CARSA (Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities)

Expérience fantastique: Great facility, would recommend to others. Lots of space and quite good in general. Staff are friendly.

Expérience négative: Pros: * exceptionally convenient if you're a student or live near the facility. * if you're a UVic alumni, the membership pricing is super affordable (but you'll need to pay for a full year). * lots of floor space. Cons: * the design of the gym and the layout of equipment is poor. The gym also "feels" busy even when it's not because of this poor layout, where narrow passages are filled with smith machines and racks, while other common training machines are limited to one-ofs, if present at all. * the equipment is old and many machines are broken, taped off and/or discarded to the side. * half of the gym is nearly perpetually closed and accessible only by UVic Varsity members. * several dumbbells are simply missing from racks, nowhere to be found. * sanitizing equipment is disgusting (do they ever clean the sanitizing cloths?). * membership does not include common extras like towels, lockers, or access to fitness classes. Summary: this gym is good for students or local alumni. Otherwise, there are waaaay better options in town that are worth paying the additional cost.

Expérience positive: Super overpriced for what is offered here. It's built into student fees so it's mostly for the kids. Squash court drop in is $25 per person which is ridiculous. Nice facility though, looks underused and most things are available always.

Expérience négative: I don’t understand why the just can’t coordinate things within the organization. I came one week and asked about the drop-in dance class and they said it would be possible to attend next week. Then, I called the day I wanted to come and they confirmed I could drop-in. Okey, I am driving 50 min to the class just to find out that they can’t register me and the person on the phone was probably incorrect. Like what is going on??? So so frustrating

Expérience fantastique: Can get busy but it has good variety of equipment.

Expérience fantastique: I like the climbing wall and the junior competitive team lessons

Expérience négative: Totally bad Service I m student in uvic and i joined gym here i have stuff in my locker room no. 205(3 boxes of pre workout and 2 of cretain) and now its missed from my locker no. 205. There is plastic lock on it. I asked to equipment desk and that girl don’t even check it and saying we don’t have your stuff ask it on front desk And front desk guy zack says that you have to come tomorrow morning as they put stuff in cabinet and he don’t have key with him His manager has key to that particular area. Whats the use of that secure cabinet if you guys don’t have access to that ? I have stuff there worth more than 200 dollars And they broke our lock as well Like whose gone pay for that ? You guys have to tell us or notify us that we have to renew the locker plan There is no email in my mail box notifying that we have to purchase it again And front desk zack says we sent email to you If you guys send email to me just send me the screenshot But there is nothing like that Because you guys never sent it to me So that m not aware about any renewal plan or something like that You guys have to tell us all about it. I need my stuff back And i want my lock as well which you guys cut it out And take my stuff without my permission And don’t even notify me that you guys cleaning our stuff from out locker

Expérience négative: Really bad experience, and doesn’t make people feel safe. I was almost got choking by random strangers in the basketball court. This stranger was verbal abuse to me first and then grab my neck almost to the death, and the stuff only did some paper records never got a replied back.

Expérience fantastique: Wow! Great staff at the climbing wall. Give them all raises

Expérience positive: All the equipment needs to be replaced or refurbished. Way too overpriced, 4 months here is more than 1 year at Oak Bay Rec.

Expérience positive: Ok phacility washrooms, gym basketball courts.

Expérience positive: I pay my taxes and I pay my tuition, I go to play some basketball at carsa and the court is booked for a child's birthday party. Half the gym closes for half of the day for the vikes teams to lift weights. Good gym when not busy.

Expérience fantastique: Best kids birthday ever

Expérience négative: Really nice Rogue racks but all the other equipment is really old and in bad condition. Basically a powerlifting gym. Also missing a lot of machines (no Smith or T bar row, only one leg extension and hamstring curl)

Expérience fantastique: Very good gym, lots of equipment and solid atmosphere

Expérience fantastique: Just love it

Expérience négative: Accidentally left my clothes in a locker before the did their locker clean outs. Nobody at the front desk knew what to do even though I had already emailed CARSA beforehand. It was a race between campus security and carsa, in tracking down where my gym clothes where. It wasn’t until a kind staff member in the equipment section explained that there was a different between lost locker items and the general lost and found items. Nobody else at carsa and campus security had bothered to explain this to me, and kept saying that “they didn’t have possession of it”. Funny because their email reply said either campus security or CARSA’s equipment section would have my clothes.

