Didcot Wave & Gym

Fantastic experience: Just joined the gym and really enjoying the facilities including the pool... The staff are really friendly and helpful especially Angus... Looking forward to feeling stronger and fitter now

Fantastic experience: Kind staff and good swimming pool

Positive experience: Surprised people say it is not clean, in my experience it is clean and the staff are always cleaning. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Pool is good but the slide isn't open most of the time. Really they need to build a separate normal pool and just use this one for leisure as even during the family sessions there are people trying to do lengths and getting shirty with the kids playing around despite two lanes still being open and there being loads of swim for fitness sessions. Also it's only open 9-5 on weekends, doesn't make sense for a family destination.

Positive experience: Very good generally

Fantastic experience: Best gymnasium.good staff, clean swimming pool and new exercise machines

Fantastic experience: Great facilities, well mentained Aungus the manager is an asset to the business. Deserves a premotion has gone above and beyond several times in service & general proffessionalism. Only issue would be occasional issues with sign in equiptment.

Negative experience: Really want to like this pool but struggling. I've been coming here for 15 years and it's just so tired. Everything is either filthy or rusty. The floors were grassy, wall panels by showers grimey, tiles around deep end beyond grim and the hinges inside the cubicles have a thick layer of dust, along with all the exposed ventilation system which is actually illuminated! The staff are left to clean at the end of the day and there doesn't appear to be an actual cleaning programme in place at all. Every piece of exposed metal, like door hinges are rusty and I can't begin to comment on the toilet areas. We go one day and the pool's lovely and tepid, go another and it's freezing. When it costs £10 for an adult and child it's not brilliant value against other leisure activities.

Negative experience: For a young family, the price is not good. You are charged the same amount for a 3 year old as a teenager, both being a £7 ticket compared to the adult £8 ticket. A 3 year old is not allowed to go down the big slide with their parent/carer, limiting the enjoyment you are allowed to have but still at the full price of a junior ticket. We won't be visiting again. Bicester is a great swimming facility for young families and half the price.

Positive experience: Took grandchildren to the wave. There were no waves and the slide was shut. They were very disappointed. When asked about it they said the wave and slide only open at weekends and half terms.

Negative experience: We arrived to a bit of a queue, but we were booked in for 12, so got there early 11:40am, after 10mins they let us in, we found a changing room, these are very small even for just me and my 11yr old son, but we got changed, and went straight in, i think we caught the last wave before our 12 O'clock session started. seems it waves every 20mins or so and the Slide was only open for 10mins at a time. Seems to me they should keep both going all the time be worth the nearly £16 it cost for the two of us. I'm not sure we will go back, as it was also a bit grotty in places, and we went to buy an ice cream at the end of the session, but we couldn't find anyone to pay for it. IN the end, the reception, asked us to exit through the barrier and then she would sort it, we only wanted to know how much, to which she replied "I don't know, I don't know everything around here" she then said it was £2, a showed her cash, she said, "we don't take cash" We left it.... The place is run by, what looks like teenagers, and not one had any interest in even being there it seemed.

Fantastic experience: Great swimming pool. Nice and clean

Fantastic experience: Best day ever

Positive experience: Make sure you have the better app installed, and are very careful with the exit barrier. When I went a family group went through together and it closed halfway through and clonked a kid on the head. The staff advised to go through carefully one by one. Also the card machine was broken, so the staff couldn't sell anything when I was there. It seems like head office controls everything and the staff can't do much to interfere

Fantastic experience: Lovely pool with waves,great fun for everyone . Thank you

Negative experience: Took my two boys here for the first time today and have to say that we were MASSIVELY disappointed. The family fun sessions are just 50 minutes - which is not long at all when you have excited active children, and the slide was open for just 10 minutes and as it was so busy we didn’t even get a go. The wave machine came on twice, the first one being at the very beginning of the session so if you’re running two minutes late then you’ve missed it. The best part of the experience was the wave machine but for just 5 minutes of fun it definitely isn’t worth the trip. The changing rooms are very dirty and the cubicles and lockers are so small! Looks like we’ll be sticking to Aylesbury Vale as our ‘local’ fun pool and Coral Reef in Reading as a special treat. If you were thinking of bringing anyone over the age of 2 here for a fun few hours I absolutely wouldn’t bother!

Negative experience: Just paid a visit to Didcot wave with my 2.5 year old and the pool was cold even for me she was shivering in the pool with blue lips floors were filthy glad I brought my flip flops to keep my feet clean awful won’t be visiting again.

Positive experience: Too cold! Short sessions. Dirty changing rooms & toilets.

Negative experience: Didcot wave staff very unfriendly and unwelcoming not even an acknowledgement just a have u booked the place was filthy and expensive. We paid 29 pound for a 40 minute swim for 3 people no bands handed until we asked ... very poor service for the price.. we was told no photo taking although no signs in place.. this is a breach of practice as the whole of the spextators were on laptops and phones .. sort it out.. disgusting

Fantastic experience: Great place for the kids without being too expensive.

