Oakland Ice Center

Had my nieces bday party here over the weekend. We had a great time. Scarlett was our host and she made sure we had everything we needed and helped with the kids on the ice. They also had cute animal shaped assistance for the little ones who are learning how to skate. That was a HUGE help! Good times and good fun.

Make sure you coordinate with the host on entry for the party as opposed to just walking up to the front desk since they could mistakenly charge you admission when you don't need to pay.

I had a great experience here!! Was able to book my public skate session online through the website and it made it seamless to start skating right away. You can also pay for your rental online. The public skate rink is pretty spacious and the ice was really fresh when I came. So many diff levels of skaters here from recreational, to comp, to ice hockey players, to just casual ice skaters! Really great facility. A little outdated in terms of things like the bathroom and stuff, but other than that, really great! Be aware that it is only street parking available here!

Natalie in the pro shop was one of the best salespeople I have encountered as of late. She was very attentive and helped us find the beat-fitting skates. Shaw went above and beyond to answer our question. Even with a growing line of people also needing help she never once got flustered or impatient.

Favorite ice skating rink in the Bay Area. A lot of street parking. Also many garages if you want a more secure location. Price on average $20 a person with the ice skate rental is well worth the price. Facility is clean. Definitely a place to bring friends and family.

It's a nice little getaway in the middle of downtown Oakland.
Came here for the UC Berkeley hockey games and at times it was free at times it was just five dollars for students. It's got everything you need to enjoy your time watching an ice hockey game.
The concession stands are pretty standard. I did not see any alcoholic beverages but that was not my main focus. As it gets pretty chilly inside, there's many hot foods and drinks.

There's two rinks in the venue. Going in from the entrance to the right is where I've seen the common people recreationally skate and to the left is where the clubs, colleges, and I think the NHL half way owns it, not too sure but it's what I've observed while attending games.
There's plenty of rental skates to rent for your use and freestyle on the ice.

Very easy to get to by train or bus.

This review is for the Oakland Ice Center Pro Shop only--located inside the Oakland Ice Center. My daughter started figuring skating lessons there and I searched for hours trying to find a place buy figure skates in Bay Area/online not realizing the Pro Shop sells skates (!!!) I always thought they just did sharpening so never bothered to walk in. After failing to buy a pair of skates online that fit, I stopped in today with my daughter after her lessons today and the clerk measured her feet and fitted her into a beginner skate. He also conveniently sharpened them in only minutes after purchasing (tip for newbie parents: new skates anywhere require sharpening!). We also bought blade protectors. Prices were very similar to online. They seem to have a strong selection of figure and hockey skates. We were in and out in 20 minutes. Thank you Oakland Ice Center Pro Shop!!

I started coming here for ice skating lessons. If you're interested definitely sign up a month ahead of when the classes start. There is a parking lot around the corner that they validate for but it seems like most people just park on the street. The check-in process for skate rentals is very easy. And if you're a resident of Oakland you get a discount.

The facility is well maintained. I know there's a snack bar but I have not seen it open in the weeks that I've been coming. The class is for 45 and they give you 15 minutes for free skate. The instructors have been very helpful and give useful tips. I've seen great improvement in both myself and my fellow classmates.

A great rink and place to skate! Took lessons here for the first time!!!

How did I do? I did great!

I love ice skating and am really happy that this ice rink is open year round! There is a huge ice rink for lessons, events and public skating, as well as a separate rink for the Sharks to practice. It's been around for ages.

My bf and I went with some other friends on the Tuesday discounted night. We (well I for sure) had a blast flying through the rink- I felt alive again, like I was in the "Olympics" when I was pretending to be Kristy Yamaguchi or Michelle Kwan. If you had rollerbladed in the past, (which was most of my childhood), you can just bring your technique on the ice.

Skate rental is pretty straightforward- make sure to get ones that fit and lace well so they are not too loose on the ice. The rink is also pretty cold so dress in layers, but once you get gliding it can get warm. There are paid lockers you can put your belongings in as well, but we just put our shoes under the public benches. There is street parking- free after 6p!

Highly recommend this rink if you love to skate!

It's amazing that there's an ice rink in Oakland, as I love skating and have done a few adult hockey clinics here, but management leaves a few things to be desired.

First, they don't Zamboni halfway through public skate (contrary to standard practice at well-run rinks) even when it's extremely busy at weekend sessions. This leaves the ice a snowy, dangerous mess (and frankly, a liability for the rink). It would be easy for them to address this issue. Public skate on weekdays is also extremely limited with very few sessions outside of normal working hours--not sure if this is a relic of Covid, but it would be nice if there were some evening or early morning sessions Mon-Thurs.

Second, when I did adult-hockey clinics here a few years ago, it was not an inclusive environment. Staff refused to open a women's locker room for the 2-3 women players. I had to email multiple different people in rink management begging for a locker room. When my campaign was finally successful, I constantly had to remind staff to unlock another locker room. Then, all the men were squeezed into one locker room that was crowded far beyond capacity, and we were told that we had to self police the women's locker room. Needless to say, this created a lot of tension, and the rink could easily have opened a second locker room for the men and put up signs, but they chose not to. Additionally, a large number of male players were also more skilled than appropriate for a low-level adult clinic and should have been divided into a separate group rather than catering the programming towards them. I used to play hockey with multiple clinics and also on a rec team in NYC, so I was really disappointed with this unwelcoming experience.