Welcome to the Planetswimmer blog! Stories from swimming indoors and outdoors, from ice swimming to tropical beaches. Not to mention hotel pools! While the Planetswimmer mostly swims in Finland, he has explored beaches and pools in 42 countries, in a total of 290 places. You can click on the map below to see where in the world they took place or see the full list of articles below.
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:
| Tampere Conferences, hotels, saunas, and swims Tampere. I was just here for a cottage visit ... but this time in a conference, staying at a hotel ... and visiting the hotel sauna and a local swimming pool for fun. Nice trip. Always love Tampere! Full story Alternate link April 2026, Hotelli Scandic Tampere Asema, Tampere, Finland; Pyynikin uimahalli, Tampere, Finland Travel; Sauna (Normal); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Swimming with a 747 staring at you from the window Corendon hotel, near the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. A six-hour layover requires something else than sitting at the airport seats. So I found a spa at the Corendon hotel. Nice, small spa with a sauna and a steam room, a nice curving pool and small baby pool. As I was floating in the pool, the realization stuck me: a 747 was starting me straight from the window. Full story Alternate link April 2026, Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Flying | |
| Swimming hall prices in Finland Iltalehti had an interesting article about the prices of swimming hall visits. Ranging from 20€ to 3€, but mostly around 6-7€. Full story Alternate link March 2026, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Swimming (None); Sauna (None) | |
| Pessets Spa Hotel Pessets Restaurant & Spa is located in Sort, in the Pyrenees mountains, at the northern border of Spain and near Andorra. Full story Alternate link March 2026, Hotel Pessets Restaurant & Spa, Sort, Spain Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
| Early season cottage trip Beach season opened at the cottage. Someone did swim but I will save the full immersive experience for later 🙂 March is earliest that we’ve been to the cottage, ever. Full story Alternate link March 2026, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (None); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Dragon Claw Cave, Hong Kong The Dragon Claw Cave, or 龍爪洞 as it is known in Chinese is a sea cave at the end of a small bay in the peninsula that extends between the South Bay Beach and Ching Hom Kok Beach, in Hong Kong. There's a nice but challenging path from the South Bay Beach to near cave, but as you near the cave the path turns into more difficult, at some point other hikers warned of a wild boar, then the path required an assisting rope, and then further down ... I didn't dare climb all the way down for the last 20 meters, for a fear of falling to the sea. But it is a beautiful cave even from this distance! Full story Alternate link March 2026, Dragon Claw Cave, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong; South Bay Beach, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong; HKIA, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Caving (None, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor); Flying | |
| Purnu Day trip to Purnu ski hill (Hiihtokeskus Purnu), a medium-sized ski hill south of Jyväskylä. Wonderful winter day and light! Trees with snow cover were amazing. It was a great ski mountain too. This was my first trip with the fixed Volvo, it faired well, no breakages. On the way back I stopped at the Vierumäki sports academy swimming hall, which was also a nice experience. I thought it would have been crowded on a weekend, but by seven pm it was more or less empty. Full story Alternate link February 2026, Hiihtokeskus Purnu, Hartola, Finland; Vierumäen uimahalli, Vierumäki, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Lohja Spa Visited Lohja Spa as an after-work detour. Just an hour from home, and in the middle of pretty much nowhere (amazingly, it is in Karjalohja, not Lohja) it was quite a find indeed. It is a small hotel and a spa, but with not too many quests, I had almost all of the 25 meter pool to myself, they had five wonderful saunas and six pools. Full story Alternate link February 2026, Lohja Spa, Karjalohja, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
| First, Oldest, and Grandest Yrjönkadun uimahalli Finally, I was able to visit the Yrjönkatu swimming hall in Helsinki. It is right in the city center, a block away from the Stockmann department store. I've been wanting to for many years... did not recently due to the renovations that have been going for several years. But now it was opened just a week or two ago, and despite expectations it wasn't totally slammed full of people. In the pool I was at times even alone on my lanes. What a place! It is like a palace, a glimpse into a lost world. The tiles, the style, the air .. very, very well done. Full story Alternate link February 2026, Yrjönkadun uimahalli, Helsinki, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Kaarina swimming hall The closest swimming hall that I have NOT been to is now almost two hours drive away, and this evening I went there. Kaarina swimming hall is a small community hall, 25 meters long pool with just four lanes. But two younger/older children pools and one therapy pool, so that was a surprise. Overall a nice visit. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Kaarinan uimahalli, Kaarina, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal) | |
| National Alpine Skiing Day Celebrations To celebrate today’s National Alpine Skiing Day, I did a tour of four ski resorts that I have not been to: Ellivuori in Sastamala, Hiitteenharju in Harjavalta, Ruosniemi in Pori, and Salomonkallio hill at the Nakkila Golf resort in Nakkila. It took two days though 🙂The resorts are between Pori and Tampere, a cornerof Finland that I haven’t spent much time in. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Ellivuoren hiihtokeskus, Sastamala, Finland; Hiitteenharjun hiihtokeskus, Harjavalta, Finland; Rantakartano, Pori, Finland; Ruosniemen hiihtokeskus, Pori, Finland; Salomonkallion hiihtokeskus, Nakkila Golf, Nakkila, Finland; Harjavallan uimahalli, Harjavalta, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Car | |
| Back in G.R.A.N.I. I've been swimming around the country (and sometimes outside the country), which has been fun. But without my car -- which is being repaired, I can't go very far. So my local swimming hall it is in Kauniainen, or Grani as it is affectionately called. It was a nice weather to walk there in the snow! Full story Alternate link January 2026, Kauniaisten uimahalli, Kauniainen, Finland; Autotrio, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Car | |
| Impivaara swim By now, the nearest swimming halls that I have not been to is 1 hour and 45 minutes away. I picked Turku's Impivaara swimming hall as my destination in the west (in the east there was another one). This is a massive, massive swimming complex. I really liked the 50 meter pool, it was easy to swim a long distance in it. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Impivaaran uimahalli, Turku, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
| Elamus Spa in Tallinn The Elamus Spa (or Elamuste Keskus, in English the Experience Spa/Center) is a spa and recreation center in Tallinn. Their web site is here. I had been flying, skiing in two places, and caving in two more places. I had a bit of time before the flight, so a shower, sauna, and swim seemed to be in order! I was a bit unsure where to do that, I had a community wonderful-looking 50-meter pool swimming hall or a commercial experience spa -- the Elamus -- to choose from, among others. I chose the latter. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Elamus Spa, Tallinn, Estonia Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Kärkölä swimming hall Another day, another swimming hall :-) This time I went to Kärkölä's swimming hall -- mostly because I had not been there, and it was close-ish to my previous stop at Talma Ski. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Kärkölän uimahalli, Järvelä, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Day trip to Tallinn snow, caves, and water I'm collecting things. Or rather experiences. Or visits to places. Ski resorts, swimming halls, caves... preferably as many as possible. Could I do a one day trip to Tallinn for some of the closest ski hills, caves, and spas that I had not yet visited? How many could I do in one day? Full story Alternate link January 2026, Vimka - Viimsi Mäepark, Lubja, Viimsi, Estonia; Nõmme Lumepark, Mustamäe, Tallinn, Estonia; Viimsi Koobas, Lubja, Viimsi, Estonia; Naage Koopad, Naage, Estonia; Elamus Spa, Tallinn, Estonia Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Basic, Man-Made, Rock, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
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, set 14, set 15, set 16, set 17, set 18, set 19, and set 20.