- A snug-fitting swimsuit
- Children under 4 must be double-diapered: a tight-fitting disposable swim diaper with a reusable swim diaper cover (such as Happy Nappy or iPlay)
- A towel and a warm layer for after the lesson
- Long hair tied back
- No goggles for Learn to Swim students
We’ll do our best to give your student their full lesson, but we can only guarantee the remaining scheduled time.
Lessons at our Riverside LA Fitness pool continue rain or shine. At our Norco pool, we only stop lessons if there’s lightning within 5 miles. Otherwise, we’re in the water teaching! If we have to stop lessons for weather or a pool closure, you’ll receive a makeup lesson.
Please keep your student home if they’re sick, so everyone in the pool stays healthy. Cancel in the iClassPro app at least 12 hours before the lesson to qualify for a makeup lesson.*
*Makeup lessons follow our makeup policy. See “How do makeup lessons work?” above.
All You Can Swim gives you free bonus lessons on top of your regular weekly lesson. It’s available:
- To new families during their first calendar month
- To all enrolled families from September through December
All You Can Swim lessons are booked the same day starting at 9am, first come, first served, through our office only. Active enrollment is required.
Yes. Makeups aren’t offered for drop-in lessons, mobile lessons, previously scheduled makeup lessons, All You Can Swim or free lessons, or holiday closures.
No. Once a makeup is scheduled, it can’t be rescheduled or canceled for another makeup.
- You can earn 1 makeup lesson per month. If Big Kahuna cancels a lesson, you can receive up to 3 makeups that month.
- All makeups expire 12 months after the missed lesson date.
- You must be actively enrolled to use a makeup.
- You schedule makeups yourself in the iClassPro app, up to 7 days in advance, based on availability.
- Makeups can’t be scheduled before the date of the lesson you canceled.
- Your makeup may be with a different instructor than your usual one.
- Makeups don’t have monetary value and can’t be applied toward tuition.
Let our office know at least one week before the 1st of the month via your iClassPro Client Portal (see video below), so you aren’t billed for the following month. Keep in mind that makeup lessons and All You Can Swim lessons are only available while you’re actively enrolled.
Click Here to see how to end enrollment.
Yes! Through the Childhood Drowning Prevention Foundation’s Swim Lesson Scholarship Program, we help families who couldn’t otherwise afford lessons. No child should miss out on lifesaving skills because of cost. Learn more and apply here: https://childhooddrowningpreventionfoundation.org/swim-lesson-scholarship-program/
We don’t currently offer sibling discounts.
All tuition, registration fees, and program payments are non-refundable.
- Tuition is billed automatically on the 1st of each month, and a valid credit or debit card must be kept on file.
- Tuition is a flat monthly rate based on a minimum of 3 lessons per month. In months with a 4th or 5th lesson, those extra lessons are free.
- We don’t prorate tuition, including in months with holiday closures.
- A $25 late fee may apply if tuition isn’t paid by the 1st.
|
Lesson |
Monthly Tuition |
|
Learn to Swim, 15-min Private |
$186 |
|
Stroke Technique, 15-min Private |
$213 |
|
Stroke Technique, 30-min Group |
$204 |
|
Mobile, 15-min |
$249 |
Longer private lessons are available in 15-minute blocks: $372 for 30 minutes, $558 for 45 minutes, and $744 for 60 minutes.
- Fourth of July
- Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday through Sunday)
- Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day
Yes to both! Water safety isn’t seasonal, and kids lose skills over long breaks. Our Norco pool is heated to 90º, and our Riverside pool to 86º, so lessons are comfortable all year.
Yes. When you enroll, you reserve a recurring weekly spot. Consistency with the same instructor helps your student build trust and progress faster. If your instructor is ever out, we’ll do our best to provide a substitute so your student doesn’t miss a lesson.
An instructor travels to your home or community pool. Availability and requirements depend on your location and the instructor serving your area. Contact our office to find out what’s available near you.
Enter through the LA Fitness lobby and show the front desk your Big Kahuna Client Card. They’ll direct you to the pool.
Our Norco pool is a private residential facility. To protect the privacy and safety of our students and the property, we share the address and arrival instructions with families once they’ve enrolled.