Negative experience: It's a good pool, but it's so cold my almost 2 year old was shivering before she even entered the pool. Then when in the pool even with movement and splashing around, she did not warm up and her lips ended up blue, the water was freezing, again when we got out her whole body was trembling from how cold the changing area is.

Fantastic experience: I use the pool for Aqua aerobics which helps as I cannot perform exercises in the gym due to injuries. Great instructor, gentle swim and sometimes I enjoy the Waves ...when activated ...such fun.☺️

Negative experience: My two children participate in the swimming training program, and unfortunately, I must say that the experience is incredibly disappointing. The overall training method employed by the instructors is extremely poor, leading to a lack of engagement with the children. One of the most concerning aspects is the overcrowded groups. With an overwhelming number of children in each session, it becames challenging for the instructors to provide adequate attention and guidance to each individual. This results in a chaotic learning environment where children struggled to receive the necessary support to develop their swimming skills effectively. Additionally, the lessons themselves are far too short, lasting only 30 minutes. What is even more frustrating is that a significant portion of this limited time is wasted before even entering the pool. It takes an absurdly long time, around 5 to 6 minutes, for the children to jump into the pool, resulting in a loss of approximately 20% of the total lesson time. This inefficiency is both concerning and frustrating for both the participants and their parents who expected a more structured and focused training session. Furthermore, what added to the dissatisfaction is the fact that the children are continuously being taken out of the water, leaving them cold for no apparent reason. This unnecessary interruption not only disrupted the flow of the lesson but also created discomfort for the children. This lack of clear explanation or purpose behind the frequent removal from the water leave us feeling bewildered and only added to the overall disappointment of the training program. In conclusion, the swimming training program is disappointing. The instructors lack engagement with the children, the groups are overcrowded, the lessons are too short, valuable time is wasted before even starting, and the frequent interruptions leave the participants cold and confused. Overall, I would deem this training program as very poor, failing to meet the necessary standards expected for an effective and rewarding swimming experience.

Positive experience: Quite cool could be a bit more waves per session

Positive experience: Please clean the changes rooms and floors more regularly. It would make the facility so much better.

Positive experience: Fairly basic facilities. Hasn't really been updated since the early 2000s. It was alright for a swim

Fantastic experience: I had a nice experience at didcot wave & gym.very clean aera.they have a lot of changing rooms and some (wc).as well they have lockers / hair dryer / showers / siting aera / coffee machine / soft drink machine / small shop / large space for parking etc. They are very polite people how work there.

Fantastic experience: I swim here every week and it's amazing

Positive experience: Nice enough pool. It's a bit aged & the facilities themselves are good at best. The pool and wave function is great. It could do with some investment but it is alright. Suits Didcot, which is alright itself.

Fantastic experience: I went to the gym today and the staff were very welcoming and helpful. The machines were very clean and in outstanding condition I would highly suggest this gym to the new comers in the gym community

Fantastic experience: My 5 year old always loves it at the wave, changing rooms could do with a makeover but the pool was the warmest it's ever been. Sometimes for the little ones the waves are quite harsh, but my 5 year old loves them!

Fantastic experience: Great fun for the kids! Could do with a bit more cleaning but overall a good facility.

Fantastic experience: Clean and good service the Family Fun swims with the waves are good

Fantastic experience: The fact that we actually travel from Swindon to take the kids swimming, highlights that this is a great little pool for kids and adults alike. 1 flume and wave machine and the place always appears to be quiet on Saturdays even. Ideal for keeping kids occupied..

Negative experience: Went today to Didcot Wave the water was cold. The showers were cold too. Very disappointing visit.

Positive experience: Bit old and run down, but it's a firm favourite. Much better when it's quiet!

Positive experience: Nobody was waving, not going to lie, I was a little bit hurt.

Fantastic experience: The kids swimming lessons are great, my son has come on so much

Positive experience: Good pool for kids and family swims, with a wave machine and a slide.

Positive experience: It's expensive, and there was a 50 minute swim time only. Not long enough, especially for what you have to pay. Facilities were clean, the wave was fun.

Fantastic experience: Great little pool.

Negative experience: The swimming pool is ok, the problem are the swimming lessons.

Fantastic experience: Always have fun here. My children love the wave machine

Positive experience: Awesome!

Fantastic experience: Good

Fantastic experience: Brilliant pool & the wave machine is great fun!

Positive experience: It's good for what it us £40 a month to have access to the swimming pool and the gym. There are no spa facilities [steam room and sauna] otherwise good enough for what it is, swimming pool is big and the gym is adequate.

Positive experience: Great staff, never seen lifeguards so focused! Pretty clean and a good pool.

