I wouldn't do it. We wasted less - $600 - for a couple summers.

After a long day at camp and working, hitting the pool at night just wasn't as appealing especially when we had to drive there. In K and 1st, my child was exhausted after a day of camp that often included swimming anyway.

We moved and have a pool we can walk to and still do not go that much.

I had really hoped to recreate my own childhood experience of summers at the pool and swim team but realized that was just never going to happen.

We pay about $550 (which includes appox 5 hours/adult of coop work) and it's worth every penny.

Ours is about $1k a summer in Bethesda too. So expensive, but in the end I have to admit it is worth it.

My kids are old enough to go to the pool by themselves (Hallelujah!) and so starting in June in the afternoons after school and then when camp is done for the day, and on the weekends, they go to the pool with their friends.

I think it is more expensive than the public pool, but they can walk to our community pool, which is worth a lot to me.

We pay $1400 to a swim and tennis club in Northern VA for a family of 5. Totally worth it to us, but:

- kids are on the swim team and the tennis team
- we have a nanny and they are there literally every weekday for swim/tennis/fun from school being out until early August. We go for fun pretty much every weekend as well
- they have year-round facilities, so I use it as my gym when I don't work out with a trainer, and the kids sometime swim there in the fall-spring as well

We belonged to LHP in Alexandria and it was not worth it. We just couldn't use it often enough to make it worthwhile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay 550 in Palisades with a 1500 bond which we get back if we leave. Worth every penny.

Palisades sold off some land to fund their most recent renovation so they have a beautiful pool without high fees. The long wait list is the tradeoff. The other Bethesda area pools cost more, especially if they have ben renovated in recent years. Farther out than Bethesda, families pay a more comparable to the Palisades price.

I have visited almost all the close in pools and Palisades is by far the best. Every year we have been members they have made it nicer. We were waitlisted for 3 years, deferred for 3 ($100 each time), and have been active for 6 years. We really make an effort to go and have to as we leave in downtown DC. I would guess we go 40 times overall.

Given your situation, possibly not.

I had a $940 pool membership this last two years, and we absolutely did not get our money's worth. I work full-time and my daughter is in camp all summer. It was a constant stressor to try to get to the pool on school nights and weekends, and I actually tracked the cost-per-visit both years. (Almost $50.)

That said, I hate the public pool and I like our pool, so if you have the money to spare, go for it. I couldn't rationalize it this year and used the money for an expensive camp instead.

Anonymous wrote:We pay 550 in Palisades with a 1500 bond which we get back if we leave. Worth every penny.

Palisades sold off some land to fund their most recent renovation so they have a beautiful pool without high fees. The long wait list is the tradeoff. The other Bethesda area pools cost more, especially if they have ben renovated in recent years. Farther out than Bethesda, families pay a more comparable to the Palisades price.

We pay 550 in Palisades with a 1500 bond which we get back if we leave. Worth every penny.

We decided no as well.
We paid it for a few years but went less than 10 times per summer. Our summer is 9 weeks long and we're in town for 6 or 7 of them. We went once a weekend most weeks and both Sat/Sun maybe 3 weeks out of 6. That's $112 per visit!

It seems like such a nice thing to have (neighborhood pool!) but unless the money is inconsequential it's really ridiculously expensive.

Is part of that cost the one-time initiation fee?

The first year we joined our swim club, we paid $1000, but in subsequent years, it's only $500.

To answer your question, OP, we finally concluded the answer was "no" and turned ours in.

This after two consecutive summers where we used the pool fewer than a half-dozen times each season.

In seasons past, when the kids were younger, we lived at the pool and it was worth it.

Circumstances change.

Camp till 3 or camp till 6? How old are your children and do they have friends there? Will you go during the weekends? How many weeks will you be out of town this summer? Are you considering an August-only option? Pool fees vary and depend on a few different factors.

We pay 550 for our Cheverly membership so that seems high to me! But I guess it's a matter of location.

Our name finally came up for full summer membership (not equity) at our neighborhood pool in Bethesda and it is going to cost about $1200. Seems very high. Is this comparable to what others pay? We both work full time and DS will be in camp most of the summer. We are in Wood Acres.