter was in stage 3 at her old pool, but as she had a break due to COVID we put her back into stage 2. In over 2.5 years she only completed 3 stages, one of which she had already completed. My son only completed stage 1 in over 2 years of lessons. For the bulk of this time they were also having lessons at school, where they were near the top of their class, so I don't believe their capability is the issue. Their friends at swimming lessons have also been moving at a similar pace but according to the Swim England website "children should not spend longer than 12 months gaining a certificate. In fact, we recommend that your child should receive at least three Awards a year." When we queried why they weren't moving up one teacher said he didn't really follow the curriculum and just moved them up when he felt they were ready. Another time they said that she had been ready to move up for a while, but hadn't bothered to tell us or our daughter that! Of the 4 stages they completed between them (instead of the 13+ they should have!), we had to prompt for them to be moved twice. One time my daughter did go up a level we spent around 3 months enquiring weekly about her certificate before finally getting one. I would not recommend swimming lessons here if you are going for your child to progress in any meaningful way.

Fantastic experience: Wow, very impressive.

Negative experience: The young lifeguards were messing around throwing the females dirty shoes and socks in the big pool around 2pm today. Not very good. The inflatables extra cost is a joke, Just one price to go swimming please you don’t know when you can go in the big pool or not either

Negative experience: What's the point in having a reception phone if you don't answer it.

Negative experience: Let down by poor customer service. Made 3 phone calls enquiring about child swimming lessons and 1 recently about tennis. On all 4 occasions I was informed that someone would call back. No one has returned my calls. Their response to cover the lame customer service is to put prices up 10%+ at the start of the year.

Fantastic experience: It was fun.

Negative experience: Just about 2 star. This is because although the gym and swimming centre are quite good and clean. The customer service is awful. They never answer the reception phone when calling. Been there 2 times to try and go swimming with the kids and had to drive there to find out timings. This is also because the app timings are all wrong and dont match with the one they have in the centre. Nearly a 1 star for this. I am a member. I have been to the desk 5 times to set up my leisure centre app and they cannot do it. They keep saying they sent a reset link (obviously checking my junk mail also). This means I cannot make any bookings to classes easily. The staff don't seem to know what they are doing. They can be quite rude. I've been patient with them but they are failing with poor customer service and its a shame as its a nice centre. They also don't have squash courts. So huge shame but that's just a personal opinion. Very disappointing service.

Positive experience: I like this place and I haven't used all the facilities, however I have a couple of small gripes. Firstly, I drive a van, with a roof rack, standard builder stuff, so I can only access one of the height restricted entrances. The second is why is the swimming changing area set out like a maze? Oh, and it's a little expensive for a swim? Apart from it's clean, staff are friendly and helpful and there are plenty of lanes to swim (during the day). Lastly, the leisure center is a new facility, so why isn't it state of the art? They had a real opportunity to give North devon a world class facility, and yes it has a little plastic ski slope and adjustable pool bottom. However, where are the squash courts, the sauna, the ice baths, because I haven't found them? I love North Devon, we don't have as many facilities as cities, but we deserve the same.

Fantastic experience: Air Bounce, kids loved it. Sections with different obstacles for the kids and a good amount of staff working within the area. Not normally busy so the kids have lots of space. Booking is an issue as I was unable to book 2 places. Maybe that's just my experience but generally I struggle to book anything with Tarka Leisure.

Fantastic experience: Lovely modern leisure centre with a Great swimming pool and easy parking.

Fantastic experience: Amazing new centre that incorporates the old tarka tennis centre. My favourite place to play tennis...

Negative experience: Been trying to call the membership cancellation line for months yet no one answers. Called through to reception who said they can’t help and told me to call a completely different number which is posted no where online. Lost out on so much money from this place and it wasn’t even worth it. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone.

Negative experience: We went for the public swim, I can't believe this is newly built, it's certainly not done very well. The staff were rude, they started putting out the extra lane 25 minutes before the session ended. When you pay for a session, you don't expect the space to swim being turned into a narrow little space. I had to swim underneath the lane they put out because they trapped myself and my kids in, not saying a thing and did it whilst we were swimming, meaning I had to get my hair completely wet. I had not had time for lunch before arriving so needed a snack, I have a gluten intolerance and the only thing was a small square biscuit thing with chocolate and caramel on, it tastes like sugar and cost £2.50!!!!!! I couldn't eat it as it was literally like eating a bag of sugar, it's disgusting! Not impressed at all.

