Coogee Diggers Club and Gym

Positive experience: The staff is never at reception desk so its very hard to get in

Negative experience: $25 to use a old and decrepit pool, haha what a joke, ripping off customers who only want to swim, they say you can use the gym for that one off entry fee of $25. Is someone meant to spend hours there doing pool work and gym work just to get their money worth. Yet another business who has had a revamp and passing the cost of that onto the loyal local community. Shame on you Coogee Diggers

Fantastic experience: Dropped in for a one off visit, still shown around and made to feel very welcome. Great facility

Negative experience: they did already respond to my first question, but the lack of certain equipment is pretty high, no smith machine, chest supported t bar row, no hack squats, and the seated row machine is so bad i can’t explain it please replace that with a chest supported t bar row! the sitting hamstring curls are horrible i spent 20 minutes trying to get the right contraction and seat placement but seems no one can get that to work to well, this is a good gym and ive been going for around a year now i love the pool, sauna and boxing room but there’s certain things many people would like to see

Positive experience: The sauna is great. But it requires renovation. Metal screws are not acceptable in sauna !

Fantastic experience: Very responsive to their employees (even former ones) concern.

Negative experience: Disgraceful conduct. Purchased something and then was flat out told that my purchase would not be honoured. Went into the gym for a workout with prepaid visits in my account. Guy at the desk tells me they stopped offering that service but would make sure to honour my previous purchase of 4 remaining visits. Couple days later I come back in and a different guy tells me my purchase has expired and that he can't honour it. He says there's no record of what happened a few days ago but I can see on his monitor that it shows my visit 3 days ago. He simply states that he's the GM and keeps repeating the same thing to me 5 times in hopes I give up on finding out what happened. Someone behind me in queue shows up and ends up having the same problem as me so the gm shuffles me along with one complimentary workout and tells me that next time I have to pay. Poor bloke behind me probably didnt even get that much.

Fantastic experience: The security guard called Pat is such a top bloke, Was very helpful and very professional at his job. Would highly recommend this venue. Place is very clean and hygienic. Other staff and managers are very welcoming. Will be coming back next year sometime.!!!

Fantastic experience: Went for open mic on Sunday - perfect place and setting.

Negative experience: I went to the quiz at Coogee Diggers on Thursday 8th February 2024 (my second visit) after having attended for the first time back on Thursday 2nd November 2023 (my first visit). On my first visit, me and a friend won the $250 pub quiz jackpot ($250 loaded onto the CD membership card for you to spend). Neither of us had been again and we decided to go back to spend our winnings. We went to the bar and placed our food & drink order only to be told that there was a $0 balance on the card. We relayed back to the staff that we should have $250 and waited to speak to the manager. When she finally arrived (didn’t catch name but she was short with long brown hair) we explained the situation, showed the photo of us on the ‘Inquizition Magician’ Facebook page to prove we had won it and asked where the winnings was. She rudely answers with ‘so you’re telling me you haven’t been here since November’? …it’s not exactly my local or a must go to hotspot, so no I haven’t. She says she needs to speak to Ian (who runs the quiz? No idea - this made no sense either given the quiz was hosted by an Irish woman on the day we were there and I doubt Ian would have a clue as to who we were) and comes back 20 minutes later saying she couldn’t get through to Ian but as a gesture of goodwill she has loaded $125 onto the card. She explained that the card runs annually and all points expire at the end of the calendar year. We weren’t told this at the time and relayed this back to which she responds we would have got an email. Checked inboxes, no email in inbox or spam folder. The membership card also has only the year ‘2024’ stamped on it - no expiry or valid from date. We pointed this out to be met with silence. Word of warning if you do go here - if there’s an issue the manager is unhelpful and pretty rude, and you need to spend your winnings within the same year. Better still, go to a quiz elsewhere where you just get the money to spend wherever you like! Food and drinks are pretty cheap, with big portion sizes so that’s the only reason for it not being 1 star.

Negative experience: I used to be a regular as it is the closest place with a sauna. This despite the fact the whole sauna/indoor pool facility is far from being prime quality ( wood falling from the roof of the sauna, disconnected from the walls, broken showers, cockroaches in the relaxing area, tiles falling from the walls etc ) I never wanted to commit with an automatic bank transfer subscription therefore I used to pay for casual entrance ( for the not cheap price of $18.50 each ) or a 10 entrance pass which has increased considerably in the last 18 months ( from $100 to $130 to $150 ) . Then the 10 pass option has been canceled. The casual entrance has been pushed to $25. Now I understand the need to make some profit out of it but this seems a bit exaggerated considering the discrepancy between the prices and the facilities offered.

