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 35 countries, in a total of 205 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:
| Porvoo swimming hall Today I wanted to try a new swimming hall, and ended up driving all the way to Porvoo, an hour away from where I live. Porvoo is of course a wonderful historic city with wooden houses alongside the river banks. Their swimming hall was constructed in the 1970s probably, but then more recently expanded. Full story January 2025, Porvoon uimahalli, Porvoo, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
| Thermal spa and sauna in Andorra I've been to Andorra couple of times before, but never had the opportunity to visit a sauna or do a swim. Now I did! Hotel Spa Termes Carlemany provided both! They are situated in an area of Andorra la Vella, by the river, where there's 72 degree water flowing from the ground. The water is also used to run interest pipe displays and art work. Full story December 2024, Hotel Spa Termes Carlemany, Andorra La Vella, Andorra Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Waterbody-Pool, Indoor) | |
| Hotel Ramonda pools and saunas Hotel Ramonda (Хотел Рамонда, Ртањ) is named according to a flower that only grows on the mountain it is on, the Rtanj mountain in eastern Serbia. It is a luxury hotel that started out five years ago and has recently expanded with even more rooms and pools and saunas. It has outdoor and indoor pools and several different saunas. Full story December 2024, Hotel Ramonda, Rtanj, Serbia Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Barcelona Beach Dip Just what the doctor ordered for the darkest day of the year, December 21st. We saw amazing, mind-blowing things (such as Gaudi's creations) during the day, but still.. what felt best was walking barefoot on beach sand, feeling the sunshine and wind on my skin, and dipping my feet into the sea. Full story December 2024, Nova Icaria Beach, Barcelona, Spain Swimming (Beach, Waterbody-Sea) | |
| Bogovina Cave The Bogovina cave is a karst/river cave in the village of Bogovina in eastern Serbia. In local alphabet the name of the cave is Боговинска пећина. The cave is (depending on source) 5020 or 5892 meters long, up until few years ago it was Serbia's longest cave. It is a show cave, that is you can't enter on your own but need to arrange the local tourist office to give you a tour. The show cave part is half a kilometer long, consisting first from an excavated tunnel and then the cave proper. The stalactite formations in the cave are wonderful, but at the end in the Hajduk hall they are especially spectacular. Full story December 2024, Bogovina Cave, Bogovina, Serbia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Showtour); Swimming (Indoor) | |
| 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) | |
| Vancouver Hyatt Regency pool While on a conference, I managed to step on to the pool of the conference hotel on one of the breaks. The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is an upscale, nice hotel with many facilities. Sadly, no sauna though. But the pool is nice and protected from the hustle of the streets below. Full story July 2024, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Swimming (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) | |
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.