Negative experience: Baby pool was not as deep as had been told it would be. It was crowded and when asked if we the older ones could play in the large quiet pool we were told it was lanes only. This was a school half term and were kicked out at 3.30pm even though told at desk there was public swimming until 4pm. Most hair dryers were broken and cubicles were dirty. Not impressed for a nearly new centre

Fantastic experience: Very impressed by the Tarka Leisure Centre. I've only used the swimming facilities so far but they are well designed and clean. The changing village is a great idea for families, plenty of lockers for your things and the whole area is bright and airy. The training pool is fantastic for learners, the pool has noodles, buckets, balls etc for helping your child learn to swim during open swimming. The lessons here for kids are also engaging and well structured. The centre and pool facilities are also designed with accessibility in mind, wide corridors, one level access and there are disabled lifts on both pools. Staff on the front desk are also welcoming and helpful!

Fantastic experience: Amazing. Loved it. My child had a gym competition in the back (falcons gym) and couldn’t resist coming in to check what was inside

Fantastic experience: I love the gym at Tarka Leisure and the inclusivity of the trainers

Fantastic experience: Ace place!!

Fantastic experience: Played badminton on a rainy day. Nice modern leisure centre with 4 badminton courts

Fantastic experience: I quite often take my son swimming here on the weekends, always seems clesn snd well looked after snd not to busy if you get in early.

Fantastic experience: A lovely new centre, great facilities and very helpful staff. Special shout out to Tom the Ski instructor (yes, ski!!!) who fitted us in last minute on a rainy Friday afternoon. We were astonished to see that you could ski in the new centre - what an incredible facility! Tom was absolutely fantastic - patient, clear and confident with our 9-year old twin boys. They absolutely loved it. A brilliant way to have a go without breaking the bank (or limbs!) and with expert instruction (and an 'off' button if you're starting to wobble!). Thanks so much to Tom and all the Tarka team. See you again!

Positive experience: Great leisure activities and facilities, but very expensive to eat and drink there.

Negative experience: I use the tennis facilities sporadically when visiting the area and my experience gets worse every time. Such a shame as the facilities are top notch and N Devon is lucky to have it. However, the booking process, general upkeep, management and staff training are dire. There’s no online booking so you have to call. Good luck getting through to someone who has even the faintest idea how to reserve a court, that’s of course if they answer the phone in the first place. I visited the other day after a very painful 3 phone calls trying to book. About 10 mins into our hit we decided we needed new balls. I went to reception and enquired about buying a tube and was handed 2 old scruffy balls. I asked if I could buy some new ones and the receptionist looked surprised at such a strange question. She then picked up a tube but said she didn’t know how much they cost and eventually said she’d put it through as shuttlecocks(!). I was charged £8. I thought that was steep but didn’t want to argue as my court time was already being eaten into. I then opened the tube and realised they weren’t new. She questioned how I knew that and I had to show her that the seal had been ripped off and it was sitting at the bottom of the tube. I said they must have new balls for sale. She said she didn’t normally deal with tennis ball sales. Seriously?! She’s a receptionist in the tennis reception…… Anyway eventually after about 5 mins she came back wielding a tube of new balls. The indoor courts are stifling hot. They seriously need to air condition them and it’s surprising that they have in the past been used for level 1 and national tournaments. The heat is bordering on dangerous. The courts don’t look like they’re swept from one week to the next. Old balls aren’t removed and there’s training paraphernalia on the edge of the courts. The nets between courts are also broken so you spend much of your time collecting balls from your neighbour’s court. Basically, you book a specific court but don’t expect anyone to have actually readied it for you. I can’t comment on the changing and toilet facilities as have never used them but if they’re anything like the court maintenance I wouldn’t expect much. Finally and this is my biggest gripe, the cost. £24 an hour for an indoor court and weekends and anytime after about 4pm during the week is considered peak time. Quite why they’ve decided weekends are peak time is beyond me because the times I’ve visited me and my partner have been the only people there. The courts are so poorly underused and I suspect a lot of that is down to cost. Any management with an ounce of business acumen should surely understand that you only charge peak prices when there’s a surplus demand. That is clearly not the case at weekends, certainly in my experience. Such a shame, as the facilities used to be great and as above, the area is spoilt with having so many indoor courts for public use. I had a quick look at Atlantic Racquet Centre as a comparison and they have the ClubSpark online booking facility and it’s half the price. Perhaps Tarka should have a look at how their competitors do things.

