Got swimming on the brain with summer around the corner? From the underwater caves of Belgium’s Nemo 33 to Singapore’s sky-high Skypark, The Daily Beast rounds up the biggest, deepest, highest, and most excellent pools in the world.
The original plans for Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif., called for a garden with a temple structure and an ornamental pool. But in 1934, owner William Randolph Hearst wrote to his architect, saying, “I am sending back the plan of the temple garden with the suggestion that we make the pool longer than it is, as long as a swimming pool. Mrs. Hearst and the children are extremely anxious to have a swimming pool!” And a swimming pool they got. Twelve years later, the finished Neptune Pool was 104 feet long, 95 feet wide, and held 345,000 gallons of water, covered in marble, and flanked by 17th-century Italian bas-reliefs. Desperate for a dip in the water? You’d better know someone who knows someone. Sadly, ordinary visitors are not allowed to take a swim. But guests of the castle’s employees are allowed to swim on certain nights in July and August.
Dan Steinberg / AP Photo
The pool deck at the Viceroy Hotel in Miami spans 2 acres on the property’s 15th floor. In addition to the blueberry trees and views of Biscayne Bay, the deck boasts a wading pool, an 80-person hot tub, and a swimming pool the size of a football field.
Courtesy of Viceroy Miami
But the pool at the Viceroy has nothing on the 20-acre pool at the San Alfonso del Mar Resort in Algarrobo, Chile. The saltwater lagoon is 3,323 feet long, 115 feet at its deepest point, and holds 66 million gallons of constantly circulated seawater. The Guinness Book of World Records named it the biggest pool in the world. It was probably one of the most expensive too—it took more than five years to build and cost $1.6 billion.
Ho New / Reuters
Nemo 33, in Belgium’s capital, was the world’s deepest pool until 2007, when it lost that crown to San Alfonso del Mar. However, at 108 feet, it is still the deepest indoor pool, and the spring water is always kept at a warm 96 degrees. The pool, which has underwater platforms, caves, and one pit that descends 108 feet, is used as “multi-purpose diving instruction, recreational, and film production facility.”
John Greenwood
Ever wanted to swim where Michael Phelps won eight of his gold metals? Beijing’s Water Cube at the Olympic Park has undergone a $51 million renovation and become a massive water park. The “Happy Magic Water Cube, Beijing Water Cube Water Park,” as a sign on the property describes it, first opened on Aug. 8, 2010, exactly two years after the Olympics. Occupying half of the original Water Cube, the indoor park features a wave pool, lazy river, spa, and 13 water slides, and it’s the largest water park in Asia.
Greg Baker / AP Photo
The SkyPark pool at the $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore is definitely not for the faint of heart. At almost 500 feet long, the infinity pool is an exhausting spot to do laps, but, more important, it is also 650 in the air on the 55th floor of the hotel, making it the largest pool in the world at that height. The platform holding the pool, which spans all three towers of the hotel, is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall.
Vivek Prakash / Reuters
This Olympic-size pool next to the Tasman Sea in Sydney, Australia is home to the Bondi Icebergs, a winter swim team, and takes its name from the pool’s frigid temperatures. The solid concrete walls always keep the water in the pool slightly colder than the ocean next to it. It is not uncommon for waves from the ocean to crash into the pool, which is all right, as the pool is filled with cold seawater anyway. It’s open to the public, but swimmers who want to become members of the club must make 75 swims in the pool during the winter season (July), when the water temperature in the pool regularly drops below 60 degrees.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
It may not be the largest pool in the world, but it is the largest pool at sea—and it is still pretty big. Built on Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, the Aquatheater pool reaches a depth of 18 feet. The depth allows for swimming and scuba diving during the day. At night the pool doubles as an outdoor amphitheater and hosts a Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatics show with gymnasts, aerialists, water jets that can shoot water 65 feet high, and music. The pool’s floor can also move up and down to change the pool’s depth depending on the performance.
Courtesy of Royal Caribbean
