Dover District Leisure Centre

Reviews

• BL

  Becky Lubi

  6 days ago
  5.0
  Great place & Lovely staff 👌
• BP

  Bex P

  Aug 18, 2026
  4.0
  Firstly, we are based in Folkestone and therefore a local swimming pool would be preferred! As we have sadly had our local pool closed for some time now (and despite news promising it’s going to be refurbed and reopened there’s still no sign of that happening). We have two options, Dover or Hythe. Having tried both I can hands down say that Dover is the better facility by some miles. Opened in 2019 (I think) it’s newer and fresher with better facilities. Myself and my kids have all had swimming lessons here and it’s always busy which shows how popular it is with families in particular. Price wise, it’s more expensive which is the trade off but if you’re having lessons you do get free swimming so make sure you use that! They have an app which can be handy but sometimes if you have issues it can be a little tricky to get hold of someone and the staff on reception are always polite but not always able to resolve issues for you then and there. There is a gym upstairs, I haven’t used it since it was refurbished but my experience of the gym and the changing room was positive. Good range of machines etc and clean and tidy. I did want to join just the gym but they didn’t have that as an option sadly. There are 2 pools - the smaller teaching pool which has an adjustable floor for different heights and is warmer, and the larger 25m pool which has a shallow and deep end. Often there is at least one lane for lane swimming with a section for ‘general swim’ for families and kids to enjoy. There are lots of swimming lessons in the afternoons and into the evenings and the car park gets extremely busy midweek from around 5pm onwards - sometimes there’s no spaces left with cars parked up all over the place or people waiting for other cars to leave… so be aware of that when planning your visit. There are also exercise classes offered including spin (which is led by a digital video rather than an actual instructor which I found a bit odd; when I tried it I had to ask some of the other people in the class for help with adjusting the bike etc as I’d never tried it before). I have also tried the water aerobics which is very popular and you’ll definitely want to book in advance - whilst I enjoyed it and was glad to have tried it, it’s not for me. I can’t comment on any other classes on offer as I haven’t tried them. There is also a clip and climb but again, I haven’t tried it. I believe there’s lots of other sports on offer like football but I’m not a big sports person so I can’t comment on that much either! My one slight issue is the cleanliness of the changing rooms - there’s plenty of stalls and I like how it’s set up; it’s not separated by gender so makes it so much more inclusive and easy to use for families. I will say the staff work hard to keep it clean but since they don’t enforce the no outdoor shoes thing and don’t provide show covers, the floors are pretty filthy during busy times. I also find other users of the changing rooms leave their rubbish or splat their powders and products around. I have seen staff cleaning so it’s more down to the other people using the facilities particularly when it’s busy unfortunately. Toilets have always been fine. They do appear to be set up to be accessible for some disabled users as well with accessible toilets and changing rooms and I’ve noticed an electric lift by the pool for wheelchair users. Oh, and there are a few larger changing cubicles for families so great if you have small kids with all the paraphernalia that goes with that. All in all, a very good leisure centre with a good variety of activities on offer. Could be cheaper and can be very busy but I’m glad we have that option whilst we endlessly wait for our own facility to reopen - I can only hope it’s as good!
• RM

  Rebekah May

  Aug 16, 2026
  5.0
  Great gym! Big swimming pool!
• JS

  Jody Spiers

  Aug 7, 2026
  5.0
  Great place to visit friendly staff very helpful
• JM

  Jenny Mills

  Jul 30, 2026
  5.0
  Excellent especially the guy who works in the clip and climb he was so so patient with my grandchild

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