Richmond Plunge, Point Richmond, CA

Richmond Plunge, aka Richmond Municipal Natatorium
1 East Richmond Avenue, Richmond, CA 94801 (in Point Richmond)

CURRENT POOL HOURS:

(510) 620-6820  or http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=2140

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

BART accessible? no
Bus? 72M from Richmond BART, towards Tewksbury Ave & Castro St. Get off at corner of S Garrard Blvd & W Cutting (an 8-minute ride)

COST:

$5, going up to $6 in June 2012

INDOOR OR OUTDOOR POOL:

Indoor

CHLORINE OR SALINE WATER:

Saline, possibly with some chlorine

TEMPERATURE OF WATER:

84 degrees

DEPTH OR DEPTH RANGE OF WATER:

shallow side is between 2 and 4 feet, deep side is between 4.5 and 7 feet.

PARKING:

There is street parking, usually within a half block, and there are a couple disabled spots.

MOBILITY ACCESS TO THE POOL AREA:

Distance between parking and pool? about a half block.
Are stairs required to get into the building? no, there are both stairs and a ramp to the building entrance.
Are there ramps to get into the building? yes
Distance between shower/changing areas and pool? very short distance to deep end of pool, shallow end is a longer walk, but there are benches along the way.
Are there stairs required to get from the changing area to the pool? no

ACCESSIBILITY OF POOL:

stairs/ladders/lift? deep side is accessible only by ladder. shallow side is accessible by stairs with sturdy railing, ladder and lift. (I don’t know weight rating of lift.)
other issues? deep and shallow sides are separated by a barrier, so deep side can’t be accessed from shallow side.

ACCESSIBILITY OF POOL AREA:

seating nearby? yes
what type? benches
is seating fat-friendly? yes
non-smoking? yes

CHANGING ROOM PRIVACY:

private changing areas? i think the only private areas in the women’s locker room are the toilet stalls (not sure about men’s)
semi-private changing areas? no
one big group changing area? yes

CHANGING ROOM FAT-FRIENDLINESS:

seating available? yes
what type of seating? benches
is seating movable? yes
seating width/depth/sturdiness? benches are very wide, very deep and very sturdy. extremely fat friendly.

GENDER-NEUTRAL FRIENDLINESS:

gender-neutral changing areas? no
gender-neutral showers? no
can M/F locker rooms be avoided? no, you must go through one or the other to get to the pool
gender-neutral toilet available? no

SHOWERS:

single stalls? yes
how big? lots of single showers in open stalls. not super wide, but accessible to this super-size person
group showers? no
shower seats available? Women’s has one open shower with a bench that’s small-ish but sturdy and has a good hand-held shower head. Men’s shower room had broken accessible shower-head (4/24/12)

TOILETS:

disabled stalls available? yes, one.
is it well marked? yes

CLOTHING RULES:

swim caps needed? no
t-shirts allowed? yes

AMENABILITY TO DIFFERENT STYLES OF SWIMMING:

water walking allowed? yes, including during lap hours
recreational swimming? yes, during rec hours
lap swimming? yes, during lap hours
are weights available/allowed? yes
are noodles available/allowed? yes
are toys available/allowed? not provided, but allowed during rec hours
other available devices: kickboards, flotation belts

LIFEGUARD ON DUTY?

Yes

RELATED AMENITIES?

none

CAN THIS POOL BE RENTED PRIVATELY?

not sure.

WHO CREATED OR CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REVIEW?

Max Airborne, Jay W.

OTHER COMMENTS:

This pool is very crowded during rec hours. More mellow during lap hours, especially late evening.