Da An Sports Center

As part of my ongoing "research", I visited the Da An Sports Center swimming pool with my three-year-old daughter today.  This is probably the newest of the centers at time of writing.  They have some great deals right now, such as 30% discount on swimming classes for children if you enrol this month, and swimming entry price just TWD50 instead of the listed TWD90 per adult.

There are two main pools in the building, as well as a water spa area.  The water spa area is surrounded by glass, giving it a more  "outdoor" feel.  The first pool is maybe 10 lanes.  There is a chair for zero-entry into the pool.  The second pool is smaller, and is the "children's" pool.

This children's pool is not exactly a children's pool.  It is about 15 meters long, five lanes across.  At the shallow end it is 70cm deep, and at the deep end it is 110cm deep.  The great thing about this set-up is, the smaller pool is dedicated to swim instruction and practice, keeping learners and dedicated swimmers separate, and allowing me to actually teach my daughter some swim techniques.  However, it's important to be aware that there is no very shallow area for little ones to just play around.  If your children are very small, this pool is probably not so well-suited to your needs, but it is wonderful for those say three to twelve years who want to learn how to swim in a nice, calm environment.  Like all pools in Taiwan, you need a swimcap.  There are extra armbands at poolside, but no other flotation devices are available at the moment.

The new sports center has a roller blading rink for use at 150/person/time, a nice little  indoor play area for free use, and the usual gym setup.  There doesn't seem to be any convenience store or coffee shop inside the building.  Parking is in the basement.  The carparks all wider than the average Taipei carpark, and the charge is TWD30/hr.

Website: http://dasc.cyc.org.tw/

Address: Hsin Hai Road Sec 3, No. 55 (Just south of the Keelung/Hsin-Hai intersection)

Hours: 6am-10pm daily