Positive experience: Gym is very good, staff are helpful. The pool is nice but water is a bit cold, needs to be adjusted on 26 to 28 for an optimum professional swim..

Negative experience: Scant regard for user safety in the pool. Lifeguards disinterested in ensuring signage for lanes is correct and that people are using the pool safely. Lifeguards too busy joking and messing around to do their jobs properly, it’s an accident waiting to happen!

Fantastic experience: Lovely leisure centre. I visited the Tarka leisure centre today (I’m currently on holiday in Barnstaple) and was hugely impressed by both the very friendly staff service and the clean facilities. When I rang up, the receptionist I spoke to (Liz) was incredibly helpful and talked through the different options for booking. When we arrived, she even kindly leant us one of her own pound coins as we were forgot to bring one for the locker. Such a lovely lady - thank you Liz! Pool facilities were very clean and staff inside changing rooms and pool were also very helpful. Highly recommended and we’ll certainly visit again next time we’re in Barnstaple! Christopher, Michelle and family.

Fantastic experience: Nice and new leisure centre

Fantastic experience: Good pool, friendly staff

Negative experience: The swimming lessons are absolute chaos at start and finish. There is absolutely no handover time between lessons so you’ve got parents turning up to collect their children plus parents dropping off their children, the teachers are also taking a register but it isn’t obvious who’s teaching which stage. You are paying for half an hour and out of the 6 lessons we did we only got the full 30 mins on 1 lesson. I cancelled my membership stating the reason why and the email I received back didn’t acknowledge any of my complaints. Unfortunately because of the way their cancellation policy is I’ve paid for another month but my daughter hates it so she won’t go. It makes her frustrated that she can’t hear the teacher over the noise of other lessons. I would have given it 0 stars honestly but the staff are friendly so you get stars just for them. They were extremely helpful on our first visit when I asked where I had to go and very helpful when I had to swap my daughters lesson for one of the days. The teacher we had on that swapped day was teaching a smaller group than our usual lesson and my daughter could hear her and swim without bumping into other children. If you worked on staggering the lessons to fit in hand over time and made the groups smaller so the area they learn in isn’t so cramped then you’d mitigate some of the issues.

Positive experience: Play football here in vets league great pitches and facilities good new lesuire centre

Fantastic experience: Artificial pitch, can be split into smaller pitches.

Negative experience: Stupidly expensive, average equipment and no air conditioning, better gyms around Barnstaple

Fantastic experience: Enthusiastic and patient level 1 swimming trainers

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff always ready to help.

Positive experience: Located in Barnstaple, the newly erected Tarka Leisure Centre promised to be a fantastic sports facility. However, my experience has shown that it falls short of expectations. My youngest has been taking swimming lessons here but they are poorly run and we have been left feeling let down. The tennis-centre on site used to be a favourite of ours and we have been yearly members for many years. However, we were shocked to see the price skyrocket from £70 a year to £240 each, this year. As you can tell we have now found alternative facilities. The football facilities, on the other hand, are some of the best in Barnstaple and I highly recommend them. It's worth noting that parking at Tarka Leisure Centre now costs 60p an hour. Despite some disappointments, I remain hopeful and continue to encourage others to visit and make their own opinions.

Fantastic experience: Nice

Fantastic experience: Hi we were down on holiday and we took are grandson here twice during our stay He had the best time the water a good temperature great changing rooms and showers The staff all so friendly the girls on the days we visited Annie, Beth and Georgie brilliant There is a cafe and a play area in reception All round great place Thank you

Fantastic experience: Can’t speak for the whole leisure centre but gym and changing facilities are excellent. Very clean, modern and great quality equipment.

Negative experience: The place is new, about a year old, so the gym equipment is modern and in good condition. But the management is awful, don't respond to complaints, emails or even bother returning calls. The entry system to the gym is ridiculous, most of the time it doesn't work, so they leave the gates open, I'm sure this is why the gym is always rammed full. The app and website are clunky to say the least. The changing rooms too small and often dirty. There are better and cheaper gyms in Barnstaple.

Negative experience: New centre is so badly signposted. Tennis is marked. But no clear signage of new centre. Signage is on the side of the building. Parking spaces are ridiculously narrow! It says no need to book for swimming, but it was fully booked.

