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 38 countries, in a total of 250 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:
| Splash! Mini-vacation in Loiske I had another mini-vacation. Working for a long day, I decided to take off from the office and drive to Somero, an hour away to swim at the Loiske, the Somero swimming hall. It was quite a nice visit! They've built a new swimming hall to replace the one from 1970s, and the late evening visit made the hall almost empty... several lanes free just for me. Full story September 2025, Someron uimahalli Loiske, Somero, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Secret sauna on an island Yesterday I sailed to a company event on my friends boat. The views going there in the morning and coming back in the night were wonderful. We also tested a secret sauna island far out south of Espoo. Full story September 2025, Gåsgrund sauna, Gåsgrund, Espoo, Finland Sailing; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor) | |
| Hämeenlinna's swimming hall Yet another swimming pool visit in nearby (max 1+ hour drive) swimming halls, as I've run out the ones closer. This time in Hämeenlinna. A large, quite nice swimming pool. The dressing room, shower, and saunas are really top notch. Really liked the glass walls in the saunas and the fact that they had not just a steam sauna but also an infrared sauna was really, really nice. Well done. Full story September 2025, Hämeenlinnan uimahalli, Hämeenlinna, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Infrared, Steam) | |
| Saksalan uimahalli - Saksala swimming hall in Lahti Given the loaner car I have this weekend... I can extend my driving range beyond towing distance. Hence a visit to Lahti, for a Sunday evening swim at the Saksala swimming hall. Full story September 2025, Saksalan uimahalli, Lahti, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Swimming in Salo Given that I still had the loaner car for an extra day, I felt it was an opportunity to use reliable transport now that it was available. I drove to Salo's swimming hall (link) after work. A long drive, hour and fifteen minutes, but a nice hall! Full story September 2025, Salon uimahalli, Salo, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Hanko's Luxurious Regatta Spa I continued my quest to swim in more places in the evenings after work. Inspired in part by having a reliable loaner car that can take me 100+ km away without a need to worry about breakdowns :-) But obviously mostly inspired by the desire to swim in more nice places. Full story September 2025, Hotel Regatta Spa, Hanko, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Sauna (Infrared, None) | |
| Rimini and Saint-Tropez swim ... on the same day, in Serbia :-) Full story August 2025, Srebrno Jezero beach, Veliko Gradište, Serbia Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Ozidana Pecina cave in the Krka National Park The Krka National Park is one of the most popular parks in Croatia. It runs along the river Krka, and is reachable by about an hour's drive from Split or Zadar. The park is centered around the river and lakes on it, with incredibly beautiful gorges and waterfalls. There are many cruises, excursions, restaurants, one beach, and ... a large number of caves :-) I visited the main tourist-accessible cave, Ozidana Pecina along with some smaller caves in the area. Full story August 2025, Ozidana Pecina, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; A-Frame cave, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; High shelter cave, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Shelter cave by the raised path, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Shelter cave behind bushes, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Krka beach, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| Swimming prohibition I've been in a medical procedure, as a time slot opened in my hospital for an operation that I've been waiting for. This lead me interrupting a vacation and flying back to Finland, some great care in the Meilahti hospital, some sick leave, and hopefully getting improved health as a result. But it also led to a temporary prohibition for swimming and saunas, and heavy exercise. Fortunately I can still soak my feet in the pleasant waters of the Bodom lake, in Oittaa. Full story August 2025, Oittaan uimaranta, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Swimming (None, Waterbody-Lake, Beach, Outdoor) | |
| Ski, swim, and fly in one day Myyrmäki, Pornainen and Helsinki-Vantaa An active day, for sure. I needed to fly out today, but before that I wanted to get my August ski turns in the massive snow mountains of Myyrmäki's ice skating hall (picture above), visit my mom, and do a quick swim at a swimming place near her in Pornainen's Hietasen uimaranta (Hietasen's beach) in Vähä-Laukkokoski. A nice package for the day! The skating hall was open and there was a pile of snow, saw my mom, visited the beach with warm water and sunshine and no one else around, and had a pleasant flying experience in the air and at the airports. Full story August 2025, Myyrmäen jäähalli, Myyrmäki, Vantaa, Finland; Hietasen uimaranta, Vähä-Laukkokoski, Pornainen, Finland; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Split Airport, Split, Croatia Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach); Flying | |
| The 2M€ smoke saunas Tested the new 2M€ smoke saunas in Kuusijärvi that were opened today. They were very, very nice. Didn’t know they were opened today, just happened to want a sauna visit and Kuusijärvi was on my route. Full story August 2025, Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Waterbody-Lake, Beach, Outdoor) | |
| Vršac castle and the Helvecija 1880 spa Vršac is a small city in northeastern Serbia, close to the Romanian border. The city has been built on the foothills of a striking hill, and on the top of the hill there's a castle dating back to 1439. It has been abandoned for centuries, but reconstruction started in 2009. The main tower of the castle is today in good condition, other parts remain as ruins. Full story August 2025, Vršac castle, Vršac, Serbia; Helvecija 1880, Vršac, Serbia Urban-Exploration (Historic, Castles, Ruins); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
| Green Cave A hole in the sky. Or in the roof, rather. This is what has given this cave its name, Zelena Špilja or in English the Green Cave. At noon, sun will shine through this small hole down to the water in the sea cave, and combined with the sea weed at the bottom of the water, a green light is created. I'm here though in the evening, but the cave is still spectacular! Full story August 2025, Zelena Špilja, Griže, Ravnik, Croatia; Unnamed beach cave 1, Podhumlje, Vis, Croatia; Unnamed beach cave 2, Podhumlje, Vis, Croatia; Zaglav, Vis, Croatia; Milna, Vis, Croatia; Budikovac beach, Podstražje, Otok Veli Budikovac, Croatia Caving (Rock, Swimming, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea); Caving (Rock, Boating, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (None, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| Saarijärvi swim My son took me to a place that he had scouted earlier. A remote lake, rocky peninsulas, crystal clear water. The day was also warm, sunny, and the water pleasant... can't get better than this. Saarijärvi! Full story July 2025, Saarijärven niemi, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Saarijärven uimaranta, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Waterbody-Lake); Hiking; Swimming (None, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
| It is the Hype season While all the community swimming pools seem to be closed during the summer, I realized that the parking-garage looking building on my way to work is actually a multi-function place, with not just parking but also an ice hockey arena, gym, cafeterias, nightclubs and restaurants... and a rooftop saunas and a pool. Very, very nice experience. Loved the sauna with a view. Full story July 2025, Hype Hybridiareena, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Waterbody-Pool, Outdoor); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Martinlaakso swim Another swimming hall visit! This time in Martinlaakso, a suburb of Vantaa. They have a nice swimming hall, and at least now in the summer it seemed almost completely empty. But open, unlike most of the other community swimming halls sigh... Full story July 2025, Martinlaakson uimahalli, Vantaa, Finland Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
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, and set 17.