I like to go to the Montgomery Aquatic Center (MAC) since it’s a year-round indoor pool. There is a large pool for doing laps, shallow or deep. There is also the teaching pool which only gets about 3 1/2 feet deep at most. It has beach entry as well as stairs. There’s a long water slide for older kids and adults. There’s also this thing that looks like a mushroom with water cascading down from it. I like it even in summer since then I don’t have to worry about kids and sunscreen.
A couple years ago, when the summer swim lessons were already full at the MAC, I registered my kids for lessons at the Wheaton/Glenmont outdoor pool. It’s very nice. It’s a lot bigger than the MAC, probably just because it can be. There are a number of different slides, a “crocodile” pool, kiddie pool, and a snack bar. Since I have small kids, I love that there is a large area that is shallow so I don’t end up having to carry a kid around all the time. They can explore their independence a bit without drowning.
On Saturday, I took the kids to the Wheaton pool and couldn’t find a parking space. I ended up parking at Wheaton High School and walking down to find out that the pool was so crowded, they weren’t letting anyone else in. Today, since it was just as hot, I decided to just go to the MAC. People with summer memberships aren’t going to go there since that membership is just for the outdoor pools.
Montgomery County Recreation Department has a number of indoor and outdoor pools. They all offer swim lessons and recreational swimming times, and it’s all fairly inexpensive as these things go. You can pay for a one-session entrance, a multi-session pass, an individual annual membership, family membership, summer membership. There’s differing fees for county residents versus out of county.