Negative experience: Went for the first time with the kids since it's opened and just don't understand the layout at all. Went into the changing room, no locks on the door had both doors pushed opened on me and the children while getting changed ?!! (Both men were very apologetic)Pools are so small in comparison to the old leisure centre. Don't particularly like the fact that anyone can have a coffee while staring directly at me and the kids in the pool. Got out thought about going into the soft play, again bumpers backyard at the old leisure centre was a weekly trip for us. But this one is just weird you can't sit and watch your kids properly as the floors go up too high, it's not secure while rescuing one child the other one was wandering over to the front door. There seemed to be some people that had paid to go into the soft play but others that had just wandered in after a swim or whatever so again not the best design and really unclear how it's all supposed to work. That being said the staff were lovely and my son goes to the gym every day here and has no issues. But I don't think I'll be using the facilities again :(

Positive experience: 2023. It's not long been built. No room in changing rooms/showers. Absolutely jam packed with swimming lessons. Why didn't they make a bigger changing area. Reception also run cafe and the electric card reader on front entrance is always faulty.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant clean place. Lovely staff and all round fun to place visit for swimming gym or even skiing

Fantastic experience: Beth the receptionist was so lovely and helpful 5 *

Negative experience: Absolute rip off. Turned up for the kids to have a play in the pool as they usually only do lane swimming only to be told they can't use their swimming cards for small inflatables like we did 2 weeks ago and friends have done for the last 4 or 5 weeks. Wanted to charge us £7.50 each for 6 inflatables.

Negative experience: The pool is nice but could be warmer. The changing rooms floor is disgusting though and there is no system for shoes off so there was mud and dirt on the floor in the changing room cubicles. Hair, rubbish and dirt on the floor. Not the best considering how much it costs for a family of 4 to go swimming.

Positive experience: Swimming pool good lots more showers and changing rooms than the old leisure centre

Fantastic experience: My Grandson has had a course of ski lessons and is absolutely delighted with his instructors and his time with them . Well done Tarka and Instructors. xxxx

Positive experience: It was alright. The lanes felts squashed. 5 people in the slow lane. It didn't feel very slow. Its not as big as the old pool.

Fantastic experience: The session provided today for the Junior School for which I am a helper was great. The children really enjoyed it. Thank you to the manager and the teachers for making this session such a success

Fantastic experience: Very nice

Fantastic experience: Awesome!

Positive experience: Please add more yoga classes. These are always sold out.

Positive experience: The actual ski slope is great. I just think it could be better organised and there should be more warning about lateness. We were quite often waiting for long periods of time due to bad organisation sometimes up to 45 minutes. We hope to see an improvement for the future as we may like to use the facilities at a later point.

Positive experience: The leisure centre is amazing. The pools are big and clean. I love pilates and body-balance sessions. But they are often fully booked and you have to keep an eye on the slots and wait for free spaces. I think there should be more classes such as pilates or yoga or body-balance. The bad thing is only the app. It doesn't work properly and sometimes you just can't pay and it glitches.

Positive experience: Slow wait for cafe features

Positive experience: Facilities are excellent and the staff are always very accomodating. It is however very pricey for tennis. I guess there isn't anywhere else like it around so they have a captive audience. £22 for a court seems quite steep.

Positive experience: Great pool when it's not busy, pool is freezing but makes you want to swim quicker lol

Negative experience: Absolutely atrocious trying to book aquarobics class for We'd. am. Every week since you opened I have tried to book a specific class ( which incidentally I have been coming to for 14 years) and have to wait till Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning to get booked in. Had numerous emails at various times over the past few months telling me of availability but can never access these.I have been lucky a couple of times actually speaking to someone on the phone and booking in that way on a Tuesday evening but often phone not available as not answered.I know members get priority but as I live in Bideford and only attend this particular class it is not worth me paying for membership. I look forward to your comments.

Fantastic experience: Very friendly, very modern, very happy!

Fantastic experience: Great facilities and the centre is perfect for all ages. Baby swimming has been brilliant for our daughters swim confidence and Mark ran a fantastic class this morning. Would recommend.

Fantastic experience: New! Clean great facilities, plusa revolving ski slope

Positive experience: Great facilities and brand new equipment. It's a little pricey and I think it's cheeky you have to pay to park there, but it's a nice place to work out.

Negative experience: Very poorly planned facilities unsuitable for the needs of the local community.

