Welcome to the Planetswimmer blog! Stories from swimming indoors and outdoors, from ice swimming to tropical beaches. Not to mention hotel pools! The Planetswimmer has explored beaches and pools in 33 countries, in a total of 198 places. You can also click on the map below to see where in the world they took place.
The Planetswimmer articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, caving, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, and saunas.
All swimming-related articles:
| Ireland sauna and swimming experience I was in Dublin for a conference, pretty tight agenda but I did manage to do a cave hike on one morning. And visit a local spa for a quick swim and sauna on the last evening! Full story November 2024, The Spencer Health Club, Dublin, Ireland Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Day trip to Levi Did a day trip yesterday to Levi for October turns. Levi and Ruka are the only open ski resorts in Finland. Icy experience on the slopes, but glad I went! Full story October 2024, Levi, Kittilä, Finland; Levi Hotel, Kittilä, Finland; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Rovaniemi Airport, Rovaniemi, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Flying; Travel | |
| Hotel Beach Komiža is the exclusive, still largely authentic fishing village on the Vis island on Croatia's Adriatic Sea coast. There's multiple beaches, and my favorite is the Lucica Beach. But the one near Hotel Bisevo, Gusarica Beach is also nice! It is larger, and more popular. I usually call it the hotel beach. Full story August 2024, Gusarica beach, Komiža, Croatia Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| Night sail Had a fun event at work today, a picnic in Suomenlinna (the fortress island in front of Helsinki). But a friend from work invited us to join the trip by a sail boat. Nice! Full story August 2024, Suomenlinnan vierasvenesatama, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland Travel; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea) | |
| Beach cave tunnels at the Srebrna Beach The Srebrna Beach is a popular, rocky beach in the limestone layer of on the south side of the Vis island in Croatia. Beach caves are a very frequent occurrence on Croatia's coast, but for me - coming from a cave-poor country - they are always a wonder. There's a very nice straight, tunnel-like beach cave on the left side of the Srebrna beach. Full story August 2024, Srebrna beach mini cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach, Srebrna, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| Vis Swim Vis has a wonderful swimming area. Or several, but the one I like is across the road in front of the Issa hotel. There's a sandy/pebble beach further towards the city, and here there are only concrete piers and then bigger rocks under the water. But what a wonderful view, and most importantly, wonderful shade from the pine trees! Full story August 2024, Hotel Issa Beach, Vis, Croatia Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Outdoor) | |
| The Secret Beach in Komiža I have been here before, but then the tide and my clothes were not suitable for exploring. Now they were! I also did not understand the naming the beaches I was at, but I do now. The cave I'm looking at is at the Dog Beach, literally the beach that the dogs (and people) can swim at. A bit further out from the Dog Beach there's the Kamenice Beach, also called the Camp Beach due to the nearby low-cost but forbidden accommodation option :-) Both beaches can be accessed easily with chairs, have a bar, etc. However, between them there's the Secret Beach. To get there you have to go through a cave and climb, wall across a part of the sea that is only passable easily during low tide (picture above), or straight out swim. Full story August 2024, Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Secret Beach, Komiza, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea) | |
| Toskaljärvi swims Hiking 10-15 km per day... being bitten by mosquitos day and night... it was clear that a swim would be not only refreshing but required. The only downside was that it was pretty cold, the river (partially flowing from an underground river, possibly a cave) was only 9 degrees. The lake was like a hot tub, though, at 14 degrees :-) Full story August 2024, Toskaljärven hiekkaranta, Enontekiö, Finland; Toskaljärven maanalaisen joen syöttöjoki, Enontekiö, Finland Swimming (Waterbody-Lake); Swimming (Waterbody-River) | |
| Abbotsford Clarion Swim Clarion hotel and conference centre is out of the way of the centre of Abbotsford, but conveniently located near the highway. I stayed here on a business trip because for one night there was no availability in Vancouver where my conference was. Or the prices were too high, north of 400 euros. Full story July 2024, Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Yale Park Swim Yale Park is a recreation area by the (artificial) Yale lake in the Lewis River valley. The nearest town is Cougar. The park is part of the agreement for building dams on the Lewis River, and the area is maintained by Pacific Corp, the owner of the dams. Full story July 2024, Yale Park, Cougar, Washington, USA Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Ski and beach vacation in Järvenpää There wasn't much snow or sunshine, but hey, there was some. Glad I went! Full story June 2024, Järvenpään jäähalli, Järvenpää, Finland; Tervanokan uimaranta, Järvenpää, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Rantasauna Rantasauna is a legendary party place in Otaniemi, in the student village of the Helsinki University of Technology (now called Aalto University). Full story June 2024, Rantasauna, Otaniemi Espoo, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea); Sauna (Normal) | |
| First mökki-swim in 2024... driving on a Jaguar Too busy, and now without a car I have not been able to visit the summer cottage this year at all. Sigh. But now my car repair shop nicely loaned me a four-liter green '99 Jaguar for the weekend. Very nice! And a fun car to drive. And it was such a bliss to drop into the lake after visiting the sauna. The water was warmer than it probably has ever been on June 1st... Full story June 2024, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Car; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake) | |
| Excursion to Myyrmäki A Friday evening excursion to Myyrmäki, a suburb in Vantaa! I went for a swim in Myyrmäki's community swimming hall, but it was of course also an opportunity to do more sightseeing in the nice weather. And ride more trains... given that my car is broken. Full story June 2024, Myyrmäen uimahalli, Myyrmäki, Vantaa, Finland Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Hotel Vema Spa Hotel Vema is a brand new hotel in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Visoko is a small town near Sarajevo, maybe a 20 minute drive away. It is perhaps best know for the Bosnian pyramids, pyramid shape mountains that some claim actually are ancient pyramids. More on that story later... but for now, we will focus on this wonderful hotel! Full story May 2024, Hotel Vema, Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Urheiluhallit kallio My first time visiting the Kallie swimming pools. Very nice! Full story May 2024, Urheiluhallit Kallio, Helsinki, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
This is the 1th set of articles. The next sets are set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, and set 14.