1 / 3Kiwa Pools
📍 Awapuni, Gisborne
Best for a family swim in any weather. Kiwa Pools opened in 2023 with an indoor 50 metre pool, a warm leisure and toddler pool with splash pad, a learners' pool, and a summer outdoor complex with a 100 metre hydroslide, dive pool and toddlers' slide.
Great place! After all the negative reviews on social media I had low expectations but was pleasantly surprised! Lovely clean facility, great pool selection, top notch technology and friendly staff all add up to a great experience. There are a few teething pains as they move through the first year but I think this is a great facility for Gisborne.
🏆 Family Action Verdict
A proper modern aquatic centre for a town this size, and the answer to a wet Gisborne day with children of any age: toddlers get a warm shallow pool and splash pad, learners a pool that shelves gently, and in summer the hydroslide and dive pool keep older ones busy. Under-fives need a parent or an adult over sixteen in the water with them.
ℹ️ What to Know Before You Go
💬 What Families Are Saying
View all reviews →88 Google reviews
Simon Lawler
“Great place! After all the negative reviews on social media I had low expectations but was pleasantly surprised! Lovely clean facility, great pool selection, top notch technology and friendly staff all add up to a great experience. There are a few teething pains as they move through the first year but I think this is a great facility for Gisborne.”
Zee Zee
“Didn't get photos as I stayed off my phone to keep an eye on my kids. We have visited Kiwa pools in the past prior to its upgrade. The upgrade is so cool. Love how it has both big indoor and outdoor pools. The new indoor kids area is super cool and love how the hydropool goes from shallow to deep so it can be enjoyed by both adults and kids comfortably. I have been to other places where they have a hydropool and they have been shallow so you have to move around on your knees or crouching to stay in the water. First place I have been to where the doors don't respond to kids. Kids tend to run off so I love that they can't easily take off to where the deep pools are. Plenty of staff around. The only suggestion I have is because you are not allowed to eat indoors maybe look at having a shade sail put up outside where you can eat without getting wet. It was raining/stormy the day we came. There were bbq tables that had umbrellas but you couldn't put them up because of how stormy it was outside.”
Shekinah Hakaraia
“After all the bad reviews on pre-loved Gisborne, I had to check out the pools myself! So high points, •It's clean, huge, staff everywhere, facilities were clean, my kids had a blast in the kids area, and the pool water was actually at a nice temp, Baby pool, was at a great temp. •Pinic tables outside, if you've brought a packed lunch. •Easy to find a park, when it isn't busy (Weekdays). •Disabled parking available. •Children under 5, need to be supervised in the water by a parent or someone over 16years old. •Down points - For Spectators it is stuffy because of the humidity, so if you have breathing problems, either sit outside on the pinic tables, or don't stay too long.”
Reviews from Google
Overview
Kiwa Pools is Gisborne's council aquatic centre on Centennial Marine Drive at Awapuni, rebuilt and reopened in September 2023. Indoors there are three pools: a 50 metre pool with a moveable floor, a warm leisure and toddlers' pool with a splash pad, and a learn-to-swim and hydrotherapy pool that shelves from shallow to deep. From November to February the outdoor area opens with a 33 metre pool, a dive pool with a manu platform, a 100 metre hydroslide and a toddlers' pool with a small slide.
