Mira Mesa waited more than 20 years for the second phase of its community park. When the City of San Diego declared the $55 million project complete on October 1, the headline feature was a new aquatic complex built around a 14-lane competition pool. Under its first fall schedule, the public can swim there for 19 hours a week of lap swim and 8 hours of recreation swim. No public session starts before 11 a.m. and none runs past 4:30 p.m. The pool is closed every Saturday.
The program guide shows the evenings and Sunday afternoons going to the City of San Diego Swim League, youth water polo and water fitness. For now, the Mira Mesa Aquatic Complex at 8577 New Salem St. is a facility where you plan your swim around the programs.
The public week, laid out
The Mira Mesa Aquatic Complex program guide took effect October 2, the day after the ribbon cutting. Here is the public schedule it sets:
| Day | Lap swim | Recreation swim |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. | 1:30 to 4 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. | None |
| Wednesday | 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. | 1:30 to 4 p.m. |
| Thursday | 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. | None |
| Friday | 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. | None |
| Saturday | Closed | Closed |
| Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Noon to 3 p.m. |
If you work standard weekday hours, Sunday is your realistic pool day. It has the longest lap window of the week at five hours and the only weekend recreation swim. The weekday sessions suit people with flexible afternoons, kids who are out early, and anyone who can step away mid-afternoon.
Two notes from the guide shape what a visit is like. Lap lanes can be limited during scheduled programs, and lane sharing and circle swimming are required. The diving board's availability depends on staffing, attendance and programming. The guide's advice on both is the same: call ahead at 619-235-1166.
Where the public hours end, the programs begin
The 4:30 p.m. cutoff lines up with the youth swim team schedule. The City of San Diego Swim League is a recreational-level program for ages 6 to 17, and it practices Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. starting in November. It costs $35 a month, and tryouts are arranged with the coach or the pool manager.
Sunday works the same way. Recreation swim ends at 3 p.m., and Junior Water Polo runs Sundays from 3 to 4 p.m. starting in November, in two age groups, 5 to 8 and 9 to 12, for $21 a month. Water fitness sessions run Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays.
Swim lessons follow sessions with fixed registration days. The fall session runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from November 3 through 19, and registration opened Saturday, October 24, so it is already under way by the first week of November. Lessons are booked online through SDRecConnect after you create an account and add family members. If your child has never taken a City lesson, the guide says to contact pool staff for a skills assessment and help with the account. Staff can also handle walk-in registration. The guide also lists a free Water Competency class and sends residents to staff for its dates.
The pool itself is built for this kind of use. The City's facility page lists the competition pool at 109 feet 6 inches by 75 feet 1 inch, with depths from 3 feet 6 inches to 12 feet 3 inches and two 1-meter diving boards. Alongside it are an instructional pool of about 1,563 square feet, a splash pad with a zero-depth play surface, and a community room you can reserve. The City describes the complex as suited to competitive swimming, water polo, synchronized swimming and birthday parties.
The pass math, if you plan to come back
With a fixed set of windows, a regular swimmer is someone who keeps coming back to those same few hours, which is the use passes are priced for. Here are the City pool admission rates:
- Adults 16 and older: $5 per visit. A 10-swim pass costs $36, or $3.60 a swim, and a 30-swim pass costs $96, or $3.20 a swim.
- Children, seniors 62 and older, and disabled patrons: $2.25 per visit. A 10-swim pass costs $18, or $1.80 a swim, and a 30-swim pass costs $48, or $1.60 a swim.
An adult who swims eight times has spent $40 at the door, more than the $36 a 10-swim pass costs. Someone doing every Sunday lap session plus one weekday a week would reach that point in about a month. Passes are valid for one year from purchase and work at any City of San Diego pool. You need an SDRecConnect/ActiveNet account to buy one, and lost or stolen passes aren't replaced.
A few rules matter at the gate. Everyone entering pays admission, and there is no re-entry. Children under 8 or shorter than four feet need a paying guardian in a swimsuit who stays within arm's reach. Only service animals are allowed in the facility, and not in the water.
Closed days between now and New Year's
The windows are already narrow, and the holiday season closes a few more days. All City pools will be closed on:
- Wednesday, November 11
- Thursday, November 26, and Friday, November 27
- Thursday, December 24, and Friday, December 25
- Thursday, December 31
- Friday, January 1
The November 11 closure falls on a Wednesday, one of only two weekdays with recreation swim. Thanksgiving week loses its Thursday and Friday lap sessions, which leaves Monday through Wednesday and Sunday. The guide also says programs, schedules and fees may change or be canceled without notice.
What the rest of the park offers when the pool is closed
On Saturdays, the rest of the 17 acres south of New Salem Street is still open. According to the City, Phase II added an all-wheel plaza for skateboards, roller skates, scooters, bikes and wheelchairs, plus two children's play areas, two multi-use sports courts, open grass, ADA-accessible walkways, lighting and a new parking lot. The Mira Mesa Gil Johnson Recreation Center got new heating, ventilation and air conditioning, a new roof, replacement wood and finishes, and fresh exterior paint. The City's general skate park guidance says its skate parks are unsupervised and used at the rider's own risk.
The park's largest shade structure is also its public art piece. "Songs of Mira Mesa" is by artist Kate Clark and was commissioned by the City's Cultural Affairs division. It serves as a gathering spot, performance pavilion and shade structure in one. On her project page, Clark opens with a plain observation: "Sun is an unlimited resource in Mira Mesa." The pavilion's water jet walls and ceiling cast shadow drawings of local terrestrial and celestial imagery.
That imagery came out of workshops Clark co-hosted with the youth arts organization The AjA Project during Mira Mesa Community Art Week. The Mira Mesa Community Art Teen Fellows drew on local leaders, educators, cosmologists and naturalists for inspiration. The fellows were Rylan Federico, Thomas Gibson, Jelani Jocson, Isabella Lastomirsky, Wen Song, Callista Tayag and Cheyann Wright, with Maria Mathioudakis as teaching lead. Since the shapes on the ground are cast by sunlight, they shift through the day. On a bright afternoon you can stand under the pavilion and see the fellows' drawings at your feet.
The pavilion has already served as a stage. The Mira Mesa Town Council billed its October 24 community celebration with free swimming, a 10:30 a.m. ceremonial skate with Willy Santos, and a noon "Songs of Mira Mesa Showcase."
The next phase is the building next door
Phase I finished in 2018 on about 11 acres north of New Salem Street, adding baseball fields, a play area, a comfort station and parking. Phase II finished the south side on schedule and within its original budget, funded almost entirely by Mira Mesa developer fees. Phase III is in planning and is expected to expand the Mira Mesa Recreation Center's size and amenities.
The recreation center was on the agenda for the Town Council's November 2 meeting, along with election of the 2027 board. The Town Council also announced a food drive for that meeting, sponsored by the Mira Mesa High School Red Cross Club. For updates on the park's next phase, the City's Mira Mesa Community Park project page is the place to check.
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