Expérience négative: UVIC's new "Community Intramural Access Fee" that you have to pay in order ( to havr the privilege) to pay is a ridiculous cash grab!!!!!!

Expérience positive: I personally thought the bathrooms were not well situated and down long halls but the staff were kind

Expérience fantastique: Beautiful gym. Staff friendly and helpful

Expérience négative: Convenient location

Expérience positive: It has been broken since July 5th. I am losing hope. I miss it dearly.

Expérience négative: The leg extension machine has been broken for more than month and a half. Still not been fixed.

Expérience positive: Great. Perfect spot for me to go during my time at school. Missing abundance in some key machines though, should be more leg extensions and presses. 4/5 dumbbells would gym again

Expérience fantastique: I wish they could keep it open 24/7.

Expérience négative: Honestly wouldn't recommend it. Weights were all over the place, no one bothered to put them where they would belong. Even in racks of weights that's seemed like they should be full they might only have one set of any weight. Also their machines aren't made for people who are new to fitness as they don't offer many low weights to use on machines and the weights that are there have huge intervals (10 pounds to 30 pounds to 50 pounds) so it's hard to exercise safely. The treadmills also all sounded like they were about to fall apart, the one I used had buttons that didn't work as well. Oh and it was also pretty dirty, no thanks. One positive thing is it wasn't too busy.

Expérience fantastique: Great facility. Summer isn't busy

Expérience positive: Pretty great gym for a student, but not for anyone outside of it, too expensive. Great facilities and nice community

Expérience fantastique: squash courts best in town

Expérience fantastique: Due to the COVID restrictions, you have to be swift to secure reservation. I believe I made a great choice signing up at CARSA since I've not really been into fitness for a years now. The group fitness are a great way to find your jam and build endurance towards your fitness goals

Expérience négative: This gym is GARBAGE in comparison to other big box gyms. I've regularly attended Goodlife Fitness/LA Fitness in Alberta and CARSA doesn't compare to those two for the fitness weight center. Machines are limited and layout is terrible. Even though this gym is built recently, the machines they do have are old, clunky and don't go up in proper weight increments (chest fly goes up in 12 lb increments with no way of adding anything lower). I've never heard of paying extra fitness classes let alone day use lockers, but CARSA tries to squeeze every penny from you. You need reservations to book a time slot, and if you're not frantically refreshing the website at the exact time they open, you will not be able to get a spot. You'd think that with the limited number of spots available per time slot would mean that there would be tons of space and equipment availability, but nope! Free weight areas are packed, cable machines are always occupied and you'll be struggling to complete your workout without having to walk back and forth to see what's open. I'm finding that I'm constantly changing what I'm working out just because the equipment I want isn't available. This isn't the state of the art facility that it claims. It's a joke. Once my 4 month membership is done, I'm out.

Expérience fantastique: Field house for pickup games. Loads of fun. The downside is that all the indoor soccer are playing on the same court, those players would wear outdoor shoes, which brings quite a bit of dust to the wood floor. There are four rubber fields, they should be utilizing those one first cuz basketballs are not as bounce on rubber floor.

Expérience fantastique: Excellent facilities and staff are super friendly!

Expérience positive: Good gym with lots of equipment but it's very busy especially in the afternoon. The climbing gym is small, nothing too special and lots of beginner routs.

Expérience négative: $75 a month for students… no discount for students? Same price for faculty and students? Is this place for real? Maybe bring in a discount and encourage students to work out!

Expérience fantastique: Great facility with great classes of all sorts.

Expérience fantastique: Best organised place to workout during Covid !