Fantastic experience: The food was great, the atmosphere was fantastic and the team was very friendly and helpful

Positive experience: A good gym can’t deny that has everything you want ! Pool/ Sauna perfect. The only downside is the men’s bathroom, it smells like a slatted unit used for cattle, I guess it kinda reminds me of home being out in the farm in a sense but still something needs to be done over that horrific smell!

Fantastic experience: Great space, good atmosphere and fantastic equipment

Positive experience: I used to love coming to Water Aerobics here and is in fact why I joined the Club. It finished several months ago and there does not seem to be any interest in getting a new instructor and re starting the classes Why not contact the 20+ people who used to come regularly to water aerobics and see what they say. I think you will find that they are dissapointed in the class discontinuing. I am going to go somewhere else until it ? re-starts

Fantastic experience: If there is a machine that this gym doesn't have you flat out don't need it. It's fully equipped with everything, pool, sauna, weights, functional area.

Fantastic experience: We come here every Thursday for trivia. Food is amazing quality and reasonable prices, especially with the membership. Only downside is I wish the gym wasn’t so expensive / had the fitness passport!

Fantastic experience: Angi at the swim school is fantastic. So organised and helpful. Thank you!

Fantastic experience: Nice staff, reasonable prices and clean venue. Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Great deals. Great food. Underrated.

Negative experience: Nice gym new equipment, they have used the area really well and some good thought has gone into the design. I understand if the gym is still under renovation, however the mens toilets in the pool area are disgusting. As soon as you walk into the room you can smell the urinals, I am not sure if they clean them or its the product they are using but I do hope the bathroom issue is sorted soon. Also they need an exit button for people who are only doing a one day session, the receptionist was closing the pool and three people couldn't get out past the gates because they didn't have members cards.

Fantastic experience: Honoured a refund request when an email was missed, friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Fantastic Rennovation , food better than ever , and now membership is FREE !

Positive experience: Nice club. Quite new. No views. Decent food. Pokies downstairs.

Fantastic experience: Attended the facility for a workshop. It was clean, bar, bistro and gym upstairs with gambling facilities downstairs.

Negative experience: Gym equipment and area is average. Like others have said there is next to zero fresh air circulation downstairs. Management don't want to spend money on it hence the price. But working out in a sauna like environment isn't worth it even if it was free. Such a shame because it could be 10x better with aircon or fresh air.

Positive experience: Gym has been done up (well mostly) but some machines need replacing. swimming pool is ok, pool area is ancient but still ok to swim in, it's more the changing rooms that are pretty horrific! Cobwebs and all bright green! One massive annoyance, is staff never reply to emails, don't even bother sending one.

Negative experience: In the past I have used this pool / sauna facility and found the sauna smelly ( body odour smell ?) suggesting the sauna needs a more regular scrub / clean. I have now also decided to stop going there as they unfortunately they do not accept the Fitness Passport Card at entry. Lots of gyms / pools in Sydney ( eg. Maroubra Seals, Wylies, Fitness First ) accept the Fitness Passport card , so its disappointing this RSL club has not got its act together and organised for its members/ visitors use their Fitness Passport card for payment.

Negative experience: First time at the bistro last night and we were really disappointed by how dirty the place was. Our toddler was given a cup with lipstick still on it. The tables, cutlery and floor were all dirty too. We ordered food and it the quality was really poor. The risotto had no taste and the tacos were stale. I don't write this to throw shade, but rather in the hope that a venue can achieve its potential to be great.

Negative experience: Great community bar but giving it one star to bring attention to the Diggers needing security on Fridays and Saturdays. I saw bartenders struggle to deal with violent patrons who threatened them. They shouldn't have to deal with that.

Negative experience: Diggers promised to finish the renovation of facilities shortly after sign up but this was not done for months. Equipment either in poor condition or not working. Staff rude, and hostile to members. No, or late, response to basic requests. Change rooms had really bad mould and lockers (meant for valuable) could be opened easily simply by pulling the door for 5 seconds. Really regret joining. Last straw was being

Fantastic experience: We held my daughters birthday party here and we are really happy with the way the manager Peter Gallagher handled the entire event. They were very accommodating with everything- such as letting us in early to set up the decorations etc. The food was also really good. The pricing was very reasonable. All the guests remarked on how well the function went. Highly recommend!

Negative experience: Management forgot to put staff on the down stairs bar… so I served myself.. Not good… sort it out Coogee diggers… I love this place Last night, No security on the place, and a guy runs around the place with his genitalia hanging out… don’t bring you missus here when it’s busy..

