Local Fun: Free Swims in Surrey, BC

image via Surrey website

Ever since our family started and we decided to be on one income, we've had to be a bit more creative with 'field trips' and fun things to do that are good for the budget. I find it to be a bit of a game to master, the highest score going to FREE. Back in Lincoln there was a quarterly newspaper that held all the fun and local family-friendly events within about a 2 hour radius.
We don't have a paper like that out here, that I've found anyway (send those resources my way if you know about them!), but I have found the rec centers to be AMAZING out here. There are seemingly endless amounts of programs you can put your young students in, even better for homeschoolers is that very often you can get funding for them! Those don't include the entire family, though, just the kids. We've found that although it's not necessarily advertised on the website, each weekend there is a FREE 2-hour family swim time at one of four Surrey rec centers that have pools. One, an especially kid-friendly one has a wave pool and spray-jungle gym. All of them have hot tubs, too! If you're local, let me know if you want to meet up!

Here is the schedule:

Swimming Pool	Free Time & Day	Free Swim Date
North Surrey Indoor Pool	Saturday 2pm-5pm	Last Saturday of each month
Newton Wave Pool	Sunday 6pm-8pm	Second Sunday of each month
Surrey Sport & Leisure Pool	Sunday 3pm-5pm	Third Sunday of each month
South Surrey Indoor Pool	Saturday 1pm-4pm	First Saturday of each month

Taken via this website.

There are TONS of free things to do in your own neighborhood (unless you pretty much live off the grid), you just have to find them. This has been a great winter activity for all of us to do. About half the time I go with the family, the other times Stefan takes the kids on his own. Honestly, we normally just stay for about an hour, and bring change if you need a locker. It's a great way to get some exercise, do something out of our ordinary routine, and do it all for free. We save $30-$40/month with this activity.

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