Expérience négative: Well organized for restrictions but slow to react to restrictions being lifted. Masks are still required while exercising which is not ideal and not in line with other gyms in Victoria. Would recommend this gym only if you have not yet been vaccinated.

Expérience négative: Their rules are very strict, and you can't feel yourself relaxing and exercising. I think going to the gym is a very relaxing thing. But their rules are too cumbersome. When you don’t go, they will send you an email to warn you. When your card is not available, they will not give you any help, just kick the problem to one card office. Even if the mistakes are caused by their own work, they will not say sorry.

Expérience positive: Lots of parking. Good times.

Expérience négative: 75 dollars a month is ridiculous. I have no idea why uvic thinks it’s okay to ask for double pay with absolutely nothing new to offer. All I can think is they probably enjoy taking as much money as they can from broke students.

Expérience fantastique: Certain staff members can be a little rude at the front desk, but free ping pong at any time makes this a go to for a fun activity with friends

Expérience fantastique: The workout area is very large and even when there are tons of people there is always some sort of machine open

Expérience fantastique: Love coming here to get a good workout and play some pickup basketball!

Expérience fantastique: Best gym in Victoria

Expérience fantastique: Pros: Great gym with state of the art equipment. Cons: Because it's such a great facility it is veeery busy.

Expérience fantastique: Great gym.

Expérience fantastique: Rlly cool gym floors and rlly good nets

Expérience fantastique: Amazing facility

Expérience positive: Always a little too crowded. Nice building nonetheless.

Expérience positive: They really have air conditioner problem

Expérience négative: The layout of the gym is terrible. It’s almost like the designed the whole building and forgot about the gym and we’re like “what leftover space is available for the gym, oh I know, a giant hallway”. Ian Stewart was way way better.

Expérience négative: The staff in the weight area are excessively egotistic and unhelpful who care more about looking good and being obnoxious than actually helping. The layout is awful, and the varsity athletes dominate the only good area of the gym. The only reason I attend is due to the convenience of location but if I had more income I would go elsewhere.

Expérience positive: Too many buffed guys here

Expérience fantastique: Very good. Go there almost everyday and have no complaints. Equipments are well maintained and staffs are willing to help.

Expérience fantastique: Just signed up for my gym membership! The lady at the desk (mhar I think? She had brown hair) was beyond helpful. She made me feel welcomed and comfortable. Keep on the great work!!!!

Expérience fantastique: Great place where anyone can do anything

Expérience fantastique: Excellent

Expérience fantastique: Amazing gym!

Expérience fantastique: Went to watch a basketball game. Great game , both teams played excellent.

Expérience fantastique: Great popcorn. Boo on the hotdogs...Go Vikes!

Expérience positive: Really nice facilities. Group fitness classes are in nice rooms.

Expérience négative: Nice modern look and amenities, but for the money spent they really should have come out with a more spacious gym. The constricted layout is puzzling and with a growing student body could become unusable is a few years.

Expérience positive: Well run gym, and they are continuously improving their weight room to meet the needs of users. Only issue is how the building was built, it is shaped weird and long resulting in a lot of wasted space that makes the gym feel busier than it is.

Expérience positive: Not quite big enough for the number of students at peak times. Decent equipment and staff. REALLY needs AC or open windows in the summer. Need more lockers available. Also, students already pay athletic fees, then the membership doesn't even cover rock climbing or classes.

Expérience négative: There are better gyms in town. Not sure why we have to pay for a day use locker when we're already broke students. Weightlifting area is NOT approachable. Upstairs gym is grimy. Usually not enough weights to go around. The class I took there was great but other than that it's not worth it.

Expérience négative: They know they have guarnteed customers and it shows through the maintance of equipment, pursuit of satisfaction of guests, and friendliness. They take any opportunity to find extra charges for already broke students, including lockers and forgotten gym passes. No other gym that I have ever gone to has charged for these things. Get it together Carsa and start treating your students with respect.

Expérience négative: Poorly designed gym. My soccer ball got kicked on the roof and they told me to eat it

Expérience positive: Can be really busy.