Negative experience: Poor management practices. I requested my gym membership cancellation on June 12th via email, using the same email that I had used a number of times in the past. However, the gym changed its email, and I never received any bounce-back email to direct me to the right email address. I kept on being charged for more than a month when I called the gym to have this issue fixed. A gym member then gave me the current email address and instructed me to inform the management of the number of fortnights that I had been charged after my request, so they could organise a refund. When I emailed the gym admin, I was informed that the current email is advertised on the website, which is not true. This should have been informed in the newsletter. To finalise, the manager said that on "goodwill" no waiving fees would be charged after several unwanted payments were withdrawn from my account. Extremely disappointing. Not because of the money, but from the lack of consideration and respect for its customers.

Negative experience: I am really disappointed with this gym. I joined several months ago and since then, there have been several issues. The first issue was with their payment system and inability to process my payments via a Savings account and then trying to charge me 'late payment' fees a number of times - to which I obviously disputed. And secondly, despite being newly renovated, the downstairs area of the gym has very little to no natural air ventilation and NO aircon at all. The heat has been unbearable and it is also a serious health and safety issue. Despite a number of emails from myself and my partner, they have not responded or addressed the issue at all (with weeks between emails and follow ups). Honestly the worst customer service I've ever experience!

Positive experience: Great club, great staff. The chef needs to do better with dietary choices on the menu though...

Positive experience: The Diggers in Coogee is a bit of a local institution which provides affordable access to a number of useful facilities. To get the best prices on services you need to be a member, which costs about $10 annually last I checked. The gym at the diggers is surprisingly awesome and improving all the time, incredible value; they’re most of the way through a huge extension and renovation which has taken it from an afterthought to being one of the best equipped gyms I’ve seen in Sydney. Apparently the England Rugby team trained here recently. The swimming pool is fairly basic but offers 5 or 6 lanes and a swim school; my kids have lessons there, there is no provision for kids recreational swimming so they get that half hour and then have to dry themselves and leave, rather than enjoy the water. There’s a sauna too. For family swimming fun, Des Renford or Gunyama are much better bets vaguely in the local area. The restaurant and bar is functional and has a pleasant internal courtyard with fresh air. Pick the right (or wrong, depending on your goals) weeknight and there’s a throng of kids from the local school and daycare playing together while their families have dinner. The food is variable quality and my wife has had a couple of meals that have not agreed with her there… but it’s pretty cheap and popular for our kids to have a quick dinner out as a treat after school. There’s the obligatory pokies area tucked away downstairs and a TAB area upstairs at the opposite end of the floor to the family dining area - I’ve never been into either of them, and have opinions generally on gambling being so prominent in a place where families gather together… but that’s an Australian thing, not limited to the Coogee Diggers!

Negative experience: Pretty bad that on the biggest night of rugby league, state of origin 3, the staff don't know how to change the TV's to play the game.... Seriously? Tv guide, ok, ok... Problem solved. But no keys leave it on the cricket that was two days ago. Next time figure out how to put the TV's in right channel BEFORE the games start

Fantastic experience: The gym had been renovated and it's a great club, especially if your living locally in Coogee , there is a designated cardio room , all the weights machines, etc. The pool and change rooms are yet to be renovated, looking forward to see them refurbished.

Positive experience: Doesn't matter how good the food or drink is and how polite the staff. The speakers BLARE in every room including outside. They ripped my eardrums apart. Couldn't there be one spot without any speakers? Great venue otherwise. Whoops. Edit. The staff were kind enough to turn the outdoor speakers off. Good food too.

Negative experience: Great gym, although worst sound system only two speakers distributed which- music is always terrible and too loud making it hard to enjoy your own music. Such a big deal while working out.

Fantastic experience: The best gym in the world! the gym is renovated, with brand new equipment, an amazing space. The staff are very nice and the price is affordable. in addition to the prime location!

Positive experience: Great Bar, Bistro and live music too. Highly recommended.

Fantastic experience: Surprisingly good bistro for a RSL club. There were plenty of gluten free and vegetarian options and it was pretty tasty. The staff are great too. The pool and gym are getting a revamp currently and they'll be adding a plunge pool in addition to the existing very hot steam and sauna rooms.

Negative experience: Possibly the dirtiest gym and pool I have had the misfortune to join. Gym equipment never cleaned by staff sweat left all over the equipment. Boxing room should be closed down disgusting. Sauna steam room horrendous smell I rang the health department I don’t think they have done anything about it should be closed down.

Positive experience: First time here and was really happy with the on tap selection as well as the menu. VERY reasonable prices for what you get. Loved it

Positive experience: It used to be heaps better with the bunker downstairs. They replaced it with pokies.

Fantastic experience: Very nice atmosphere. Good pub meal.

Positive experience: The diggers is a great place to meet your friends for a bev and Thursday night trivia. They have relatively reasonable rates for the gym and classes etc. It lost 2 stars because the meals are expensive (but they are HUGE). I also really think it's a shame they got rid of the pinball machines in the bunker.