Positive experience: My daughter loves it here but the water is a bit cold

Fantastic experience: Just started to use the Facilities, swimming, found the staff very helpful, parking was no problem, looking forward to using the Gym. New automated gate on entrance since mid December 2022.

Fantastic experience: Perfect for retired people who like a quiet place to work out and Don't need all the modcons

Positive experience: Good sized pool with lots of room for the little ones. Beach style entry. Can be a little too chlorinated at times.

Positive experience: Kids loved it, slide, waves, little one was able to walk into the pool without having to drop in at the deep end. Would have been nice if we could hire a swimming noodle, otherwise all good.

Positive experience: I can only compare this pool to the Abingdon pool both of which are operated by Better. Comparatively speaking the Didcot Wave wasn't as clean or as well organised, in general the pool seems to need some tlc. The wave and slide facilities would definitely be fun for young children so it's worth visiting for that at least. Overall I'd suggest visiting both locations to compare, the Abingdon one is cleaner, cheaper and has a larger pool. The Didcot pool have the wave and slide but isn't as clean.

Negative experience: Be careful my son and daughter-inlaw was made uncomfortable by being approached by a member off staff sayinging they was see being inappropriate with each other in the pool. Which was not the case

Positive experience: Changing rooms are dirty. Nothing on the floor to protect the feet. Nothing inside cubicle to prevent clothes from touching the wet dirty floor. On other hand it seems safe with 3 lifeguards and it's not too expensive. I went when it was quiet and it was Chaos as one session ends and other begins everyone wants to get changed and there's just not enough cubicles. Also, mens toilet has only one urinal and one toilet and the floor is disgusting again without any protection so you are basically walking on pee etc and the kids then walk right to the pool.

Positive experience: Kids love it but getting expensive

Negative experience: I don't know coz i didn't go to the gym

Positive experience: need longer sessions... but great warm pool with waves & a slide

Positive experience: Pool was ok but cold the most annoying thing was we could not pay by cash as that's all we had on us also the snack selection was also not very good either

Fantastic experience: Nice staff. Clean, pool is generally warm, but can be nippy in there on occasion. Nice shallow end for little kids. My only gripe is the tiles change texture between the shallow end and the deeper part... the blue tiles are so slippy in comparison and I nearly duncked the 4 year old I was carrying.

Positive experience: Swimming pool very small, slide is always close, not very attractive for kids, and usually very crowded

Positive experience: Great place for a nice little swim ‍♀️

Negative experience: Dirty floor, lockers are so tiny same for changing rooms, the slide is open for one time slide, the pool is quite big , the staff are nice..

Negative experience: £24 for 2 adults and 2 children is very expensive for this sort of facility. Definitely not worth the money.The changing rooms/floors were VERY dirty and slimy. The pool tiles on the side were brown, the water was somewhat murky and bits were floating around. The lockers are tiny. You will need two for a family. Apart from the nice lady at the reception, the rest of the staff looked disinterested.

Fantastic experience: Very good service. Food and drink available. Nice pool. Not many people there at 9:10 P. M.

Negative experience: The lockers are too tiny for a family bag. No family sizes changing rooms were free. We had to split our bag up to 2 lockers and gwt dressed in 2s. Annoying with small kids! The pool had gritty sandy like bits everywhere, the sides were all dirty looking and brown too. The pool was very cold. My 2year old went blue and shivered and asked to get out and he loves swimming. My 7year old was also very cold but persevered. She was however upset to only get 1 go on the slide as it took ages to queue and by the time she cane down and ran back to queue again they'd closed it. I dont see why. I think max times she couldve possibly gone one wouldve been twice if we had stayed our full 50 mins, which we didnt because it was so cold and grotty. Spent about £20 on tickets and was very disappointed. Wont go again. Staff all looked miserable too. Shower also turned colder whilst we were trying to wash our hair.

Negative experience: Used to be good value, now £20 for an adult and 2 children to swim for an hour with 10mins of waves and 10mins of flume In a fairly grotty little leisure centre is a bit punchy I think. Especially as you can only pay online/through the app. Which often doesn't work. Even if you're stood at the counter with cash/a card and a near empty pool. Very frustrating.

Fantastic experience: Good experience and clean

Positive experience: Slowly, steadily being ran down I would say. The pool itself is nice enough, the slide looks impressive but is only open on occasion. The whole place is a bit on the cold side and feels unclean, a bit overpriced and sad. The family changing rooms in particular are horrible with massive, unsightly bins. Badly needs a significant investment, a deep clean and effective management.

Fantastic experience: Awesome swimming pool first time I've been there in years really in joyed it there went there with my mate we had a great experience there great staff very friendly pool will definitely be going there from now on awesome swimming pool

Negative experience: Family fun swim as expected but £12.00 for just a 50 minute session was poor. Simply wasn't long enough for my little boy. Would have been 5 stars if the session was longer.