- Private Norco Pool: Monday through Saturday
- Riverside LA Fitness Pool (Mission Grove): Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
- Mobile lessons: our instructors come to your home or community pool
We work with Inland Regional Center and several local charter schools. Contact our office and we’ll help you figure out what options are available for your family.
Please do! The more we know about your student’s needs, triggers, motivators, and communication style, the better we can prepare. You can share this during registration or by contacting our office.
Our instructors adjust how much hands-on support each student gets as they grow in confidence and skill. They also adapt communication, pacing, routines, and sensory considerations to fit your student.
Yes, and it’s one of the things we’re most proud of. About 30% of our students have special needs, including many autistic learners. Our one-on-one private lesson model lets instructors give every child the patience, structure, and individual attention they need to succeed.
Yes! It’s never too late to learn. We offer swim lessons for adults of all comfort levels.
Every swimmer’s journey is different. What matters most is consistent progress and hitting milestones, big or small. Every new skill is a step toward independence and safety in the water, and consistent weekly lessons are the best way to keep that progress going.
Most accidental drownings happen when a child falls into water unexpectedly, fully dressed. At the end of our Learn To Swim Program, our Safety Test checks whether your student can survive that situation in real-world clothing, which is much heavier and harder to swim in than a swimsuit. It’s one of the most important skills we teach.
Each grade has specific skills your student needs to master. Once they show those skills consistently, their instructor advances them to the next grade. You can view your student’s progress anytime in their profile in the iClassPro app.
Fifteen focused, one-on-one minutes in the water is a lot of learning, especially for young swimmers. Short lessons keep kids engaged, prevent fatigue and chill, and build skills through frequent repetition. If your student would benefit from more time, private lessons can be booked in longer 15-minute blocks.
All Learn to Swim lessons are private, one-on-one lessons, so every new swimmer gets their instructor’s full attention. Stroke Technique offers both private and group lessons. Groups are a great fit for swimmers who thrive on learning alongside other kids.
Learn to Swim (LTS) teaches the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills and moves through 7 grades, from Intro through Grade 6. It’s where swimmers learn to be safe and independent in the water. Stroke Technique (STR) is for swimmers who have their safety skills and are ready to refine their strokes, endurance, and efficiency. It runs through 6 grades.
Your student’s instructor evaluates their Learn To Swim skills during their first two lessons. After that, instructors keep evaluating and move your student up as they progress.
Yes! Every student gets one free trial lesson. It’s a great way to see if we are a good fit for you!
Yes. There is an Annual Registration Fee of $60 per family. It’s charged when you sign up, and then in January of each year for as long as you’re doing lessons with us.
You can register through our online portal at portal.iclasspro.com/bigkahunaswimacademy. You can also call or text our office at (909) 273-9680, and our team will walk you through it.
Absolutely. Many of our swimmers start out nervous or have never put their face in the water. Our instructors meet every child where they are, build trust first, and move at your student’s pace. Fear is never a reason to wait. It’s often the best reason to start.
All ages, from infants to adults! Infants can start once their umbilical cord has fully healed.
We suggest that parents start their kids out with 2 or more lessons per week. The reason for this being that the more often your kids are practicing the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills in the water, the faster they will learn and become water safe.
If you can’t swing doing 2 or more lessons per week, your child will still learn to swim doing 1 day a week, it’ll just take them longer to learn.
We do not teach doggy paddling at Big Kahuna Swim Academy.
The way we usually explain it to parents is that if you were to fall into the ocean miles off shore and tried to doggy paddle your way back, you wouldn’t make it – you would drown before you got back to shore.
This is why we teach our students how to roll over and float on their back (swim-float-swim). This provides the swimmer with an opportunity to rest and recover before they continue to swim – gaining their energy back and being able to get some nice good breaths.
Water safety and drowning prevention is our #1 focus at Big Kahuna Swim Academy.
In order for our students to become water safe, we teach them the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills:
1) Getting in the Pool
2) Eyes In/Submersion
3) Gliding
4) Back Float
5) Rolling Over
6) Kicking
7) U-Turns
8) Getting out of the Pool
We accept students as young as 4-6 months old.
Once a baby’s umbilical cord has healed, they can start learning basic skills such as holding their breath and submersion (eyes in). They can even start getting comfortable with being on their back at this early age as well.
Once they hit 4-6 months old, their development in the water will really start to take off since they will then be able to physically hold a back float on their own and start learning to roll over.