Positive experience: Been around for ages, good grub

Fantastic experience: Had not been there for a couple of year's the place is looking good and is very family friendly. Meals were excellent

Positive experience: Local Rsl club. The gym is very popular and can get busy during peak hours

Fantastic experience: Good food and great atmosphere.. quiz master was very good..

Fantastic experience: Fantastic menu, great choice of beverages and a very friendly staff, I would definitely recommend this club!

Fantastic experience: Hi Diggers, the below review is completely fabricated. I was at the bar with my friend and witnessed Adam Fairhursts behaviour. Your staff were nothing but professional and his behaviour was appalling. He was aggressive and there was no reasoning with him. He went back several times to abuse the bar staff. Just to add they were all wearing masks and after reading all his other reviews on google and complaints you’ll see how many issues he’s had at other venues and that it all sounds the same.

Negative experience: Stops serving food at early...

Fantastic experience: Love the diggers, it's what you'd expect from any rsl type club... Good honest food at value prices.

Fantastic experience: So relaxing and the meals are great too.

Fantastic experience: Great food and welcoming staff always.

Positive experience: Go for the schnitzel and the cheap beer but don't worry about anything else. Don't wear a hat.

Positive experience: Easy dinners for families with kids. Too many pokies in sight :(

Positive experience: Food still ordinary... good beer choice though. Three sheets, Newtowner... I'm not saying its bad its just not great. Fish special always cooked the same way, sometimes simple is better and the menu stays the same year in year out.. you always end up having to eat the same thing. Not everyone likes spicy and not everyone likes plain I know but variety especially for the older folk who come all the time a change would be good.

Fantastic experience: I have been here heaps of times and I never have a negative time!

Fantastic experience: Great place. Ex-service establishment, with nice food and drink

Fantastic experience: Great club .meat raffles on Wednesday- Sunday , lots of space.

Positive experience: Good vibe, great atmosphere, but bar tenders were slow and rude. Place can use better crew.

Positive experience: It's being transformed into a giant gymnasium not much of a community club anymore, food not reliable with consistency and overpriced local restaurants at The Spot better value.

Positive experience: Exceptionally good value for a gym, pool, sauna and steam room. The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is because of the frequent urine smell in the steam room but the staff will clean it if you complain

Positive experience: Worth visiting and enjoying a very reasonably priced meal. Great menu, beers on tap.

Fantastic experience: Great club atmosphere very friendly people, well set up gym and heated pool an just 5 minutes from Coogee beach.

Positive experience: Just a nice friendly atmosphere Had the beef burger was very nice Service was good

Positive experience: GREAT FOOD NICE SETTING GREAT MONTLY FOOD AND DRINK SPECIALS COOL SPOT

Positive experience: Fitness centre has everything you need but it could do with a refurb, especially the sauna & steam room.

Negative experience: Food is ok but very over crowd

Positive experience: Very friendly and beautiful food

Fantastic experience: Best trivia around!

Fantastic experience: Great people at the gym, all the trainers are really nice. Love working out here

Negative experience: Food terrible

Positive experience: Nice and comfortable in their lounge area

Positive experience: Great place to take kids, room for them to play while eat in peace

Positive experience: Great view. Good food. Friendly atmosphere. Good staff.

Positive experience: Never to packed, good Sunday session, nice food. PS4 and Xbox for kids.

Negative experience: We had the worst pub food ever. They ruined our night and my favourite chicken parma. Never again. NO STAR

Positive experience: Great food, great staff and a great band

Fantastic experience: Belinda from KASS is wonderful!!

Fantastic experience: Great place for beers and a good night

Positive experience: Good atmosphere in local pub

Fantastic experience: Great for families

Positive experience: Small but has everything you really need

Fantastic experience: Great prices, friendly staff. Check out the live music on Tuesdays!

Positive experience: Cheap food but ambience is a bit questionable. Staff are always awesome.

Fantastic experience: Great RSL club being a member over five years getting staff , great gym has everything you need pool , sauna , steam and weight room . Very helpful staff on call .

Positive experience: Excellent Sauna and Steam, friendly staff, nice swiming pool. Not enough space to work out

Fantastic experience: Fantastic live venue space in The Bunker .

Fantastic experience: Kids love it - makes for an easy dinner!

Fantastic experience: Great staff friendly atmosphere awesome food.

Fantastic experience: Great music lovely cold beer Good value for money food Friendly staff

Positive experience: The raffles are fun, and there is space to kids and bigger kids

Positive experience: Very family friendly, great food selections as well.

Positive experience: Great food and atmosphere.