When you pull into the Dunbar Leisure Pool parking lot and see the North Sea for the first time outside the structure, there’s something subtly unique about it. You haven’t even changed yet, and the setting has already done something to lift the mood. For a mid-sized leisure center on the Scottish coast, it feels larger than it should.
Dunbar Swimming Pool operated by Enjoy Leisure, East Lothian’s health and wellbeing charity sits just north of the town centre at Castle Park, a short walk from Dunbar Train Station and with free parking on site. From the outside, it looks functional. It offers much more inside. The leisure pool itself comes with a beached walk-in area designed for younger children, water characters to splash around, jets, and a wave machine that switches on multiple times an hour.
For serious swimmers a flume for those chasing a bit more speed a separate 25-metre, six-lane pool that hosts aqua-fit classes, club sessions, and quiet swimming times when all the noisier water features are switched off. It’s one of the few pools that actually seems to recognize that different people have different needs when it comes to water.
The upstairs café is what gives the space a more homey feel than a corporate one. It has views of the open North Sea and Dunbar Castle on one side and the pool on the other, which is almost too dramatic for a place to have a snack by the pool. One of Scotland’s lesser-known coastlines is directly visible to parents sipping coffee while their kids paddle below. Some families may come just as much for the view as for the swimming. It wouldn’t be irrational.
In addition to providing access to a steam room, sauna, and activity hall, the Bodyworks Gym offers a comprehensive selection of cardiovascular and resistance equipment in addition to a regular fitness class schedule. Almost every age group can find something worthwhile to do here on a rainy East Lothian afternoon because the sports hall has badminton courts and a soft play area for kids. Families who visit more than a few times a month should think about purchasing junior swim memberships, which are available for children ages five to sixteen.
The pool’s past adds a level of significance that most recreational facilities just cannot match. From the 1880s onward, Dunbar had one of the biggest outdoor lidos in Scotland, a tidal pool protected by coastal cliffs that would naturally replenish from the sea at high tide. Every summer, swimmers from Edinburgh and Glasgow flocked to Dunbar. In its peak years during the 1920s and 1930s, the population of Dunbar reportedly doubled during summer months.
Every year, thousands of people attended galas. Seasonal beauty contests and swimming clubs gave the pool a character all of its own. It was removed in 1984 after being disassembled in just one month. The current leisure pool opened in 1992 and has been quietly carrying that legacy forward ever since though the outdoor lido it replaced is still spoken about with something close to grief by those who remember it.
Good value, welcoming staff, a wave machine that is worth its keep, and a shallow-to-deep gradient in the recreational pool that makes it truly usable for everyone from toddlers to self-assured adults are some of the recurring themes in visitor reviews. There are sporadic comments about amenities that could be improved, such as shower cubicles, hair dryers, and a café with occasionally shortened hours, but nothing that significantly detracts from the experience. It frequently proves to be the unanticipated highlight of the trip for families vacationing in East Lothian.
It is difficult to ignore the fact that locations like these are getting harder to find. For less than £5 per adult, a dedicated family recreation pool with a flume, a wave machine, views of the sea, a gym, and a sauna all in one building doesn’t exist everywhere. Dunbar, it seems, has managed to hold onto it.
i) https://enjoyleisure.com/venues-and-facilities/sports-and-leisure-centres/dunbar-leisure-pool-and-gym/
ii) https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/attractions/dunbar-leisure-pool-c1d742b5
iii) https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g190923-d8819706-Reviews-Dunbar_Leisure_Pool-Dunbar_East_Lothian_Scotland.html
iv) https://visiteastlothian.org/business/dunbar-leisure-pool/