Great Neck Recreation Center

Came here for the purpose of a watching a swim meet.This place is pretty dope. The pool is the perfect size for meets and competitions (from my understanding there aren't many rev centers in the area that have the right sized pools).They have a game room for folk to play with basketball courts and the like.I think it is pretty cool that they offer discounted group training sessions and classes on how to become a lifeguard.The center appeared to be well managed and was quite clean. It's really awesome that people in this community have a nice place to go for recreation.

Came to swim. Didn't have the decency to tell us that that pool isn't open swim at front desk. We were here yesterday and the pools closed so we enjoyed the game room til eight. Then we left properly at 8:05pm. It's irks the daylights out of me because we don't live here we came cause we like the deep end here;and the set up of the center better. We get dressed get wet walk in set up then they tell us that it's closed. We should have just gone to our normal Rec center. Will not return til fall.

I apologize in advance for misspelling of the moves. This review is on the free two hour intro Ludosport (light saber) class. Ludosport is a type of fencing using light sabers, the names of the moves are Italian and the fighting style combines several martial arts. Se.Cu.Ri. (Servizio, Cura, Rispetto, or rather Service, Care, Respect) is its central rule. This is a super cool unorthodox way to be active, keep fit and incorporate some defensive moves. I honestly didn't think this could possibly be that intense of an activity. I was wrong. I do weight training twice a week and this is good cardio and lots of core training involved. Calisthenics are done at the beginning of class to warm up your body and loosen up your muscles because trust me, you will need to be limber with the crouching and back and forth movement. There was a huge crowd in the gym partaking in this class ranging from 12 years old to 50+ years old and about five females, two including myself and my sister. This is a co-ed sport where guys and gals battle each other. I was truly impressed with the amount of moves we learned. The adults all were loaned light sabers built for this sport that light up and make sounds. WAAAAYYY COOL!! I'm not going to lie.. I was excited! The young kids were given pool noodles with handles made into light sabers. In the second half however, they switched the pool noodle sabers to the real light sabers so everyone had a chance. The pool noodle ones we were allowed to make contact with our opponent. For some of us it turned out to be a full on physical wail session (hint hint -BELLE!!) Let it be known that the instructor, Jacob realized it wasn't a good idea to put two sisters into a battle against one another. We were told SeCuRi was lacking during this battle and reminded us of respect, care and security which is the core of Ludosport. We were sent out of the circle. Jacob was nice about it. Us Padawans have much yet to learn! Sorry Jacob!! It was all Belle's fault with her saber full of anger and fury, she truly is a Sith! We learned three attack moves roccacia, fendeti and medento which can all be done in a combo. In addition to the blocks- prema, secundo. Once we practiced all these moves numerous times and Jacob yelled out the moves we had to demonstrate, we were ready to pair up. The instructors paired us off and I went against a guy who i figured to be around my age if not a few years younger. He was a good sparring partner. One person attacked while the instructor yelled out the attack moves while the defending were left to figure out which blocks to use. I get a little dyslexic and would turn my saber the wrong way or do secundo when someone did a rocaccia when the block for a roccacia is a prema. You'll know what I mean if you do the class. After several repetitions of that drill we formed two big circles next two each other and of course my sister and I were pointed out to come and battle. We were an absolute abomination, but they forgave us. My friend Shaun I had invited to join us at this class was in the other circle. He was my TKD instructor and of course he does very well and he's had training with stick weapons. I had an absolute GREAT time! It was so fun and it is no joke when it comes to high activity level. I was sweating up a storm! It's most likely I'm going to sign up for probably the combat classes as it is moreEconomical. they do classes mon -sat at two different times. Michael, Jacob, and Edward were all awesome, funny and nice!! I would highly recommend trying this sport out if you're tired of the same old work out routine and you want to get your heart pumping and learn some attack & defensive moves and you're a Star Wars fan !!

Great facility idk where to even start. Pretty advanced weight room, cardio/ab equipment. Huge pool (includes kids side with pool basketball, general swimming section, deep end w/ diving boards, and lap section), good locker rooms with clean showers, racquetball courts, basketball courts, kids play room, billiards/table pong, and even a rockwall gym in the back !!Not to mention free parking and CHEAP membership plans at least for in state residents, very clean facilities inside and out. You can pay for a day pass to try it out. They offer a plethora of classes to choose from, you can really explore and see what you like. Also, there's probably the most friendly staff you'll ever meet.I'm an avid user of this rec center bc I live in close proximity. I mainly use the weight room and basketball courts. My only thing is that I wish they have more advanced weight room equipment. It's fine as is, but I suggested a boxing bag and a vertical jump stick. I didn't hear back from anybody for a while.Then somebody from the rec called me to go over those suggestions and I really appreciated the guy to do that with me. Shows alot of care in his job and professionalism.

