Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre — Attraction in Melbourne

Water slides and other facilities are fun however very disappointed in the lack of inclusion and disability awareness of the staff here. I came with an 11 year old child with autism. We came specially for a booking on the inflatable obstacle course. He has done these at other locations before without a problem and was SUPER excited. Cost was extra above pool admission for the obstacle course for a half hour time slot on the course. We booked ahead picked the earliest morning time hoping it wouldn't be too busy. First issue occurred as we went through the sign in area, my child was wearing a pair of goggles as he has a lot of anxiety about getting water in his eyes and can’t participate in swimming without them. There is no mention of not being allowed to wear goggles when signing up to the obstacle course. The staff member on the gate told him to take off his goggles, the child became distressed, so I asked the staff member if he could keep them on, the staff member asked if he had a medical condition that meant he needed them on, I explained he was autistic and had sensory issues that meant he was very sensitive to water in his face and not having them will cause severe anxiety and he may not be able to do the course without them. The staff member smirked at me and replied “so he doesn’t have a medical condition” and refused to allow him to keep his goggles on. Second issue was that the obstacle course was small, one way, single file and no space to go around each other in most parts. They absolutely packed it full with so many people that is was impossible to find any space. There were also people from 6 years old all the way up to adults on there at the one time. There was no strategic management of the masses, everyone was let on at the same time with no gaps left so some older kids, teens and even adults were being extremely rough barging past less physically able or smaller kids and making it really hard for them to get through the obstacles. There were a few life guards stationed around the course but all were young teenagers who were not doing anything to control the crowd. My 11 year old was already anxious about not having his goggles on but was able to get past this and got to the first obstacle but quickly became stuck as people were pushing past and over the top of him moving the obstacle so much that he wasn’t able to get himself out of the situation. He put his hand up and yelled to life guard for help but no one came to help him or to stop people moving over the top of him. I was supervising from the side but wasn’t allowed in the water so yelled instructions to him for the side to try and help him. He ended up falling in the water, getting water in his eyes and then was unable to continue with the course as he felt much too unsafe. There were at least two other children I could see having similar problems and both myself and the parent of the other children pleaded with the staff and then the manager to help the children access the activity. I suggested multiple options: I pay for a spot to go on with him, I go in the water alongside him but not on the obstacle course itself, they attempt to spread out the people on the course to give the younger kids room to move, they let the children that couldn’t access the course have 2 mins to do one lap of the course without the crowds at the end of the half hour time slot. The manager and staff denied all requests and gas lighted my 11 year old who was trying to explain why he felt unsafe by saying “I think you just don’t like particular kids being on it”. I then very politely requested a refund considering he did not get to do the activity and that was also denied with no explanation other then “we don’t do refunds”. Sadly my 11 year old left feeling very deflated and disappointed in himself for not being able to access an activity when he could have left feeling empowered having conquered a difficult task with just a little bit of flexibility and understanding from staff at Parc. Please educate your staff on neurodiversity and inclusion...

i joined up mainly for the gym, which I would rate as generally good but a bit on the small side compared to some others in the area. In peak times it gets almost too busy, and you often have to wait to jump on some of the gear. Also it can be hard to find somewhere to even just stretch out. At non-peak times its pretty good (but then given its not 24 hour that can be a bit limiting).

The equipment is ok, but in the time i was there it was annoying the number of machines that had broken down, some of which were out for over a month. There doesn't seem to be much of a maintenance schedule (which is unfortunately pretty much the same at every gym). Also like with every gym, there's not enough cable trainers; put in more cable trainers already.. They do have enough treadmills though, they could easily get rid of 30% of those without inconveniencing anyone to make more room for other things. Much of the machines make the point of being internet connected etc, but in reality that probably only worked on a third of the machines i tried.

There are lots of classes available, but note that if you want to get into the popular ones you will need to remember to jump on the (rather clunky) portal to book as soon as they become available, you cant just wander in and do them.

Outside the gym itself, I have never tried the main pool or waterslide so can't speak about them. The remedial pool area is pretty good and not too busy. There's a steam room and sauna, though the sauna is not that big and often ends up full. The steam room is the same size but generally not as busy. Wherever you are there is no shortage of lifeguards, should you be worried about drowning or passing out or something.

They do do a much better job of basic cleanliness and hygiene than other gyms i've tried, so points for that.

Overall I would say its towards the high end of pricing for what you get, if all you want is a gym. Unless you also want to go swimming and jump on the waterslide, in which case its reasonable value. For gym only, there's better deals around. Note there's an option for pool only, but no options for gym-only (at least that was the case when i was there). Which means full membership or nothing.

Anyway, i decided to leave after they tried to pitch a cost increase as a "small price adjustment", which really got up my nose and inspired me to move on. It wasn't the amount but the way they were trying to sell it. I'm pretty sure no-ones membership was adjusted downwards. Would probably rate it 4 stars but they lose a star just for that.

Pros: They do a pretty good job of keeping things clean. There's always onsite parking to be found. No minimum period, 28 days notice to end membership. Apparently they have a waterslide, if that's your thing Cons: Expensive if you only want gym access. Comparatively small gym for the patronage, busy in peak times. Highly annoying entranceway and turnstiles that are forever breaking down (ffs, fix them properly - how hard can it be?). Not 24-hour which kind of puts it in the minority of...

In the early years classes, the programs PARC offers are great and consistent. However, in the last 12 months, our family has had a few significant issues with PARC.

The first problem we have had is that it had only come to fruition that they had incorrectly input our information into their system, even though we clearly wrote out contact details (So we weren't sent anything in the mail or any phone calls or texts weren't recieved. After I had gone in 2 times prior and provided clear contact details, they still did not record the correct information. A little while ago, I went in to update payment information due to my credit card expiring. We have 2 children who have memberships and I wanted to update the direct debit information (which are joint) HOWEVER they only update the information for one of my children, so due to information not being updated, we ended up owing $172 in fees and we were locked out of our online PARC account (for one of our children) due to not knowing about the overdue amount until too late.

Finally, as my daughters take lessons here, my youngest has been progressing really well (similar to how my eldest child did), but as soon as she reached the "Fly" level, here progression has stagnated and she remained in Fly 2 for almost a year. This was because her teachers had not checked her progression points and she hadn't progressed due to not being checked off on "safe entry into the pool" which is a requirement at the start of every lesson and when they change pools! This was only rectified after it was pointed out to staff (who promptly adjusted this). Leading up to this is the main issue.

It has also come to light that the instructors at this level had stated they don't have structured lesson plans for the classes. Which is shocking as it is a requirement for any instructor/educator to provide lesson plans for their class to demonstrate how Progression Points will be met or developed. Thanks to this, they have not focussed on the key skills required at Level 3 that should have well and truly developed (such as free style strokes being applied to kicking on their front and being able to kick on their back and learning the correct form when doing torpedoes).

If you look at the negative reviews, the quality of classes and admin and the lack of usability of the online app/website are a recurring thing that doesn't seem to have improved in the last few months.

For what is regarded as such a highly regarded institution, I am severely disappointed with the quality that PARC has offered in its lessons at Fly and higher as well as some of the administration in the last few months.

This is why after 5 years we are removing our children from PARC lessons and looking somewhere else for quality in...