Positive experience: A little disappointed... I was expecting something a lot better for a new centre, I actually think the old one was laid out better. The new one has so much wasted space! I can not believe they've not put a wet spa, what we're they thinking? The gym however is really good, fantastic equipment but was really dirty. They just need to offer a gym only membership for the people who don't swim or do classes!

Fantastic experience: Great place lots of fun

Positive experience: Am really enjoying the new pool and am alone swimming there twice per week. It’s an excellent facility but it’s a shame we don’t have all lanes open although I understand there are staff shortages. A couple of issues; 1. During term time the Lane swimming works well but during holiday periods one never knew what to expect on arrival due to changed on configuration. The changes I understand but they need to be communicated clearly and with some notice. I even spoke to staff on reception and they didn’t know what was happening over the next few days. Maybe an up to date online timetable showing the next week might work. Another comment is regarding the new changing cubicle system with drop down bench locks. I don’t have kids to take any more but I would say that getting kids, their clothes and bags out of a cubicle where you have to lift up the bench to exit should be turned into an Olympic sport. I can’t see how you are meant to do it without stuff going into a wet floor. I really think this will need a rethink as, even a single adult, with winter coat, shoes, bag etc is going to struggle with this manoeuvre. I only make these comments as constructive criticism. It’s a great facility and am loving the cool water for proper swimming and the cleanliness of the pool and changing area. It’s really helping me recover fitness after a long period of back injuries.

Positive experience: Gym and classes are great. Pool not as good as it use to be. No need to cordon off sections of it either when no one is using it that's ridiculous. Gutted no jacuzzi, sauna steam room now. Like going back in time. Nor diving board we will never have famous divers because of this. Another backwards step.

Fantastic experience: There are so many great courses and activities offered here, including skiing, fencing, swimming, football, table tennis, soft play and a whole lot more. The cafe is great as well!

Positive experience: It's an improvement from the old leisure centre, but the size of the pools are a disappointment. We have change our 5yrs old swimming lessons to West Buckland as its way too cramped and was promised she would move up a level when there was space available. Only to take on move instructors and open more spaces but not let us know. 8 children to 1/4 of the childrens pool is ridiculous.

Positive experience: Old centre much better. Had more parking, dedicated Martial arts dojo area which was also used for yoga etc. New one has an "endless ski slope" which I have yet to see anyone using (£40 for 30 mins...!), where an indoor climbing wall would have been way more suitable for the space the slope/giant treadmill takes up, which would get much more use as well....

Positive experience: Nice place, polite staff, swimming pool was fun, if a bit cold. The kids liked the inflatables on the side of the large inflatable too & I was pleased to see they lighlty tested the kids on their swim abilities before using the equipment. The changing rooms were clean & tidy when we arrived & modern facilities. We went for the inflatable session which my kids enjoyed but to actually have a go on it, my daughter queued 40 minutes & actually only got 3 times so perhaps a smaller crowd would help with this, (she spent more time in the queue than the water!). This also showed afterwards when we got out & had to wait for a changing room as they were far too overcrowded. Waiting 10 minutes for a changing room is no fun whilst wet & cold. Kids had lots of fun in the pool though & want to go again. I went in to support them & be there for them to make sure they didn't drown even though they can swim! No intention of going on the inflatables especially the large one so I felt charging me £7.50 to supervise & help the the kids from the pool was excessive but was happy to pay that for them to play/swim. I couldn't sit in the seating area and watch they are not old enough. Lovely little park outside to play in after & we will return & I am sure my kids will still love it despite the small flaws I saw. Sure we will try other facilities also at some point.

Positive experience: Came to mother and child session which was great! Great price. Pool and session was brilliant for little ones lots of floats and toys to play with. Family changing rooms very spacious, clean and warm. Only downside was the cafe paid £3 for a cookie, very small carton of juice and a cheese string. No kid meal deals I was aware of so just felt it was a little expensive for what we got. Indoor soft play was good. Very clean.

Positive experience: Took my 15 month old swimming in the smaller pool during the time the whole pool is open for public swimming. Overheard other swimmers getting annoyed we were there whilst they were lane swimming. We mainly stayed in a tiny corner out the way but occasionally swam down the first lane. Felt a bit awkward. Shame there isn't a separated section for people to just have a splash about,people with children etc. Apart from that we had a lovely time and the staff were lovely, they brought my daughter some little floatable toys to play with.

