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:
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) | ||
Sauna on a boat My train trip through Europe also involved one boat ride, from Turku to Stockholm. A day boat... arriving just in time in Stockholm for the night train. But, more importantly, the boat had three nice things going for it: (1) a cabin included in the ridiculously low 30€ price, nice for conference calls and naps, (2) decent restaurants to eat at, and (3) a spa with several saunas and pools, all with views of the archipelago as we were sailing towards Marienhamn. Full story November 2022, Maarianhaminan satama, Maarianhamina, Finland Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
Hotel Maria-Luisa pool swim Hotel Maria-Luisa is in the suburbs of Prague, near the military / museum airport (see this article). I almost always choose hotels based on their spas, pools, and saunas. Unfortunately, this time their wellness area turned out to be closed for renovation. Oh well, we were probably too busy anyway to get to the saunas during their opening hours. But the pool was open, and looked nice! Full story July 2022, Hotel Maria-Luisa, Prague, Czech Republic Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Outdoor) | ||
More of the same pool in a plain hotel in no particular place Hampton Inn... a good but not remarkable hotel... New Jersey... nice state but not remarkable... South Plainfield... newer heard, but ok and again not remarkable. A plain hotel in Plainfield? Full story July 2022, Hampton Inn South Plainfield-Piscataway, South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water) | ||
Vrnik beaches Vrnik is a small island off the bigger Korčula island in the Adriatic Sea. Vrnik has only a handful of houses and remnants from its past as a quarry for stones. There are two restaurants, but no shops, and no services. But it has great, clean, beautiful waters. The beaches are rocky but it is a pleasure to swim in them. Full story July 2022, Vrnik Beach, Vrnik, Korcula, Croatia; Vrnik shore, Vrnik, Korcula, Croatia Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Nature); | ||
Korcula wall swim Korcula is a wonderful historic town (on the island of Korcula :-) ) And there's a wonderful swimmable beach ... rocks just outside the east city wall, under the restaurant walking path. You'll be under pine trees, on rocks, with some steps leading to clear water.. can't get much better than this! Full story July 2022, Korcula wall beach, Korcula, Croatia Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | ||
Ski, sail, sauna, and swim A fun day, starting with emergency skiing 🎿 the quickly disappearing snow on my local hill at 6am, continued with sailing ⛵️to Suomenlinna on Markus’ boat - thanks! From then on the company picnic day was just starting 🙂 Lot more fun followed, e.g., a sauna 🧖♂️ and swim 🏊♂️ in the Suomenlinna boat harbor. Full story (TGR version) June 2022, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland; Suomenlinnan vierasvenesatama, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland; Cafe Bar Valimo, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Sailing; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea) | ||
First time in a swimming hall since the pandemic started I have not gone to public swimming pools before this. Now I did, as I was returning from the great skiing in Vihti, and needed to be fresh before going to the office. Good time to visit, though, 10am-ish, with the morning people already gone and pretty much no one else around. Full story May 2022, Kirkkonummen uimahalli, Kirkkonummi, Finland Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool) | ||
First cottage swim of 2022 Lame, but I did not swim in spring 2022 until May 28... but it was good, even if a bit cold still. Brr... but the sunsets and blueberry bushes were spectacular! Full story May 2022, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal) | ||
Instagram vs. reality I've made many trips to the summer cottage this year. It is always wonderful views. And usually great swimming. But now the waters are too cold, and I seem to spending most of my time under the building, trying to block holes that the mice use to come in. Lots of fun, but not really beautiful pictures. Full story September 2021, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (None) | ||
Adler Inn Saunas While skiing in Hintertux, I stayed across the street from the Adler Inn, and was lucky to be able to visit their saunas and spa as well. What a wonderful experience! Full story August 2021, Adler Inn, Madseit, Hintertux, Austria Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor, Outdoor) | ||
South beaches on Vis I had an opportunity to visit the Zaglav, Milna, Zenka beaches while on the island of Vis in Croatia for a few days. Full story August 2021, Zaglav, Vis, Croatia; Zenka, Vis, Croatia; Milna, Vis, Croatia Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | ||
This is the 5th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, and set 4. The next sets are 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.