Allas Sea Pool

First day in Helsinki, and with the unusually hot weather, a swim felt like the obvious choice. I made my way from the Hilton Hotel through the city to a pool complex situated right in the harbor. It’s a large floating wooden deck, cleverly built into the docks and surrounded by the city—a pretty unique setup.

There are three pools here: The Heated Lap Pool, a 25-metre, six-lane pool kept at 27°C. Great for swimming laps without the chill. A smaller, shallow option for kids and families; and the Sea Water Plunge Pool, essentially a deck surround of the harbor water, and yes, it’s freezing.

Picked a lane and made a start; there is much too much to see in Helsinki, so kept it to a quick and easy 1,200m swim. Made a quick detour on the way back to the changing rooms to test the sea pool - yep, freezing! In, out and done!

After my swim, I climbed the deck stairs to the pool bar for a cold beer before heading off to explore Helsinki on scooters. So far, the city’s been great—looking forward to seeing more of what it has to offer.

First Scandinavian pool, done!