Little Whale Swim School

We've been coming to Little Whale for six years and this review is long overdue! This is an amazing year round swim school with warm water! It is so kid friendly and truly designed for young babies tots and kids to master swim skills. We ALWAYS get compliments on how safe and strong our little swimmers are.We recently got a new teacher, Teacher Ali! He is wonderful!!! He meets kids on their level, celebrates their wins, explains things to them in a way they can understand. We've had several amazing teachers during our time here including Gabby and Kayla and I'm always skeptical about someone new, but definitely surpassed my expectation and was GREAT!

Little Whale Swim School has been amazing for my son Leo, who started when he was just 5 months old and is now two. The facility is clean, well-organized, and provides a safe and fun environment for learning. Sarah, his swim teacher, has been fantastic. She's always patient and kind, and Leo has learned so much with her guidance. I highly recommend Little Whale Swim School for anyone looking for a place where their child can not only learn to swim but also gain confidence in the water, all while prioritizing safety!

We've had 3 children in swim lessons at Little Whale. It's the perfect introduction to the water for infants (we've started all 3 kids at 4 months) and is a fun way to have toddlers continue to be used to the water. Are my children going to fully learn how to swim here...likely not but that's not what I have them in lessons for right now. Our family spends a lot of time around the water and our time at Little Whale has gotten our children comfortable while also making our toddler aware of the water. He knows he can't swim and that it's important to have a parent nearby while being in the water. Couple things to note...sometimes it can be hard to get through via phone, but they always respond quickly via email. They're also happy to help in person when you arrive for a lesson which is great. If you don't see availability online, try contacting them since they have additional information about future openings that could be soon.

Our daughter has been going here since she was 9 months and she is now 2.5. It started as a way to get out and do an activity with her to tire her out before her next nap and bond. And by the next summer she was able to jump in and swim to us and play in any pool we took her to with so much confidence. We got compliments everywhere we went swimming. This summer she could swim all on her own without me even being in the pool and pull herself out of the side of the pool by herself. Shes 2! Anyway I am so happy we went to little whale swim. I feel so at ease and safe and it's given my daughter extreme amounts of confidence in herself. She got 2 ribbons last week and she kept telling us she was so proud of herself. Her teacher Bella has been incredibly instrumental in doing this, teaching her, and pushing her while also being so sweet and understanding. We love her! Thank you Bella!

We have loved little whale for our son. He has come so far from being nervous in the water to being comfortable swimming under water across the pool! His teacher Ali is so good with the kids. He manages to keep them focused, motivated and engaged in the class, which is not an easy task. He always adds a fun game at the end of class to end the class on a positive note. In addition to Ali, all of the little whale staff we have chatted with are so professional and kind, which is a rare find. We give little whale a 10 out of 10. Great customer service, great staff and great teachers!

Brenda is amazing! She has helped my son grow and develop his skills a tremendous amount. He started out screaming and crying, trembling and resisting with all of his might. He can now swim and tread water. She has made a huge difference in his life. He can be safe and have fun in the pool.

My son Carter is about to be 4 and has been swimming here on and off since he was 2. My daughter Nova just turned 2 and has been swimming for 6 months now. Both of their teachers Emily & Hailey are caring and patient they have been instrumental in my children's development. Emily works more with Carter because he is level 1 but all of the staff have been helpful and I do feel that they care about Carters development. Carter had a couple of lessons where he didn't want to get in to the water and they had an additional teacher hop in the water with him. Even though he was being difficult at first, he calmed down and quickly started engaging with Emily and the class. There are swim schools closer to Natomas but we drive to Little Whale for a whale of a time with instructors who care.

Teacher Emilee is great with our 1 year old. She absolutely loves swimming and is always so excited to go to the pool. Teacher Ali is great with our 5 year old. She was afraid to get in the pool without Mom or Dad, but teacher Ali made it fun and she got over her fear in just a few minutes! The whole family also enjoys "family swim" free time in the heated pool every Saturday, and we are glad that swim class has helped both our daughters be comfortable in the water.

My son has been attending this swim school for several months now. He has struggled with learning to use his arms for weeks. Last week he missed the wall to climb up and panicked and began to sink. There was no supervision who had even noticed. Thankfully he was able to climb up and it was near the end of the lesson anyways. He begged me to not go back because "they let me sink and I could've drown". I assured him I would speak with the teacher and he asked for me to sit on that side of the pool just in case. After much encouragement, I was able to convince him to attend class again and told him this would be the last one... I reviewed the cancellation policy, it states "7 day cancellation". It was processed prior to taking his class. He told me after class he is happy he doesn't have to go again because he made a mistake coming back.Upon talking with the staff, they actually say their 7 day policy isn't really a 7 day policy. They intend to charge for another lesson, even with it having been given a 7 day notice of cancellation. I explained how overly anxious my son is and why, and it fell on deaf ears. I looked at a calendar with them, we all agreed it was 7 days...submitted prior to his lesson...and the only response was "ya...it's not clear and is confusing. But sorry, you'll be charged for that one and than not after that"Feels like they are nickel and diming. Their policy is not clear and left open for their own interpretation. My son struggled with a concept for weeks, and there was no intentional thought or time put to that, but rather he kept doing the same as every other student. Lack of attention scared him to the point he didn't want to come back and staff just doesn't care. It's actually very unfortunate.

We've been here 10 months now and continue to LOVE it. We were so sad when Teacher Gracie moved on after graduating college, but for the last few months my girls have been working with teacher Alexis and she is incredible! She knows exactly how hard to push my little swimmers without making them feel stressed, scared, or overwhelmed.