Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA - Encinitas, California

Jeremy.Decker

I found this YMCA to be a very great place to go work out. The facilities were all very clean, the pool was amazing and the staff was very friendly. This certainly isn't going to be your $200 a month club premium club, however it definitely holds up to a very high standard and has all the amenities to get a great workout in.

James L. O. I.

I just discovered the Encinitas YMCA, and I must say that I am so glad that I did. The ladies at the front desks are exceedingly helpful. I met Sandy yesterday; Sandy helped me at the refreshment counter, such a congenial, kind fellow! I've joined many gyms; I grew up in coastal North County, never knowing what a gem I had in Encinitas. A Y membership costs $500.00 a month on the East Coast! How anyone could complain about the fees at the Magdalena facilitate is beyond me! I love this place! I only recommend hiring someone whose only job is to check Member's IDs. Possibly, the folks here are too kind and wouldn't want Members to be annoyed. There's an air of exclusivity here. I highly recommend the Encinitas YMCA. Wow!
JL III.

David R.

Unsafe, unprofessional, they don’t have lifeguards at the kids’ pool (at least not properly trained lifeguards).

My son was in a preschool swim class. I look over from across the pool, and while the teacher is with another kid, my son is bobbing in the middle of the pool, submerged over his head, not breathing. The “lifeguard” (Keenan I believe) is staring into space. I sprint the entire length of the pool. The lifeguard is still staring into space. The instructor realizes what’s happening and grabs my son. The lifeguard is still staring into space. There’s loud splashing as my son is pulled gasping to the side of the pool. The lifeguard doesn’t notice, still staring into space.

I go yell at the lifeguard to pay better attention. His reaction is “huh?”, like he had no idea anything happened. My son insists on finishing the class, so I go sit down.

Then some other lifeguard (older bald guy) comes over to yell at ME, because I had yelled at the lifeguard who let my son almost drown. The spacey lifeguard is highly-trained, I’m told, there’s no better in San Diego. And he’s a Christian and believes in God and doesn’t believe in yelling. The whole time, I’m remaining calm and smiling a lot because my son and the rest of the preschoolers are eight feet away watching, and I don’t want them to be more upset than they already were. Baldy had no such inhibitions - he’s yelling and waving his arms about how bad yelling is 😛 It would have been hilarious… if I hadn’t just watched my son almost die.

The teacher is good, it wasn’t his fault, but overall there is a very low level of competence and professionalism from this group. There were at least half a dozen other ymca instructors/lifeguards chilling near the pool, none of whom were paying any attention to what was going on in the water. When there was a near-lethal incident from an MIA lifeguard, management’s first reaction wasn’t to replace the lifeguard, or maybe add a second lifeguard. Management’s first reaction was to leave the space cadet on (solo) duty, defend him as highly-skilled, and scold the parent for suggesting otherwise.

If you do a class here, you need to keep eyes on your kid at every single moment - because for all useful purposes THERE ARE NO FUNCTIONAL LIFEGUARDS at this YMCA, just people in in YMCA clothes daydreaming and chatting by the pool.

Nadya M.

We have a family membership here and love this place. I mostly use the upstairs e-gym (you need to sign up for this) and my partner does all the other gym stuff. We all use the pool, which is fantastic. My son uses the skatepark. My kids also do their camps.

Ilya A.

I’m leaving a 1-star review because of a terrible experience I had at this YMCA. Last Friday, both my workout shoes—my sneakers and flip-flops—were stolen from the changing room. I had only stepped away for five minutes to use the sauna, and when I returned, they were gone.

I immediately reported the issue to the staff, who said they’d look into it. Despite having cameras in the facility, no one was able to help me recover my belongings or provide any follow-up. It’s frustrating and disappointing to feel so unsafe in a community gym I trusted.

This lack of accountability and security has made me question whether this is a place I want to continue going to. It’s unacceptable for members’ personal belongings to be at risk like this without proper action taken.

Kathryn B.

Bought a membership for my little one (3 years old) SPECIFICALLY for the amenities of the splash pad, pool, and tumble gym that the attendant over the phone sold me on. As soon as I signed the paperwork, all of the workers became cold and didn’t even want to give us a tour/show us where things were. Quite literally rolling their eyes and ignoring us with AirPods in and backs turned. Tumble gym isn’t even at this location and can only be used if you sign your kid up for classes (only 5+ years and older). Splash pad has been broken for over an entire year? No excuse for this, period. And the pool is only open for use 2 hours out of the day unless you’re in group (statistically horrible way to learn) swimming lessons. In my opinion, a complete waste of money and false advertising. You’re better off joining the Yacht club for $125 a month, getting a membership at a local country/tennis club for the summer, or going to different places separately for different things. The La Jolla location isn’t bad, but this location in particular seems to simply just be a dirty and cheap gym for adults and low income daycare for kids. I was shocked to see how busy it was for what a nice area Encinitas/Leucadia claims to be. What a depressing change from the original vision for the YMCA of sharing family time through group amenities and active hobbies to do together.

Chris B.

Some nice equipment, but this gym should really be a 55 and over facility. They have far oversold memberships and the majority of the clientele are very rude , elderly folks. I’m all for staying in shape as you get older, but , the lack of etiquette in this gym is astonishing.
If you like to enjoy a clean , mellow gym, this is not the place for you

K

This gym used to be great but has really gone down hill in the last couple of years. The hours have been cut significantly, they closed a well used area of the gym and now rent it out to random fitness companies that cost money for members to use, they made the masters swimming cost money when it has always been free to members (and have lost a lot of people over this) and with all of this "cost cutting" somehow memberships have gone up quite a bit.
The only good thing I have to say is that the maintenance and cleaning staff are very nice and do a great job.
I hope the administration realize that this penny pinching model is ruining the San Diego YMCAs reputation and driving people to use other gyms.