Expérience négative: Has a lot of stuff not worth the price and monthly passes aren't available if you want to join after the term starts. Disappointing in my opinion

Expérience positive: The gym has nearly everything you could possibly need. Such as platforms, bumper plates, a wide array of machines, every kind of cardio equipment, and cables. The gym appears to be quite large, but a portion of this is cordoned off for the varsity team during some of the busier hours. In addition, it's is more challenging to do a cross training workout at this gym becuase more of the cardio equipment is located upstairs while all the strength equipment is located downstairs. The building itself is wheelchair accessible and has elevators within it as well as 1 piece of cardio equipment upstairs and in the spin class. The people that work at the strength desk are very knowledge and are able to help you with any issues you might be having with your form or exercise.

Expérience fantastique: Very good. Go there almost everyday and have no complaints. Equipments are well maintained and staffs are willing to help.

Expérience positive: Overpriced for students. They close half the gym at the busiest times for athletes.

Expérience positive: best burgers at uvic

Expérience fantastique: Great place to work out

Expérience fantastique: Very nice gym and friendly staff. Yes it gets busy during peak times, go at non peak hours and its not bad at all. The maintenance of the equipment appears to have improved from last year. Which was my chief complaint initially.

Expérience fantastique: GREAT PLACE , WONDERFUL FACILITY

Expérience fantastique: Great facilities, friendly staff. As a UVic student, I've always enjoyed working out here and participated in various fitness group classes.

Expérience positive: Clean, long hours, lots of machines and cardio equipment. You might find yourself waiting for equipment during peak hours. Limited benches and freeweights.

Expérience positive: Great facility, a wonderful addition for Uvic. Hall of fame is a nice touch. Convenient location and parking.

Expérience négative: Does a staff have the right to get you expelled from school? Because a staff told me he can. Rude.

Expérience positive: Good pricing and value for students (although quite expensive for non-students), especially if you are one who stays in Victoria over the summer months. I think the highlight of the gym is that there are a large number of squatting racks, making sure you are never waiting too long to get your most important lifts in! I'd say the main drawback is that when the varsity section is closed the free weights area can feel quite cramped.

Expérience négative: First of all, it’s nice to have a gym that’s easily accessible, but the weekend hours are horrible. If you don’t go to UVic you also have to pay for parking, which is $3/hour. They also don’t have enough machines for the capacity of people in there. At peak times you can hardly do a smooth workout. When equipment breaks usually it takes weeks to replace it. I’d kind of expect better service for the fees we pay. The layout of the gym is something else. Really, did they lose the blueprints or something? Most people like to do HIIT or just want to work out on mats, but there’s no space. And if there is, it’ promotes staring at other people’s butts. Speaking of butts: I see way too many dudes hitting on women and using the gym as a means to check out girls, and while I realize the gym is somewhat about that, it still seems inappropriate.

Expérience positive: Current student at UVIC, gym is easily accessible to students because its close, horrible part is when the varsity team is training, you can say bye bye to 90% of the gym cus you wont be able to train

Expérience négative: Nice facility. Some staff are very nice. although one thing that happened really makes me upset and disappointed. I borrowed a basketball from the equipment desk. I returned to the equipment desk when I left, someone with me saw me returning it. I got an email the next day saying I didn't return the ball and charged me $48 for the missing equipment. I wrote an appeal letter, got no reply. the worst part is when I talk to one of the gym supervisors, she would not even consider the possibility of the gym staff making a mistake. I had trust and confidence in the gym but they had disappointed me repeatedly.

Expérience négative: Always crowded. Coaching is not included in fees. But it's good equipped after all.

Expérience positive: Only opened till 9pm on weekends? And when varsity teams use the gym, the already small space to workout gets cut in half.

