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 39 countries, in a total of 262 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:
| Swim at the Neidonkeidas... a public swimming hall with food-fired sauna! Decided to drive to Lohja for a quick swim at the Neidonkeidas, the local public swimming hall. Full story October 2025, Virkistysuimala Neidonkeidas, Lohja, Finland; Lohjan jäähalli, Lohja, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Skiing (None) | |
| A Refreshing Dip at Åkeshov Swimming Hall It was a dark and rainy night when I made my way to Åkeshov sports hall for a swim :-) but the journey was surprisingly pleasant. Stockholm's public transport never cease to impress, the bus ride was smooth and comfortable, complete with USB charging ports on every seat. Full story October 2025, Åkeshovs sim- och idrottshall, Åkeshov, Stockholm, Sweden Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Swim by the fires Another cottage swim, this time by the light fires and a sunset. Wonderful! A bit cold though. Full story October 2025, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Kangasala swimming hall Had to pick up the car from Kangasala, near Tampere, after the breakdown (alt.link). They had fixed it for mere 40€, though only a temporary fix: the heating system is now bypassed, so now heating in the rainy fall weather. But, on the positive side I managed to get a swim in a new place: the Kangasala swimming hall. Full story October 2025, VMS Racing, Kangasala, Finland; Kangasalan Uimahalli Kuohu, Kangasala, Finland Car; Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| October ski weekend at Levi It has been a while since I skied properly. I skied in July at an indoor ski resort in Madrid and Oslo, and in June also in Oslo. But after that in August and September only on some snow piles outside ice skating halls... so it was time to ski again! Last year for October I went for a day trip to Levi (alt. link), but while fun that was a gruelingly tiresome travel and way too short time in Levi. So this year I went for the whole weekend. Full story October 2025, Levi, Kittilä, Finland; Levi Hotel, Kittilä, Finland; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Kittilän lentokenttä, Kittilä, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Hiking; Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Flying; Travel | |
| Idra beaches A Greek island has to have nice beaches, right? They do in the island of Idra, though not all beaches may be sandy... some may be pebbles, others may be just ladders to the water from the cliffs. In any case, the water is superb, views are great, and there's excellent food available. This article discusses three remarkable beaches that one should at least visit on Idra. Full story October 2025, Spilia Beach Bar cave, Hydra, Greece; Paralia Kaminia, Hydra, Greece; Paralia Mandraki, Hydra, Greece Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| Spilia Beach Bar - obviously with a cave One would expect there to be plenty of caves in mountainous Greek islands, but it didn't seem to be the case for Idea. There are some beach caves, however, the easiest to access being right in the main village, Hydra, at the "Spilia Beach Bar". That, is the cave beach bar. Full story October 2025, Spilia Beach Bar cave, Hydra, Greece Caving (Basic, Swimming, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| 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) | |
| I ordered a snow taxi, again These are challenging times, these are September times. Full story September 2025, Ritorps ishall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Cyloq Arena, Sollentuna, Sweden; Medley Solna Simhall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Medley Sollentuna sim- och sporthall, Sollentuna, Sweden; Sundbybergs Simhall & Gym, Sundbyberg, Sweden; Arlanda, Sweden Skiing (None); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water, None); Sauna (Normal, None); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Flying | |
| 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) | |
| Montenegro swims A few quick dips into the Adriatic Sea and one hotel pool. Sadly missed a sauna on this visit, had a visit to the hotel sauna lined up but their sauna had closed earlier than the rest of the spa, so missed it on a busy day. Oh well, at least I got a new country to swim in! Full story September 2025, Bigova beach, Bigova, Montenegro; Queen's Beach, Pržno, Montenegro; Milocer beach, Pržno, Montenegro; Avala Resort & Villas, Budva, Montenegro Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (None, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| 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) | |
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, and set 18.