Positive experience: Lovely pool for a swim.

Positive experience: Nice clean place. COVID compliant, restricted numbers when we visited so made the visit more enjoyable.

Positive experience: The pool is good, it has a nice big section for the kids to play in, the slope to the main section of the pool has been tiled differently so you can slip and slide on this, not great for younger ones to walk on when they are trying to gain confidence when going to a deeper depth. Unfortunately the wave machine was not on when we went which was the main reason that we went to that pool so this disappointed the kids as they was looking forward to the waves. When you book online the times it gives you is a 50 min section but doesn't explain what this is for so you can confuse this with the duration of the 2 hour session

Positive experience: Website had totally incorrect info on type of swim session but pool good with waves and slide. Slide could be open longer each go.

Fantastic experience: Kids loved there time here will definitely go again

Fantastic experience: Great place for the family swimming session. Waves are fun for the kids, slide is great fun also. Duration of stay is quite short however it's enough to knock the kids out for the afternoon.

Negative experience: The leisure centre is quite ancient. Pool is considerably small for the current size of Didcot town. We definitely need a bigger and newer leisure centre with more spot options for the community.

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit with family. Had lots if fun.

Positive experience: I went as a spectator so can't comment on the swimming experience. It was a lovely pool and ideal for families with young children. It has a beach style shallow area to enable toddlers the chance walk in and paddle. There are swimming lanes in the deep area and a wave machine.

Positive experience: The swim for all session is really good value, the family fun swim was quite expensive for 2 adults and 2 kids (£24), for only 50 mins swimming. Pool and changing areas are very clean and the staff are really friendly and helpful. The pool temperature is nice and warm.

Fantastic experience: Went with son and grandaughter as oasis in swindon shut. This is a lot smaller but nice little fun pool for children also a couple of lanes for those who want to actually swim. Really enjoyed it and my granddaughter really enjoyed jusr take some water as the coffee/food section was shut.

Negative experience: Dirty nappies around. I don't say its only the stuff fault for not going around and check the places but serious actions need to be taken against some members as this will never be acceptable. I mentioned this to the reception and the guy kindly came by him to collected him self but no cleaning action has been taken (wondering if they have cleaners)

Positive experience: It felt overcrowded in the pool and there weren't enough changing rooms for paying customers.

Fantastic experience: Waves followed by the water slide every 30mins. Great fun and friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: I rated it 5 stars for the swimming instructors always made us feel welcome helpful great teachings .

Negative experience: Useless online booking sytem

Fantastic experience: Lovely here, it has a water slide and waves which the kids love and when you leave why not let the kids burn off a little more energy with the park right next to it

Positive experience: Nice pool with waves but cleaning and sanitising none

Positive experience: Good pool, they've got a good system considering the current pandemic. It would be nice for the changing rooms and toilets to be cleaned more regularly though. Staff were all pleasant too!

Fantastic experience: My son and his friend really enjoyed their time here, definitely going to take them again

Fantastic experience: Great to have the gym open again with new and improved equipment. Pre-book to ensure that social distancing is kept to. A nice relaxed feeling to the place

Fantastic experience: Visited here today to take my 18 month old swimming and had a lot of fun! We felt very comfortable and the pool was very quiet, so I wasn’t nervous about getting too close to anyone! Staff explained their Covid-19 procedures at the front desk and then we were left to make our own way around- which is expected at the moment due to corona virus! My son also decided to run off from me at the shallow end and a friendly life guard ran after him to help me!

Positive experience: Really well organised considering lockdown and v friendly staff

Positive experience: Nice pool for the kids. Sometimes the water is a bit cold.

Fantastic experience: Well organized one way system, not too busy (obviously!). Polite staff on main desk

Positive experience: Helpful receptionist who gave clear instructions about the one way system. Good pool, boys loved the waves. Toilets often had a queue, but fine. Changing rooms a bit small for a family (even in the 'family' ones with the changing table).

Positive experience: The Wave is ok for a small, local leisure facility (ie I've been to worse) however it IS screaming out for an update, the changing rooms and entry/exit of the pool needs to be re-thought for example for swimming lessons there is such a large crowd waiting to get in, and then a large crowd getting out that it just becomes mayhem! Right now, given lockdown is still slowly being relaxed, the entry/exit to the pool HAS been re-thought and it's ok but I do think they could improve further. Currently, August 2020, they are allowing bookings for up to 24 (I think) people every 10 minutes and they are only supposed to stay for 50 minutes. Personally I think the sessions should be further limited and controlled. Webwere not happy with the amount of people in the pool at once during our last visit!

Positive experience: Don't know, haven't been there. This star rating is not real. Just another example of goggle trying to be clever.

Positive experience: It’s clean and is overall a good place to go swimming. Prices are also good.