Expérience négative: The layout of the gym (weights/cardio) is terrible. A narrow space, not ideal to cater to a student population like Uvic and the surrounding community. It's unfortunate because the former gym at the ISC was a great warehouse type set up with ample floor space and a high ceiling. During peak times at ISC it felt busy, but never the crammed into a small room feeling that you get at CARSA. Oh, and I hope you didn't like the Hammer-strength old school machines at ISC, as they've been replaced with jerky pin weight stack machines that literally count your reps, what a waste of money. Not only is membership relatively expensive, but if you don't have a parking pass you'll have to pay for parking each time too. 1 hour is $2. Parking alone at CARSA costs per month what a competing gym's membership costs me. And unless you want to pay $4 to park per workout, you better make your workout quick and get back to your car within 1 hour or get a parking ticket.

Expérience négative: There isn't room for stretching, let alone body weight exercises! It has a climbing wall that is reset WAY to infrequently. Half the gym gets shut down when varsity is training. No pool either (not that bad). In my opinion the only reason I'd go there is because it is convenient to the school. If you do not go to school at UVIC DO NOT BUY A PASS.

Expérience fantastique: Everything an athlete could ask for! Relatively expensive, though.

Expérience fantastique: Best

Expérience fantastique: Graet Facility and everything looks new with high quality

Expérience fantastique: One of the very well equipped gyms that I have visited so far. There are even facilities other than gym that you can find here.

Expérience fantastique: Great gym, the rock wall is fun :)

Expérience négative: Went to try climbing wall with my 12 year old son, very expensive and they couldn't find anyone to teach me how hold the ropes for him (required) and so we couldn't do it. They seemed disinterested. Disappointing. As an alumni and community resident, I want to feel more welcome and appreciated at this place. As I read the reviews it sounds like my experience is too typical. I hope they turn this around, take guidance from the feedback, and improve this new facility. We had high hopes.

Expérience positive: Cheaper than other rec centers in the area for students. But only really worth it in the summer semester when the student population is way down. Otherwise way too busy, bad layout, and you spend more time waiting for equipment than actually getting a workout in. This is just the weight room. The rest of the facility is pretty great.

Expérience négative: This facility is a total rip off. They charge for every little thing, for somethings more than once; to access climbing wall or machines and weights you have to pay more in addition to regular membership. Have to pay if you want to reserve space in advance (in addition to all other fees). Students are forced to pay through tuition - no way to opt out. What a money grab. This facility is not good for poor students who pay for it anyway but to use it have to pay again, even though it's located in the middle of the University - go figure. I once asked the staff, "what do the fees that I pay yearly cover" and the answer was "to access the facilities", but since you have to pay additional fees for everything except the one big shared gym with three multi-purpose courts and the shower/washrooms, I look at it as "I pay to walk through the door, everything else is extra" (extra includes towels and lockers too).

Expérience négative: The place is very busy, and you can't reserve more than one hour at a time and no further than one day ahead unless you pay $$ (on top of reg. membership). The university charges Athletics fees part of which is access to this building and no way to opt out. If you want to use weights or the climbing wall, you have to pay additional membership fees or a day pass (on top of reg. membership). This place is a huge money grab, if you want a regular workout schedule, might as well pay a membership fee at a regular rec. center - it will be cheaper overall and much more convenient, even if you're a student at the university and are forced to pay CARSA anyway. Both my girlfriend and I are students and go elsewhere to workout. If only we could save some money by not paying for services that we don't use. I give UVic one less star for this as well - what a rip off!

Expérience négative: It's nice to look at but it's horribly unaffordable and their classes aren't flexible. Not great for the majority of students :(

Expérience négative: This gym is garbage. The staff are always on Facebook and never helpful. I tell them the spin bikes have been broken for years and they haven't done a single thing about it. I shouldn't have to tell the manager myself things are broken. Telling the staff should be good enough. Notice how there are no reviews below a 2? That's because they deleted my previous review. They delete reviews below 3 to make their gym seem good. It's terrible. It stinks. They never clean the showers thoroughly. They charge $3.50 if you forget your card. Most of the equipment is leftovers from Ian Stewart, but they charge the same as a commercial gym. Also the dress code is ridiculous. $15 drop in that's laughable. What about students?