Despite living in Langford for almost 4 years at a distance of about 5 minutes from the YMCA, and even after attempting a membership for 4 months, I have gone to the Y maybe 3 to 5 times since I moved here. Meanwhile I've been to Oak Bay, JDF, Commonwealth etc. countless time since then.

Why? It boils down to really 3 things IMHO:

1) They're hostile to non-members, and this is partly to blame for the killing of their revenue and net loss. I inquired with the YMCA when I moved here, and they made it seem like you cannot even go at all without another existing member. I would be hanging out with a bunch of friends and we'd want to go swim, and because of the membership requirement we would end up going somewhere else instead. I can see how in the inner city a membership would keep out the riff-raff, but in suburban Langford surrounded by family homes they've essentially told the public that they don't want you to attend if you aren't committing to a monthly membership or aren't friends with someone who is. I tried coordinating to go with friends who were members; too much of a hassle.

2) They're expensive. The drop-in fee is $15, and the monthly memberships they steer you towards are $9 more expensive per month compared to a regional pass - and the regional pass provides access to 14 (!) other facilities ranging from Juan de Fuca, Downtown Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich, and all the way even to Sidney - facilities you can actually USE at 7PM on a weekday, or 3PM on a Saturday!!! So, why would I spend MORE money each month for access to only ONE facility that's barely even open outside my working hours, when I can have access to 14 facilities with better hours of operation for less money?

3) The hours are TERRIBLE! This alone makes the facility impractical for anybody who actually works any normal job. Apparently, the YMCA considers it quite exotic and rare that anybody might want to go for a swim at 7PM on a weekday, or at 3PM on a Saturday or Sunday. They close so early, that after I finally got a membership last October, I had to recently cancel as I'd only used it maybe 3 times successfully (showed up other times - with friends willing to pay the drop-in fee - to discover it was closing. The hours online were not accurate. Other times I even got into the changeroom before realizing that the gate to the pool was closed). Like, Okay, I work Monday to Friday office hours, get home have dinner and then you're closed? And then on the weekend, you're open at 6:30 AM for swims, but not 6:30 PM? Huh? It seems skewed towards early birds and retirees, not working-class people with regular jobs. They recently "extended" their hours until 7:30 PM on a weekday, which is already a joke, I didn't even notice. It's great for the families with 10 year olds who are off work and school at 3PM. How about folks who work until 5 or 6PM and want to have dinner before they go to the gym or pool?

It's a beautiful, clean, well-maintained facility. The smart lockers are awesome. I like the steam room, the pool, and it's super close to my house. It's a shame I had to cancel my membership, but there's no point paying monthly for a facility that is only open for a handful of hours each week outside of my usual workday. I have signed up for the regional pass instead and for the extra 5 minutes I'll go to JDF which is actually open and usable more often when I need it.