• For some people, swimming is simply a way to not drown or avoid being eaten by sharks,
but for most of us it’s a great way to relax.
So how much can you do with just a hole filled with water?
And do you need to be a millionaire to visit most of these?
Here’s the fifteen most insane pools that have ever existed.
15 – Blood pool • Pools are blue, we all know this, because
water is blue…obviously.
But The Library resort in Thailand has made it’s luxury pool with dark red tiles and
it’s amazing how unsettling it looks.
• There’s a beautiful sand beach nearby if you want to go back to normality… and
wash all of the blood off.
14 – Y-40 • Since 2014, Y40 has held the title as
deepest swimming pool in the world.
It’s a part of Montegrotto Terme, a four-star hotel in Italy and the water goes 40 metres
deep.
There’s an enclosed tunnel for non-swimming guests to watch the underwater action, as
well as various other viewing windows.
• Guests can either scuba-dive or free-dive, if they have the lungs for it.
13 – Devil’s Pool • At certain times of the season, there
is a natural pool in Zambia that sits right on the lip of the cascading Victoria Falls
waterfall.
When the river is too full, you would be washed right over but at certain times of the year,
the natural lip of the rock has created a fairly calm dell that visitors can sit and
relax in.
12 - Chongwe River House • But if nearly plummeting to your death
ain’t your thing, you don’t need to leave Zambia to get an entirely different but incredibly
unique pool experience.
Chongwe River House sits right on the bank of a wild river and you can paddle around
in your shorts or bikini while you watch elephants and hippos run wild just metres away.
11 - International Commerce Centre • The highest man-made pool in the world
is at the top of the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong.
• You can swim almost half a kilometre above the ground and if you get bored of the view
out of the infinity style window edge, there’s a full LED screen all over the ceiling.
The pool itself is part of the Ritz Carlton hotel there so, you might need an extra wallet
for this one.
10 – The Homestead Crater • Most of the pools on this list provide
cool water and beautiful surroundings.
But the Homestead Crater likes to be different since it’s a hot spring that bubbles up
in a cave shaped crater.
• The water is so warm that you’ll probably need to hop out a few times during your allotted
hour but the minerals will give your skin a smooth, healthy feel.
9 – Szechenyi thermal bath • If you really want to combine health and
swimming though, there’s not many better places than Szechenyi thermal baths.
• It’s one of the largest pool complexes in Europe and you’re surrounded by beautiful
architecture.
What’s even better is it’s one of the greatest places in the world to rave in your
swimwear.
In the summer months it hosts huge parties where they light the whole place up and you
can dance in the pool.
• They probably relax the “no heavy petting” rule as well
8 – Tropical Islands • Just outside Berlin is a giant white bubble
which is the largest free-standing hall in the world.
Originally it was called Aerium and was built by a company called CargoLifter who intended
to use it to build and test airships.
But the company went bust and it was bought by a Malaysian company in 2003.
It’s now known as Tropical Islands Resort and the giant space, of almost 200 million
cubic feet, is a beach resort with the largest indoor jungle in the world.
You can swim, race down slides and even camp out overnight while the harsh Berlin winter
snows outside the dome.
7 - Lev Leviev’s mansion • Lev Leviev not only has an amazing name,
the Israeli businessman also has an incredible pool.
Inside his $70 million London home, he has maybe the most expensive private pool ever
built, fitted with gold tiles, the usual sauna and hot tub and a retractable roof.
It also doubles as a ballroom because apparently, he’s too poor to have a separate pool and
ballroom; life’s tough sometimes.
6 - Holiday Inn Shanghai • This pool looks like a regular hotel pool
at first, nice but nothing to blow your mind.
But as you swim out to the windows you realise that when you look down, you’re seeing the
traffic below.
The pool has a large section that juts out like an aquatic balcony so you can combine
your fear of drowning with your fear of heights.
5 – Dead Sea of China • If you want a slightly less exclusive
Chinese bathing experience then the so-called “Dead Sea of China” is about as unexclusive
as you get, with around 10,000 people cramming into the water on hot summer days.
• The water is highly salty so rather than a lot of swimmers, everyone tends to rock
up with an inflatable ring and just float.
To be fair, there’s not really much space to do anything else.
4 - Cenote Samula • These natural pools in Mexico are still
reasonably free of international tourists so Mexicans get to enjoy a variety of different
experiences.
• You can go way down deep into proper caves for a slightly spooky subterranean swim.
Or there’s relaxing dark green water, out in the open, with plants over hanging and
growing all the way down the high, rock walls.
3 - Alila Ubud • If you want to experience the beautiful
natural world of Indonesia but you still want someone to bring you Mojitos and treat you
like a princess then this hotel is for you.
• And the pool is a long infinity strip that feels like a river running right through
the tropical jungle, except there’s nothing in there to bite you, eat you and just generally
spoil your dip.
2 – Wine Pool • Swimming with a mojito might be pretty
tough so why not cut to the chase and just fill the pool with booze.
In the Yunnesun spa resort in Japan, guests can bathe in a pool filed entirely with red
wine.
• And if that doesn’t float your boat, they can offer a soak in sake, a coffee pool
for the morning after and a valentine’s day chocolate special, which is not a dirty
as it sounds.
1 – Russian kids • But who needs money and fancy resorts
when you can create the ultimate pool experience at home.
These kids from Russia covered their entire living room in plastic sheeting and filled
it up with water.
• And no, it’s not a house, it’s an apartment so we have no idea how they got
rid of the water without being murdered by their neighbours.