LA Surf and Swim

I don’t want to nit pick this place because at the end of the day the instructors are nice, seem to genuinely like kids, and care. My daughter was completely water safe before she was 3 ½ and she loves the coaches. Yes it gets crowded at peak times but they work well in the space. The water is really warm, so winter is a great time to snag the time slots that are sought after come the warmer times. Great year-​round swimming to teach your little ones if you don’t have a pool at home!

We started with LA Surf and Swim this summer. I have two kids, one who was pool-​safe and a decent swimmer, and one who was scared of the pool and of swimming. After four months, my older child has developed into an even stronger swimmer with solid fundamentals should she decide she wants to be part of a swim team. My younger child now LOVES swimming and has progressed astoundingly. When he started, he wouldn’t let go of the coach. Now he swims comfortably across the width of the pool. All the coaches are well-​trained, and they show unending patience and cheerfulness with the kids. LA Surf and Swim worked beautifully for us, and I’m so pleased with my kids’ progress in such short time.

I’m disappointed because I believe they have too many kids swimming at the same time. Running in to each other and the kids bumping their heads on the other end of the pool with no one to stop it.
I feel like they care more about the bottom line ($$$) than the children!
For example, I have 3 kids going to their school and pay monthly for them to go. So, today my 2 year old school woke up with a fever of 102.7. I cancelled the class as soon as I checked his temperature & asked if they could reschedule him they said it would be $ 10 to reschedule a makeup because I didn’t give them enough notice!
Very disappointed!

I was feeling pretty bad that my 6yo son hadn’t learned to swim. He wouldn’t enter a pool without his floaties, even if I was holding him. He didn’t like to have a drop of water touch his face, so any splashes in a pool he was in were not acceptable. I felt I hadn’t done my job as a parent, and worried it would take years before he made any progress. Just to give it a try, I took him to LA Surf and Swim, with low expectations. I figured he’d hate it and it would be a waste of time.
I was shocked that he had fun in his first lesson (even though he cried once after his head went under water), and he actually wanted to go back for a second lesson. He ended up looking forward to his swim class every week! The school has figured out a ton of games that kids enjoy, that also teach them how to swim without even realizing it. It’s really amazing. The teachers are patient and nice with the kids.
Five months later, my son now will jump in a pool, swim under water, and can basically swim on his own (though he’s still a bit unsure about swimming on his own without swim fins). I’m completely amazed by his progress, and couldn’t be more satisfied with LA Surf and Swim. To me, the change is a miracle. I highly recommend them.

Coach Syd is awesome!!! Coach Syd and his LA Surf & Swim team have taught both of my children to swim starting at age 3 and now has taught both my now 9 year old daughter and me to surf. As parents, we are lucky to have Syd’s influence in our children’s lives. Thanks Syd!!!

Great experience all around. As cool and casual as the vibe is, these guys have never let us down or screwed up a lesson, appointment time, staffing, etc. Our son has been here since 8 – 9 months old, loves the water, loves all the coaches. It all just works — easy to drop and makeup classes, good culture and camaraderie among staff, convenient location and times.

I love it here my kids get swimming lessons and the instructors are great they are patient and make the kids feel comfortable and they are fun I really recommend this place. It gets pretty full so make appointments ahead. The classes are a good price too. Highly recommend!!!

I have two kids: ages 2.5 and 4 and we LOVE LA Surf and Swim. The coaches are great and my kids absolutely love it there! They always look forward to their lessons (and are equally upset when they are over), they love their instructors, and appreciate the stickers they get at the end of each lesson. Also, Courtney, the office manager, is fantastic! She is very good and passionate about what she does! Our overall experience has been nothing short of amazing! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We’ve had a great experience with LA Surf and Swim.
My 5 year old son, who never had consistent lessons prior to this, is now swimming freestyle, breast stroke, backstroke, and butterfly (all still need some work!), loves swimming, loves his lessons there, and most important, is completely water-​safe now! We went 1−2x/week for about 4 months to get to this point.
My daughter, 2.5, was very scared and wouldn’t go near the pool. After trying many different tactics patiently, they decided it was best to let her play around the pool with the toys and observe the other kids swimming until she was ready. It took about 2 weeks, and they allowed our nanny to bring her for these «sessions» free of charge (at least the ones where there was no plan to go in the pool). Ultimately, she got in, and she loves swimming now. She’s close to being pool-​safe.
At LA Surf & Swim, they combine education of swimming strokes/​technique with fun games, like swimming to the bottom to pick up toys and balancing on a moving surfboard in the middle of the pool until they fall in (laughing happily). There is a core group of instructors who both of my kids love. They have a colored wrist-​band system to inform teachers of progress and abilities, so there is consistency. In response to another review, I’ve never felt it was unsafe, and neither of my kids could swim when we started. Courtney, who manages the day-​to-​day schedule, payments, etc… is awesome. Most of the scheduling is online, but she is always ready to help if we have questions or need to reschedule a class. When my daughter was having trouble initially, she kept in touch with me via email to let me know of her progress (when our nanny took her).
Finally, it’s a pretty, relaxing yard with nice lounge chairs for parents to sit while kids swim. Most parents (or caretakers) take advantage of this and just sit and watch their kids have fun.

