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 45 countries, in a total of 340 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:
| Sandviken What a find! Kopparnäs is an outdoors and nature preserve area with easy access, just 25 minutes from my office. And I had not been there. And, if you skip the main hub around the parking lot and walk just a bit over a kilometer, you get to the pristine, sunny beach of Sandviken. No one around, with swimming, grill place, firewood, camping opportunities just for you, very likely. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Sandviken, Kopparnäs, Inkoo, Finland Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor); Hiking | |
| Paavola bay swim Now this is an official beach and marked on the Finnish map as such. But I have to say it is far out and probably not used by anyone. Google doesn't know about it, for instance. Except when we started undressing on the pier, three people walking showed up, and boats parked in front of the beach! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Paavolansalmen uimaranta, Lohjansaari, Lohja, Finland; Paavolan Tammi, Lohjansaari, Lohja, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach); Hiking; Urban-Exploration (Other) | |
| Beach Divulje swim What a find! In case you ever find yourself at the Split airport, check in your bags and then walk eight minutes towards the sea. You will find a very nice beach, a beach bar, and even a wakeboarding track. Very refreshing before a flight! And in my case I was there just at sunrise, such bliss! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Beach Divulje, Kaštel Štafilić, Croatia; Split Airport, Split, Croatia Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Outdoor, Beach); Flying | |
| Riga spas I had a few days in Riga, and visited both my hotel spa, ESPA Riga (at the Radisson Riga Conference & Spa), Welton SPA Centrum, and the Welton SPA Riverside. The ESPA and Riverside both were wonderful, the former being at the top of the hotel and the latter at the bottom. Both had a selection of nice saunas and pools. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Radisson Blu Latvija Conference & Spa Hotel, Riga, Latvia; Welton SPA Centrum, Riga, Latvia; Welton SPA Riverside, Riga, Latvia Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Rainbow lake swim Kylmälä ("cold place") is a small village in northern parts of Kirkkonummi, by the lake Tampaja. When I arrived, I cursed the rain because it was making my walk to the beach hard. But the hardest rain stopped, I found a changing cabin at the beach... and then saw one of the best rainbows I've seen in a while! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Kylmälän uimaranta, Kylmälä, Kirkkonummi, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Vilniemi swim Not a lot of time, have to make a major update on my demo for work, even if it is a Sunday. But, there's a swimming beach I've not been to before, just few kilometers away: Vilniemi beach, on the Lake Lippajärvi. Let's try that! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Vilniemen uimaranta, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Sandfjärden Today I returned to the same nature area as yesterday's wonderful swim in Sandvik was at. Today's beach was Sandfjärden, the beach next to Kopparnäs parking lot and the grill, hut and other facilities there. This one is likely going to have other people, but is indeed easy to reach. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Sandfjärden, Kopparnäs, Inkoo, Finland; Rauniot, Kopparnäs, Inkoo, Finland Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor); Hiking; Urban-Exploration (Ruins) | |
| Freizeit! Opfikon. I was late, but maybe there was still a chance of catching a swim. It turned out that I can walk from my hotel to a nearby swimming hall, the Freizeit Bad Opfikon. But I didn't expect it to be the gem it was. A sunset over the pools, indoor and outdoor pools, a luxury facility. Even if it was "just" community pool. But this is Switzerland... and the best part was that the dogs can swim, too! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Freizeit Bad Opfikon, Zürich, Switzerland Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water) | |
| Zürich's Hallenbad City I wanted to use the lunch break in Zürich to visit the Männerbad, an in-river swimming pool. Sadly, despite being advertised as open it didn't appear to be. Would have been a special place! But not to worry, just a block away was the Hallenbad City, another historic swimming place. With a 50-meter pool in a high-ceiling, classic architecture it was also an experience. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Hallenbad City, Zürich, Switzerland; Männerbad, Zürich, Switzerland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Swimming (None, Outdoor, Waterbody-River, Water) | |
| The Swim-Every-Day Challenge It is good to swim... maybe even every day. In August I had a very nice swim above the rooftops of Stockholm, and decided that I'd try to keep up swimming every day, for as long as possible. It continued through my time at home, on my health rehab in Punkaharju, across business trips to Zürich and Riga, and for the last few days at my summer cottage and once near my office. Sometimes challenging to find the time before swimming pools close, sometimes cold in the September lake waters, but always special. Glad I'm doing this! Full story Alternate link September 2026, Keski-Espoon Uimahalli, Espoo, Finland; Gallträsk, Kauniainen, Finland; Kruunupuisto, Punkaharju, Finland; Kauniaisten uimahalli, Kauniainen, Finland; Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland; Långvikin uimaranta, Långvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake); Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Laaksolahti swim Yikes. Too many geese around. And their shit. But I have to swim today, so no avoiding it. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Laaksolahden uimaranta, Laaksolahti, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Lake, Outdoor, Beach) | |
| Störsvik sand pit swim Today a bit better swim at the Störsvik sand pit in Siuntio. Full story Alternate link September 2026, Störsvikin hiekkakuopan uimaranta, Siuntio, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| The Blue Spring Beach The Blue Spring Beach, or in Finnish, Sinilähteen Uimaranta is a nice, sandy beach in a pine peninsula by the Ruukinpohja part of lake Päijänne in Heinola. Conveniently reachable from the highway, I used it as a cleansing opportunity from the dirt and sweat gathered on my caving expedition. Full story Alternate link August 2026, Sinilähteen uimaranta, Heinola, Finland Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Lake, Outdoor, Beach) | |
| Tašmajdan cave and swim Tašmajdan is a popular park and hill in Belgrade, Serbia. Besides the park, it hosts a stadium and free-for-entry swimming pool. But underneath the park are gems, caves, bunkers, and history. Sadly, none of that is accessible, part of the caves are filled with construction rubble from the stadium, some are closed due to danger of German ammunition from WWII, and the rest is just closed. It is a shame, obviously something like this could be a very interesting tourist destination in any city. Full story Alternate link August 2026, Tašmajdan cave, Belgrade, Serbia; Sports Center Tašmajdan, Belgrade, Serbia Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Outdoor) | |
| Laukkoski school beach swim As I was visiting my mom nearby, I also wanted a swim for the day. And Pornainen's Laukkoski school beach was easy to get to. In fact, I wanted to start a challenge: swim every day. Let's see how long I can make that work. Full story Alternate link August 2026, Laukkosken koulun uimaranta, Pornainen, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Garaško jezero swim Garaško jezero is an artificial, dammed lake in Garaši, Serbia. This is near Aranđelovac. Full story Alternate link August 2026, Garaško jezero, Garaši, Serbia Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake) | |
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, set 20, set 21, set 22, and set 23.