The Maine Agenda › Family in Maine
Indoor Pools in Greater Portland: What a Swim Costs and Which Pool Is Open This Winter
Portland just spent twelve million dollars on a swimming pool, and it will not do you any good in February.
That is the single most useful fact about swimming here, and nobody puts it on a list. The Rising Eddy Community Pool opened in Libbytown this July, replacing the Kiwanis pool that had been there since 1961. It is genuinely a big deal. It also sells a 2026 summer season pass, and the only schedule the city has published for it is a summer 2026 schedule. When the water gets cold outside, the number of places within twenty five minutes of downtown where an adult can actually get in and swim laps drops to about four, and two of them cost real money.
We read each operator's own website and registration system on August 18, 2026. Below is what each one currently says, what it charges, and the closure dates that will bite you in the next three weeks.
Reiche Community Pool, Portland: the cheapest lane in the city
Reiche, at 166 Brackett Street in the West End, is the city pool that is open. Its published schedule runs September 8 through October 25, with a second block from October 27 through November 1. It is closed Sundays, and closed Monday, October 13 for Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Adult Lap Swim is listed 7:00am to 8:00am and 11:30am to 1:00pm Monday through Friday, plus 7:00am to 8:00am on Saturday. There is also a 12-and-up lap swim, water aerobics, a Masters workout, and an open swim block.
The drop-in fees, straight off the city's own schedule sheet:
| Program | Portland resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| Youth, 0 to 17 | $2.00 | $5.00 |
| Adult, 18 to 61 | $6.00 | $7.00 |
| Senior, 62 and over | $4.00 | $5.00 |
| Water aerobics, adult | $6.00 | $7.00 |
| Water aerobics, senior | $5.00 | $6.00 |
| Masters workout | $7.00 | $8.00 |
Two things that are easy to get wrong. First, in-person drop-ins are cash only. If you want to pay by card you have to buy online at portlandme.myrec.com before you show up. Second, that published schedule ends on November 1. As of this writing the city has not posted what happens after that, which means the entire winter is unannounced. The Aquatics Division line is 874-8456, and there is a separate weather cancellation hotline at 756-8130, which tells you something about how often a pool day gets called off here.
Riverton, the city's other indoor pool, is still out. The renovation needed another $1.5 million as of a May 2026 Portland Press Herald report, and by late July the city had removed the contractor over delays. We are not going to guess at a reopening date, and neither, so far, is anyone else.
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South Portland Community Center: the best pool, closed for two weeks
If you care about the actual swimming, this is the one. The South Portland pool is six lanes at 25 meters, with a one meter springboard, a ramp entry, a Hoyer lift, and a six person hot tub that is open during every public swim time. It runs about three and a half feet at the shallow end and bottoms out at twelve. The city says it puts roughly 50,000 patrons a year through it, and it hosts the South Portland High School Red Riots, the middle school teams, two in-house clubs, and outside groups including Coastal Maine Aquatics and Southern Maine Aquatic Club.
It is also about to shut. And this is where their own website disagrees with itself, so here are both numbers. The banner across the top of the registration site says the annual maintenance and cleaning shutdown runs August 24 through September 4. The facility calendar on the same site blocks the building from August 24 through September 6, then closes it again on September 7 for the holiday. That is a two day gap between the two published statements, and the calendar is the stricter of the two. If you are planning a swim over Labor Day weekend, plan on the pool being shut and call 767-7650 rather than trusting either number. Separately, the pool is blocked 8:00am to 1:00pm from August 18 through August 21 for construction work, and the whole center closes August 26 from 8:00am to 1:30pm for staff training.
Once the season flips, the center runs Monday through Friday 6:00am to 9:00pm, Saturday 8:00am to 5:00pm, and Sunday 10:00am to 6:00pm, from Labor Day to Memorial Day. In summer it drops to Monday through Thursday 6:00am to 9:00pm, Friday until 5:00pm, and closed both weekend days, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
Drop-in swims are first come, first served with no registration, and the drop-in schedule changes monthly. We are not printing a drop-in price for South Portland. The city's aquatics page did not return readable text to us on August 18, and we would rather tell you we could not verify a number than repeat one we found on an aggregator. Check the current sheet on their registration site before you go.
YMCA of Southern Maine: the year-round answer, at a real price
The Y is the only operator on this list that sells you a pool for twelve months without a season attached. Monthly rates, effective September 1, 2025 and still posted today: Household $101, Two Adults $95, Adult $70, Youth Facility $43, and a Youth Program tier at $17 that includes no facility access at all, which is a distinction worth reading twice before you buy.
