Los Baños del Mar Pool. Have Goggles, Will Travel Pool #19

Early morning holiday swim before the family wake up!

Join the local swim club for an early morning swim. Santa Barbara isn’t so warm at 7am! Finally, a 50-meter pool in its full-length configuration! The current pool dates from 1939 and features an unusual format. The pool’s 50m length spans seven lanes, with three additional approximately 20-meter lanes.

The sign located at the entrance gives some interesting information about the history of the pool and the two pools that were formerly located on the site:

The present Los Baños del Mar Pool represents the third public facility to be situated in the Plaza del Mar Park are. In November 1899. the bathhouse site property was deemed to the Santa Barbara Country Chamber of Commerce through the probate of the Thomas B. Dibblee estate. Among the conditions of the dedication was that the parcel forever remain a bathhouse site and bathing resort for the public. In October 1937, after two preceding public bathhouses at this site were destroyed by fire and earthquake, respectively, the design and construction of a new swimming pool began, funded in part nu a Public Works Administration grant.

This facility is one of the two remaining California coastal area “plunges”. Of the approximately 20 public swimming pools that were built in the late ninetieth and early twentieth centuries, only Santa Barbara’s Los Baños del Mar Pool retained the original character and function of these historic structures.

In April 1992, Los Baños del Mar Pool was designated a City Landmark by the City Council. The facility was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1992. Today, it remains open for everyone to enjoy.