Negative experience: Filthy changing rooms, hair on floor everywhere, dirty nappies in 2 of the change cubicles and staff with attitude. Won't be back here!

Fantastic experience: Great little public pools and only downside was I felt the inflatable time wasn't great for the price they charged

Fantastic experience: Very new, carpark is a great size. Went to the swim time with the inflatables and it was great and managed nicely.

Negative experience: Disappointed. Visiting family in Devon and visited this centre for the pool mainly with my brother and partner. First of all, the member of staff at entrance was too busy debating with a customer to notice the queue building up. Another member of staff eventually noticed and called us over, only to then practically laugh at me as I was holding cash - ‘We don’t take cash here’ - there are no signs anywhere saying this inside or out… Eventually got around to paying after staff member explained how there was only a couple of lanes in main pool available and the other heated pool wasn’t available. Once entering the pool we were then rudely told that the empty lane we were in wasn’t available as ‘the lifeguard can only see up to 6 lanes and we were in the 7th’ - which then left us swimming in a very narrow lane with three other people. Not a very comfortable swim at all and other lanes left empty for no decent reason. We were also told during payment that the other pool (heated) wasn’t available as there was lessons happening until 21:30. We noticed that the pool was empty from 18:30 so by 19:00 we asked a lifeguard if we could use that pool and he said we could until 20:30 - so we were in a narrow lane when we all could have been in the other pool instead! One of the worst things we witnessed is an older lady entering with her mobility scooter to only then be left on her own as the four young lifeguards struggled to help her into the pool. Which then led to her trying her best to walk herself into the pool using the stairs and she was obviously struggling! I can only imagine how awful that experience was for her! Those four lifeguards were then hanging out by the lockers chatting away for a good half an hour. Maybe better to get them guarding the pool so more people could use the unused lanes and other pool? Which would lead to less complaints and happy paying customers instead. That being said, it’s a new leisure centre and I am sure the owner will see these reviews and take them seriously enough to improve these issues!

Negative experience: Today was my first visit, and all I can say is... What a massive disappointment. £7.50 for less than 30 minutes in the pool is extortionate, especially given we weren't allowed to switch between the main pool and the small pool (we had little kids who were unsure of which pool to go in). The main issue is that you do t get a set time in the pool, you pay for the current session. Then the life guards throw everyone out at the same time, meaning that there is a scramble for facilities. It's all very poorly managed. The pool itself is OK, though rather plain, and the ladders to enter are very poor, being inlaid into the wall making them very difficult to see and use - the kids with us couldn't use them at all. Shamefully too, the first two cubicles I visited in the "changing village" were unusable as the benches that lock the doors were broken, and the first locker I tried to use had a broken wrist band. I can only imagine how poorly maintained this facility will be going forward, but given its run by the same group that ran the NDLC into the ground, I don't have much hope. Most annoying though, was that the all singing, all dancing endless ski slope was closed, albeit the air-con was still running. I wonder how much that's costing, not to mention that it's a spectacular waste of energy. But it's not annoying that it was closed, rather that the council used it's building as an excuse not to include facilities like squash courts, which I would absolutely have used. In response to Tarka Leisure... I've now been to the centre 4 times, and not once has the ski room been occupied. It's an undeniable waste of money, and whoever decided upon placing the equipment there should be ashamed. With regards to the pool, I disagree that there is public swimming from 6:30am to 3pm every day. In fact, on the day of our visit, the inflatable session was the only public session (at least according to your terrible website). Frankly, the pool is not fit for purpose because it's too small and cannot accommodate those who want to use it. Swimming should be fun and spontaneous, but at this centre it's highly regimented and I've no doubt it will dissuade people from swimming, which surely defeats the object of the new centre. To me it looks as though the new centre was delivered with one goal in mind... Make it as cheap as possible. One of the lifeguards told us that the trainer pool was supposed to be 1.8m deep, but it is only 1.2m deep, however this was not picked up until it was too late to rectify because the project was managed so poorly. Finally, one thing that is utterly crazy, is that there is nothing to mark the entrance. On a sunny day you can't see through the glass and unless the automatic door happens to be open people can't find the entrance. The design of the centre and the facilities on offer is ill conceived, it's build was poorly managed, and it's management is officious and disorganised, and as mentioned in my original review maintenance seems to be non-existent. Barnstaple deserves better.