Fantastic, thoughtful activities for the community.

While the pool was clean the the lifeguards were friendly, we will NOT be back to this pool; which is such a shame. We live in Newton and came to the pool for the first time today.. the rules are insane! No food or drinks, shower before you enter the pool, must pass a rigorous swim test before going on the slides (yes, even adults.. and sadly, most of the children couldn’t pass this swim test and the slide remained vacant almost the entire 2 hours we stayed). You have to swim from one side of the pool to the other AND BACK using breast stroke with your face in the water. If you doggie paddle you fail and you cannot re try the test. It was pretty sad for the kids.. there’s signs posted everywhere about no jumping, no bombing, no this, no that. It was just so strict that it took the fun out of the day. Also, everyone has to get out of the pool for the lifeguards to take a break.. which is TOTALLY acceptable, I do however think that a 20+ minute break is excessive while we’re all sitting out in the blazing heat waiting for them to allow us to gingerly swim in the pool again... all and all if you have somewhere else to go, I would.

Be prepared for crazy rules and high priced snacks. Not able to bring your own even if you have little ones. Dont forget anything in the car or you will have to repay the entry fee. A break is taken for everyone every hour but had no set time. You could sit for 10 min or 25 min just watching the staff chat at the snack stand. Anyone who wanted to use the slide or go to the deep had to pass a swim reguardless of age, but they didnt even allow anyone to enter the deep end once the swim test was passed but they said it wasnt open. I dont normally review places, but this was a disappointment.

You dont have to worry about drowning when Barney Fife is running the show! Trust me, you can find a better place to swim. Pros: clean pool, 10 foot deep at the deep end, and two slides. Cons: even if youre an adult (Im 32, my husband is 30) you cant swim in the deep end unless there are two life guards. You also cant bring your own food or drink, which I kind of understand but hey, parks and rec peeps: we totally did anyway, and guess what? So did everyone else as far as I could see. You also have to get out when the guard goes on break - not such a biggie, but generally this rule only applies to children - not everyone. We asked if we could swim in the deep end for the last 15 minutes, and were cleared - but we decided not to stay as long as expected (mainly due to the Javert-level bureaucracy and LAUNDRY LIST of pool rules) and got our little wrist bands to go in. Not thirty seconds later, Barney Fife comes over and tells us we cant be there - 5:45 was the agreement, its only 5:30. Seriously?! I explained we were about to leave, and so took our 15 minutes sooner than expected. Did Barney care? OHHHH NO. Rules are rules, yall, and apparently even the most idiotic rules must be enforced to the point of frustrating everyone around you. Oh, and as far as the slides go: theyre bumpy, uncomfortable, you skid down them because theyre not wet enough, and oh yeah - you have to prove you can swim to even get on them. 1/10 would definitely not recommend.Guys, take note: you said you had one life guard because there werent many patrons today. You have so few patrons because your rules are outrageous.If youre an adult who enjoys being treated like a child, by all means, enjoy your day at the Newton public pool. Otherwise, find somewhere else to swim. A couple there besides us told us the Shelby Aquatics Center is dirt-cheap and a lot more fun, and as far as rules go, theyre very reasonable.Rules are meant to keep us safe, not to keep us safer than necessary for no reason other than you have a very limited amount of authority and you desperately need to exercise it because its your only opportunity. Will absolutely not be going back.

This was our sons first experience with team sports (football) and everyone from the Rec department staff, (Charles and Carol), to the team coaches, (Coach Clark and Coach Osborne) were all WONDERFUL!!! Thanks Newton Rec for a great experience with our son.

Nice pool but too many very strict rules. Shame you cant even bring your own water but oh well.

We were the for the Old Soldiers bike ride and the Newton Rec Center ALWAYS has great support and post ride food and the pool to jump in!

Nice pool and great place to take the kids to relax for a few hours.

Great family facility!

Nice, clean pool. Doesnt cost much to get in.

Wonderful facility, great assistant director and staff!

Love swimming

Sign your kids up for sports, pay the $30 just to find out they dont have enough coaches! Pay to play sports but they cant pay to hire a coach!

Friendly staff

New equipment in the weight room, but otherwise old facilities and limited on activities offered.