Add-ons: a locker is $21 a month, towel service at the Portland branch is $19 a month, and a single towel is $3. The Y states plainly that it is not offering shower passes at this time. Members get three guest passes per membership per calendar year.
The detail that decides which branch you join: the large pool is in Portland. Freeport and Biddeford have small pools. If your goal is lane swimming, that is not a close call.
Two policies people find out about the hard way. Day passes are sold at all three branches, but no day passes are issued at any branch Monday through Friday between 4:00pm and 8:00pm, and the Casco Bay branch in Freeport sells none at all on weekends or during school vacations. The Y does not publish its day pass price online, so call ahead: Greater Portland is 874-1111, Casco Bay is 865-9600. And if you already belong to a Y anywhere in the United States, the YMCA of Southern Maine admits you at no charge with proof of membership. If you moved here from somewhere with a Y, do not buy anything until you check whether your old card still works.
The Woodlands Club, Falmouth: the only private club with winter water
Among the private clubs, indoor swimming is not a general amenity. It is one club. The Woodlands Club on Woods Road in Falmouth runs a 25 yard, three lane heated indoor pool with an attached kiddie pool, open year round, alongside a five lane, 25 yard outdoor pool heated above 80 degrees from Memorial Day weekend to mid September.
Three lanes is small, and we would rather say so than call it a facility. But it is the only year round private option in this radius, and if you are weighing a club membership partly on winter swimming, that narrows the field to one. The club does not publish its dues, which is normal for the category and which we get into on our guide to country club membership costs in Maine.
Falmouth Country Club, for the avoidance of doubt, is not an option here. Its pool complex is an outdoor summer amenity with a poolside grille and weekend music through July and August. It is a good summer pool. It is not a February pool, and no amount of it being nearby changes that.
What is not on this list, and why
Goldfish Swim School, serving the Scarborough area, runs a 90 degree teaching pool. It is a children's lesson facility. There is no adult lap swim, and the temperature that makes it right for a four year old makes it wrong for a workout.
Rising Eddy is off the winter list for the reason at the top: the city sells it as a summer season pass. For the record, since the prices are hard to find, the 2026 season passes ran $160 resident and $320 non-resident for a family, $80 and $160 for an adult aged 18 to 61, and $50 and $100 for both seniors 62 and over and youth aged 3 to 17. Lap swim is included, restricted to ages 18 and up outside designated times. Worth buying in May. Useless in January.
We also could not verify a public drop-in swim anywhere north of Portland other than the Casco Bay Y in Freeport. That is an absence in our research, not a claim that none exists. If your town runs one, tell us and we will read the source and add it.
If cold water is not the point and you just need somewhere to be indoors, our guide to indoor rainy day activities around Portland covers the rest of it, and ice skating in Greater Portland has the same treatment for the season's other water sport. For the outdoor season, see swimming pools in Portland.
FAQ
What is the cheapest indoor lap swim near Portland, Maine?
Reiche Community Pool in Portland's West End charges $6.00 per drop-in for adults aged 18 to 61 who live in Portland, and $7.00 for non-residents. Seniors 62 and over pay $4.00 resident and $5.00 non-resident. In-person drop-ins are cash only.
Is the Riverton pool open?
No. Riverton Community Pool remains closed for renovation. A May 2026 Portland Press Herald report put the additional cost to finish at $1.5 million, and in late July 2026 the city removed the contractor over delays. No reopening date has been published.
Is Portland's new Rising Eddy Community Pool open in winter?
The city sells Rising Eddy as a 2026 summer season pass and the only schedule it has published for the pool is a summer 2026 schedule. The facility opened in July 2026 in Libbytown, replacing the Kiwanis Community Pool that had operated on the site since 1961.
When is the South Portland Community Center pool closed in 2026?
The registration site's banner gives the annual shutdown as August 24 through September 4, while the same site's facility calendar blocks the building from August 24 through September 6 and closes it again on September 7 for the holiday. Those two published statements do not agree. Call 767-7650 before planning a swim in that window.
How much is a YMCA membership in Southern Maine?
Monthly rates posted as of August 2026, effective September 1, 2025: Household $101, Two Adults $95, Adult $70, Youth Facility $43, and Youth Program $17 with no facility access. A locker adds $21 a month and towel service at the Portland branch adds $19.
Can I use the YMCA here if I belong to a Y in another state?
Yes. The YMCA of Southern Maine states that members of any other YMCA are admitted at no charge with verification of membership, covering YMCAs throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
Which private club near Portland has an indoor pool?
The Woodlands Club in Falmouth is the only one in this radius with year round indoor swimming: a 25 yard, three lane heated indoor pool with an attached kiddie pool. Falmouth Country Club's pool complex is outdoor and seasonal.