Overview:
Open: This pool is open all year
Price: $4.00, or 15 swims @ $35 for residents
Pool Hours: Varies by season
Locker Room: There are lockers, but bring your own lock
Equipment: Kickboards, pull buoys, and if you do water aerobics they have underwater weights, water belts, and noodles.
Website: Here
Showers: Heated
Parking: Moderate, park in the lots on Culver Blvd. and walk over
Crowds: Moderate
Call ahead?: 50/50 - go with your gut
Details:
The Culver City Plunge was opened August 31, 1949 and is part of Culver City’s Veteran’s Memorial Park. The facility is an outdoor year-round pool and offers lap swimming in both short and Olympic lengths. The pool itself is always clean but seems to run on the cooler side. Lanes are frequently rented out to private clubs and private school athletic programs.
I first visited this pool in 2006 when I was took a recovery break from marathons, and came back to it in 2016 when I moved to Village Green (the intervening years were dedicated to more running, CrossFit, and back to swimming at Echo Park Plunge, Van Nuys Sherman Oaks, and the Glassell Park Pool which were convenient to my Los Feliz apartment). I swim there on Monday evenings as part of SCAQ’s coached workouts, and every other weekend or so when I'm not visiting the Santa Monica Swim Center or the John Argue Swim Stadium at Expo Park.
The Plunge is actually the second pool built in Culver City. The first one met its demise in 1929 when the American Legion built a club house on top of it. The pool is portrayed in a poster designed by Jeff Dorer as part of the See America series by the Creative Action Network. Photographer Judy Starkman created a series of photographs taken at the Culver City Plunge called the “Secret Life of Swimmers”. The photos were featured on street banners along Sepulveda Boulevard in Culver City. More info on her awesome project here.
Lap Passes: Yes. 15 swims for $35.00 for residents and $50 for non-residents. $4.00 drop in swim fee.
Equipment: Kick boards and pull buoys. If you register for the Aquasize classes, they provide underwater dumbbells, water belts, and other types of equipment based on the workout that day.
Ladies Locker Room: 6/10. The good things include plenty of locker space and it is heated during the winter. Towards the end of the day the locker room is pretty beat up, but on weekend mornings, it is tidy. The showers are fine, but only one stays on longer than 10 seconds.
Parking: There is a small lot directly adjacent to the pool, but spots are rarely available. When I visit for a SCAQ workout, I typically park in the lot a little further north of the pool along Culver Boulevard. If I go on a weekend, I tend to park on Overland Boulevard at a meter for $1.00 per hour.
