Marana Aquatic & Recreation Center — Local services in Marana

We got the day pass yesterday to try out the pool before considering the annual pass and glad we did. I had hoped for a better experience. To start the pool area seems great for kiddos and fun if there were some improvements. It was very crowded but still plenty of room to move around the pool however there is a major lack of shaded areas considering how many families they expect to host in the pool at a given time. Every single chair and cabana was taken by peoples items (no one in them, just their stuff) and the only space left just to put your towel and bag was the turf area with white chairs and ZERO shade. That artificial turf gets so hot we burned our feet within moments of just trying to get ready to go into the pool. Artificial turf studies show it gets as hot and sometimes hotter than asphalt, this is actually a safety concern that should be considered and not taken lightly. The chairs were too hot to even sit in. There is minimal shade around the pool areas as well, specifically shade near the small slides would be nice for how many parents just stand to watch their kiddos go up and down the mini slides.

Next, I understand there are rules for safety and they are in good interest but this just seemed to go too far and we were not the only family getting told these rules. First, if your child wears a vest you "must be actively in the water swimming within one foot of them" even when my children were staying in the 1-3ft zone where they can stand up and I was within 5 feet of both children. I wish this rule was told upfront like before your even buy your ticket. I also explained my children are very good swimmers I just feel better about them wearing a vest with so many kids in the water at once, this did not matter. I witnessed other parents just take the vest off their children and tell them to stay close so they didn't have to be right next to them. That just seems to create a more risky situation. Just SOME of the other rules, your children can not grab the wall even for a moment coming out of the water, if they are wearing a vest they can not be hanging on to any part of you, my child had her goggles on and was SITTING in the 2 foot zone just putting her face in to look at her feet and I was told she cannot do that because she is putting her face in the water too much. I was right beside her. It just felt as if they were spending so much time telling parents about rules how did they have any time to actually be watching the water.

We would like to return if either more shade is put up or perhaps when school is back in session and it's less busy but I can't see us returning during the summer at this point. Maybe the rules could be revisited or all lifeguards could be on the same page about them - some were much harsher than others. Maybe parents should get a full list of every single rule before...

My family and I fave a 6 month pass and today I visited for about the 5th time. First few experiences were fine. We thought the place gets a bit too crowded at times...especially the pool but overall we enjoyed the experience. Today was different though. I arrived with my 3 year old at around 11:25 to drop him off at the child watch place so I could get a quick work out in and the girl sitting in there let me know they were at max capacity so they couldn't take my son. What was alerting was that she couldn't tell me the number of kids they had and also couldn't tell me how I could find out when the were at full capacity so I don't have to make the drive for nothing again. Was very underwhelmed with the interaction. It was way too hot outside and all the indoor courts were packed so my only other option was to go into one of the workout rooms upstairs which are always EMPTY so I could do a short mat work out. The room was empty as I suspected so I cleaned a couple mats so we could do some push ups or something like that, but as soon as I was going to get started this other young girl short with curly hair walks in and tells me I can't be in there with my son because hes not 13 or older. Like we were in an empty room...no weights no equipment no people nothing...AND we were not welcome in the child watch area so I had no other option but to leave after I had to drive 25 minutes from home. This visit left a bad taste in my mouth. The staff lacks training and knowledge in customer service. These are all young kids but you can tell their only trained to enforce "RULES" and...

We purchased a 6-month membership and had high hopes for this new facility.

Pros: • Brand-new building with a clean, modern feel. • Indoor track is a great bonus, especially in the hot summer months. • All equipment is new, state-of-the-art, and there’s a nice variety for different workout styles. • Membership rates are affordable compared to similar facilities.

Cons: • For the size of Marana, the facility feels small. It seems well-suited for the Gladden Farms neighborhood, but less so for the broader community. • Location is far north, which makes it a 25–30 minute drive for Dove Mountain residents and inconvenient for many others in town. • The biggest disappointment has been the lack of availability in high-demand fitness classes. We joined primarily for these, but classes fill within seconds of online registration opening. Registration is every Monday at noon for a one week increment. If you’re not free at that exact moment, you won’t get a spot—even if you try 15 seconds later. They put the burden on the members to keep checking the schedule for cancellations instead of utilizing a wait list. Despite this ongoing demand, the center hasn’t added enough additional classes.

Bottom line: While the facility itself is impressive, the location and management of popular classes are deal-breakers for us. If we can’t get into classes, then we are not getting the value we expected. Assuming the class schedule stays the same, we will not be renewing our membership...