I could not imagine now living in a city without an offering of recreational centers, that's how spoiled my family has got by these. Cost for city residents is very minimal and worth every penny. The center has went through a renovation of several areas including main entrance, lobby, basketball court . Parking is usually never a problem and over flow is at Great Neck Park. Great Neck Recreation Center is located off of Great Neck Rd. You will need to drive down Shorehaven past Cox H.S and just beyond Great Neck baseball field.Both of our children learned to swim in this pool through their "learn to swim" lessons offered throughout the year at a very inexpensive cost. Most of the swimming instructors have been both excellent coaches and gifted in working with young children. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting you children in the pool by 3-4 years old with all the water we have in this area. The Aquatics Dept in all of the VB Rec Centers have open enrollment in late Summer for ages 6-18 if your children already know how to swim. It is called "Winter League" and the individual rec centers compete against each other in swimming events. I have been involved in this for several years with my children and recommend. Also the cost is dirt cheap for the amount of instructions they get Nov - Jan.The lobby area has two pool tables. The rec center offers a game room for kids. There is also air hockey and a basketball game like they have at Chuck E Cheese. For the older kids an electronics game room is more selective hours offers Wii, Xbox 360 and some other type of games. This area seems to more busy than the Bayside location. The gym is a full court basketball court and is also has multi uses. There is also a Sportswall that is utilized for footballs and other games. At times they will pull a curtain and have BB on one side of the gym and another activity on the other. The centers most utilized area is the cardio room and weight room. The most upgraded equipment is on site, it's just not as plentiful as many would like and there can be lines.The center also offers many after school program, we have never used it but know through neighbors it is a hit. There are lots of other programs offered by the VB Rec Center System, but what I did was shed light on ones that I was most familiar with. Like I said before, our family could not imagine a life without these wonderful facilities in our area. The Great Neck Recreational Center is clean, has wonderful dedicated staff and offer a variety of programs that any family could benefit from. If you have yet to check them out, or the others in the VB system I encourage you to do so. Just my opinion, but this one is slightly nicer facility wise than BS Rec.

Great Neck is closest to my apartment so I primarily come here in the mornings and when I don't feel like driving to Bow Creek. Most of the staff there is really great. I almost always receive a friendly hello from the front desk when I walk through the door.In the mornings, it can be fairly crowded. Most people go for the treadmills and elliptical machines first. Saturday's, on the other hand, it's packed with people lining up at the door before they open at 9 a.m. I take the Saturday morning Body Pump class with Bill who is great. Lately, there's been some issues with the microphone. I wish they'd get that fixed soon. The room itself is narrow like a bowling lane so setting up with a full class can be tricky. Overall, I think Great Neck rec center is a great way to begin your fitness journey.

If you have been to the Bayside Recreation Center, you'll find the Great Neck one VERY familiar. They are practically identical. So, see my review of Bayside. I have not taken classes here but my daughter did swim lessons, which are a great deal and she got a lot out of it. Also, we went swimming there one time and one of the lifeguards saw her trying to get up the courage to dive off the diving board for the first time and so she helped her out and coached her until she finally did it, which was awesome.

Great facility, except for not opening until 11 on Sundays. That aspect is ridiculous for a fitness facility.

They won't allow my fully potty trained 2 year old to use their drop in child care because of Covid??? I'm not sure what age has to do with it if it's actually a Covid thing, but it's super disappointing, as I won't be able to use the rec center without childcare. They allow age 3 and up.

Great Neck Recreation Center is phenomenal as is the majority of our city recreation centers. Included within the recreation center is the workout area where we have state of the art equipment. The majority of our recreation centers offer learn to swim classes for all ages. I am a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach who has had the advantage of traveling with my husband to other areas of our beautiful USA, and I can honestly say, our city gives quite a bit back to our residents with our recreation centers. Please call ahead to find out what the daily fee will be on the date you decide to come and join us. We will be looking forward to meeting you....smile.