Water-confident by summer.
Groups of four in a 90-degree pool, with the same instructor every week. Babies from six months, kids all the way through the four strokes, and adults who never quite learned.
Six rungs, one ladder.
Every swimmer starts where they are and moves up when they're ready, not when a season ends. Each level has one skill you leave with, so you always know what you're paying for and what comes next.
- 1 Starfish 6 to 18 months You leave with: a baby who is happy on their back in the water, safe entries from the edge, and breath control for a gentle, cued dunk when they show us they're ready. A parent is in the water for every lesson.
- 2 Otter 18 months to 3 years You leave with: bubbles on cue, a real kick on a kickboard, a back float with one hand under the head, and climbing out of the pool without help. Parents in the water for the first month, then on the bench.
- 3 Seal 3 to 5 years You leave with: an independent front float and back float, a five-yard swim to the wall, a roll from front to back to breathe, and the monkey-walk along the edge back to the steps.
- 4 Dolphin 5 to 8 years You leave with: freestyle with side breathing for fifteen yards, backstroke the same distance, thirty seconds treading water, and a jump from the edge with a swim back to the wall.
- 5 Marlin 8 to 12 years You leave with: all four strokes, fifty yards without stopping, a dive from the edge, two minutes treading, and a swimmer ready for a club team or a summer lake.
- 6 Adult 16 and up You leave with: whatever you came for. First-time floaters, lap swimmers fixing a stroke, triathletes who dread open water. Groups of four on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or private.
Same day, same time, same instructor.
Enrollment is monthly and rolls until you tell us to stop. No seasons, no registration scramble, no eight-week wait to get back in.
-
Book a free trial
Thirty minutes in the water with an instructor. We watch how your child moves, then recommend a level and a time. There's no pressure to enroll on the spot.
-
Enroll by the month
Your slot is yours every week, with the same instructor, until you change it. Tuition bills on the 1st. Pause or switch times with two weeks' notice.
-
Missed a week? It rolls over
Every enrolled swimmer earns one make-up lesson a month, and you can bank up to three. Book them at the front desk or by text, into any open slot at your level.
-
Move up when they're ready
Instructors assess every four weeks and send a short note home. When a swimmer clears a level, we find them a spot in the next one, usually in the same slot.
What it costs, in one table.
All lessons are thirty minutes except adult groups, which run forty-five. Months with five lessons cost the same as months with four; it evens out over the year.
| Lesson | Monthly |
|---|---|
Group, once a week Four swimmers, one instructor. The standard way up the ladder. |
$118per month |
Group, twice a week Two different days. The fastest way up, and the best value per lesson. |
$212per month |
Semi-private Two swimmers you choose, siblings or friends, with one instructor. |
$172per swimmer, per month |
Private One on one. Nervous starters, stroke fixes, and swimmers with sensory needs. |
$260per month, or $72 a lesson |
Adult group Groups of four, forty-five minutes, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. |
$128per month |
Registration, once a year
Per family, not per swimmer. Covers the trial assessment, a Buoy swim cap, and your spot in the make-up system. It doesn't go up mid-year.
Every sibling after the first
Applied automatically to the second, third, and fourth swimmer on the same account. Yes, we've had a fourth.
Tuition is charged on the 1st of the month to the card on file. Cancel or pause with two weeks' notice and you'll never be billed for a month you didn't want.
Ninety degrees, all year.
A purpose-built teaching pool: four feet at the deep end, three at the shallow, a wide ledge along the whole length for little hands, and windows on two sides so it's bright even in February.
-
90° water
Warm enough that a toddler can spend thirty minutes in without going blue at the lips. Warm enough that you'll want to get in too.
-
Saltwater
A salt system keeps the water gentle on eyes and skin, with much less of the smell you remember from school pools.
-
The viewing area
Benches and a glass wall along the full length of the pool. Watch every lesson with a coffee, without being on deck.
-
Changing rooms
Family rooms with swim-diaper bins, hooks at kid height, warm showers, and hair dryers that actually work.
Safe is the whole point.
We never force a child under. Not for a photo, not for a milestone, not because the lesson is ending. A swimmer goes under when they signal they're ready, and not one second before.
-
Certified, every one
Every instructor holds current lifeguard, CPR, AED, and first-aid certifications, plus forty hours of Buoy's own teaching course before their first class alone.
-
A lifeguard who isn't teaching
Whenever the pool is open, a certified lifeguard is on deck whose only job is watching the water. Instructors teach; the guard guards.
-
Four to one, always
Group lessons cap at four swimmers per instructor, no exceptions for a busy Saturday. Starfish and Otter have a parent in the water with every child.
-
Clear water, clear rules
Water is tested every two hours and logged where you can see it. No running, no diving below Marlin, and no phones on deck for staff, ever.
People who like the shallow end.
Nine instructors on staff, all certified, all here for more than a summer. Three of them, so you know the kind of person who'll be in the water with your kid.
-
Marisol Tan
Head instructor and founderTaught her first lesson at sixteen in her aunt's backyard pool and never really got out. Opened Buoy in 2018 after eleven years coaching a club team. Still teaches Starfish on Saturday mornings because it's her favorite hour of the week.
LifeguardCPR / AEDFirst aidInfant and toddler aquaticsStroke coach, level 2 -
Dev Okafor
Senior instructorFormer college distance swimmer who discovered he liked eight-year-olds more than 5am practice. Runs Dolphin and Marlin on weekdays and the adult groups on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Patient to a fault.
LifeguardCPR / AEDFirst aidAdult learn-to-swim -
Hannah Lindqvist
InstructorPreschool teacher for six years before she moved to the water. Our Seal specialist: if your four-year-old is going to cry at the first lesson, Hannah is who you want in the pool with them.
LifeguardCPR / AEDFirst aidEarly childhood education
Weekday afternoons, Saturday mornings.
The current session at a glance. Slots fill and open every month as swimmers move up, so call for what's available at your level this month.
Closed Sundays and the first week of July.
| Level | Monday to Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Starfish | 3:30 pmparent in the water | 8:00 and 8:30 am |
| Otter | 3:30 and 4:00 pm | 8:30 and 9:00 am |
| Seal | 4:00, 4:30 and 5:00 pm | 9:00, 9:30 and 10:00 am |
| Dolphin | 5:00 and 5:30 pm | 10:00, 10:30 and 11:00 am |
| Marlin | 5:30 and 6:00 pm | 11:00 and 11:30 am |
| Adult | 6:30 pmTuesday and Thursday | 12:00 pm |
Come see the pool.
14 Pier Road
Lakeside
Open in Maps
The blue building behind the library, the one with the round window.
Free lot with thirty spaces and a stroller ramp at the side door. Come ten minutes early: changing a toddler takes longer than you think.
Front desk hours below. The pool itself opens fifteen minutes before the first lesson.
(555) 555-0147
hello@buoy.example
- Monday to Friday2:30 to 7:00 pm
- Saturday7:30 am to 1:00 pm
- SundayClosed