I cannot say enough positive things about L.A. Surf and Swim. We started coming to this swim school when my daughter was about 4 and couldn’t swim, and was afraid to put her face in the water. She progressed very quickly, with the gentle, but challenging coaching by the instructors. As some have mentioned in other reviews, you don’t necessarily have the same swim coach from week to week, so if your child is extremely sensitive to change (which I thought my daughter was, but she was always fine with this), it may be hard for you. We’ve had many swim coaches here over the years, and most are extremely intuitive, and know how to get the most out of the child, while still making it a positive experience that they want to come back to. Most recently my daughter started taking their «pre-​swim team» classes, held at Samo-hi’s pool, and they are just what she needed to get to the next level. She had progressed so much at the residential location that the challenge of a larger pool, and a more structured lesson where all the kids are a similar level, was great. Syd, the owner, is an excellent teacher who has so much experience with competitive swimming, yet he’s able to make it understandable to kids of all ages. He really has a way with kids and senses how they need to be challenged or eased up on. From getting my daughter to put her face in the water, to dive to the bottom of the pool, to work on her butterfly stroke, he’s done this in a kind way that gives her the confidence to do it. Courtney, who does most of the scheduling and day to day contact at the lessons, is so organized and efficient. She’s always receptive to hearing parents concerns, and addressing them, if not immediately with the instructors, before the next lesson. Would not go anywhere else.

My four year old daughter enrolled in LAS&S last fall after another mom’s recommendation, and within a month she was swimming on her own. She’s been doing a tandem swimming session with her friend, so that really worked out well since they are both a bit slow to warm up in new situations. The instructors are very patient and the class is really fun. Also, the pool is very warm, so it’s great to swim in even when it’s cold. Another nice thing it is that it’s a small house/​facility and my younger daughter can play with the toys while her big sister is swimming. Overall, we’ve had a great experience.
Update: 6÷24÷15
My 3 yr old daughter has joined LAS&S and immediately felt at ease with the coaches. She was beaming the entire first lesson, it was so cute! For beginner one-​on-​one lessons, they gently carry them around the shallow end of the pool to get them use to the water and use fun toys, floaters and flippers etc. to help them learn the very basics. The new coaches are all really super sweet. My older, 6 year old daughter is still taking and enjoying her swim lessons as well. Each coach has been very effective in helping her hone her techniques and extend her endurance.
I also love the staff! Courtney, Brandon and Tommy are so accommodating and nice, it’s been such a great experience for us.

there was one serious negative. while we were there a 3 year old fell into the water and no teacher saw or helped. the mom screamed and nobody heard, the mom ended up jumping into the water with all her clothes on to save her daughter. after this the teachers still did not seem to understand what had happened.
This was at a two kid lesson, the way they do it is one kid is with the teacher and one kid «rests» unattended at the corner of the pool. It was the kid who was «resting» that fell into the water and was unable to keep her self above the water and was flailing her arms and gasping for air.
before this we liked the school, but after this we are very disturbed. We might still go back, but will watch our child very closely

Nothing but a great experience. All teachers I have seen are exceptional with kids. My son is a bit of a ‘negotiator’ and tends to want to get off the target of instruction. The instructor keeps the instruction upbeat and on target. Nice facility — great instruction. Sometimes you get cut short 2 minutes — which I know doesn’t sound like much — but hey — it’s only a 20 minute class altogether.
Unrelated to the school — parking is kinda a stinker. But where isn’t it. The old man across the street on the corner somehow has gotten a red zone painted, handicapped zone painted, has no parking for street cleaning until 11:30 on Tuesday s and now is asking no one to park there either — yeesh! He must know somebody at the City!

This is a review for the swimming lessons, which are held at a private residence in the Mar Vista area.
Pro’s:
— Flexible scheduling. LA Surf & Swim has an online calendar where you can check availability and schedule lessons. You aren’t bound to one day of the week and time, though that’s an option if you’d like
— Good student to teacher ratio
— Reasonable rates for private lessons
— Pool is under a canopy which provides shade in the summer. Toys are on the deck for siblings who aren’t swimming
— Parents do not have to go into the pool with the child
— Instructors knowledgeable and friendly, with one exception below
Con’s:
— The «open house» format doesn’t allow for much consistency, which can be an issue for some kids. The child shows up for the lesson, wades into the water and the nearest available teacher grabs them. The instructors don’t seem to have a set schedule so you could have a different teacher each lesson
— With the above scheduling format it’s possible for your child to be in a class with kids that are nowhere near his/​her age. Teachers adapt to the child’s skill level so it isn’t a big deal — but my 5 year old was in a class with 1 year olds, which wasn’t much fun.
— After the lesson there’s zero time for free play. You have the lesson and get booted out, which is fairly standard for swim lessons. City pools have open swim, though, so free time can be dovetailed after lessons if you schedule properly.
— Most of the teachers here are great, with one exception. My kid was excited and wiggly during the first lesson and the teacher threatened to make him sit on the deck where it was cold. Seemed a bit harsh.
This school gets rave reviews and was recommended to me by a friend. It was not a good fit for us, but I do believe it’s a good school.