Welcome to the Planetswimmer blog! Stories from swimming indoors and outdoors, from ice swimming to tropical beaches. Not to mention hotel pools!
More swimming-related articles:
Ruma Borkovac Hotel Borkovac is a nice, small spa hotel with a pool, saunas, etc. Full story June 2023, Hotel Borkovac, Ruma, Serbia Sauna (Normal, Infrared); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
Can you believe there's a swimming hall here? I've lived in and around(*) Espoo for 35 years. And I often go to the swimming halls. How is it then that I've never visited Olari's swimming hall? I think I've heard about it, but had forgotten about its existence until looking for pools that I have not visited in the Helsinki region the other day. Full story June 2023, Olarin uimahalli, Olari, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal) | ||
Hakunila swim Another day, another new swimming hall to visit: Hakunilan uimahalli. Not a bad place! Very nice, modern saunas (incl. steam saunas) and many pools: cold plunge, main 25 m metallic pool, therapy pool with two sides, two kiddie pools. Congrats to Hakunila! Full story June 2023, Hakunilan uimahalli, Vantaa, Finland Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | ||
Kaleva swim. 2x. I was looking for a visit in the Tampere swimming halls on the way to my summer cottage. It turned out that just on that day most of the halls closed for the summer. Bummer, I thought, and grudgingly decided to go for the remaining one. Little did I know that the Kalevala swimming hall - or Tampereen Uintikeskus as it is officially called - would be a truly magnificent place. Perhaps one of Finland's greatest swimming halls? Full story June 2023, Tampereen uintikeskus, Tampere, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal) | ||
Swim break Phew, finally at the my summer cottage. Time for a swim break for everybody, including the unicorns! Full story June 2023, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Lake, Outdoor) | ||
Solbergabadet igen Once again I'm in the caving meet-up, camping out on the beach. And since I'm an early riser, keep taking off from the camp at 6am and heading to the Visby swimming hall, the Solbergabadet. Very nice. Quiet, not crowded, showers, bathrooms, saunas, and the pool. Great experience! Full story June 2023, Solbergabadet, Visby, Gotland, Sweden Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor) | ||
Uimahalli Aurinkoinen I have both bad and fond memories from my childhood and the swimming pool in Kerava. The one bad memory is from someone stealing my pocket money at age 11 or something. Well lesson learned, about leaving money in pockets without lockers :-) Might have lost a whopping half a euro. This happened in the old outdoor pool setup that they had in the 1970s. But the many, many happy memories are particularly from the new swimming hall, one of the first ones in Finland that was built to "spa" like standards in the 1980s. I visited this place so often! Full story May 2023, Uimahalli Aurinkoinen, Kerava, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
Talviturkki moment of 2023 In Finnish there is an expression "heittää talviturkki" or "throw one's winter fur coat". It means the first time swimming in outdoor waters that year. For me it was as late as mid-May in 2023. Oh, and then there were some needles in my bath whisk... Full story May 2023, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal) | ||
Radisson Blu Split Spa Radisson Blu in Split has a nice spa area. Full story April 2023, Radisson Blu Split, Split, Croatia Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
Kamenice Beach Cave Kamenice beach is an out-of-the-way for most people visiting the Komiza village. Komiza is a picturesque fishing village on the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea archipelago in Croatia. Full story April 2023, Kamenice Beach Cave, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | ||
Hyrylä dust-off After cleaning up at my mom's, it was time to dust off myself: my first visit to the Tuusula swimming hall. Quite nice. Small, but good saunas, a therapy pool, airy, nice views in the main pool area, etc. Worth a visit! Full story April 2023, Tuusulan Uimahalli, Hyrylä, Tuusula, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water) | ||
Onsen in the backstreets of Yokohama I didn't like the prospect of using a super expensive conference hotel. Even if I didn't pay for it myself... so I looked for something more affordable, yet with some character. Full story March 2023, Hotel Terrace Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
Cold swim in Ancient Corinth Brr. A bit cold, maybe 5 degrees. But no matter. The views are great! And I've never swam in Greece before, so now I have to. Full story February 2023, Oliveus Euphoria Resort, Ancient Corinth, Greece Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water) | ||
Beach without sunshine The Cave of the Seals Imagine summer. Imagine a nice beach in a southern country, like Greece. Way too hot! How about a beach in a cave, so that you don't have to get sun cream out? This, and so much more you can get in the Cave of the Seals, north of Corinth and Loutraki and on the Perachora peninsula. An hour from Athens. Full story (TGR version) February 2023, Cave of the Seals, Perachora, Greece Hiking; Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | ||
Zakopane Aqua Park A ski vacation would be nothing without a visit to hot pools and saunas! This time we visited the Zakopane Aqua Park in Poland. And obviously in the mountain town of Zakopane. Full story January 2023, Zakopane Aqua Park, Zakopane, Poland Swimming (Waterbody-Pool, Water, Indoor, Outdoor) | ||
Testing the new Matinkylä swimming hall I had an idea to for once visit a swimming pool somewhere yesterday. Pre-pandemic, I might have gone swimming several times a week. The pandemic interrupted that, but even after the pandemic issues are mostly gone, I don't find myself going too often. I've only been to Finnish swimming pools couple of times a year recently. Maybe being too busy, or trying to use the time for walking. Anyway, missing a lot. But what a nice treat the visit to the Matinkylä swimming pools were! Full story January 2023, Matinkylän uimahalli, Espoo, Finland Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | ||
This is the 4th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, and set 3. The next sets are set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, and set 14.
The Planetswimmer articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, caves, and saunas.