Moscow
To the seven pools that opened in residential areas of Moscow last year, 18 more have been added this season. RG correspondents have gone to new addresses.
Plan your route in advance
New swimming pools have been opened in six city parks and at 12 sites of the Moscow Stations project. We went to the southwest of Moscow, to the October 50th anniversary park, near the Prospekt Vernadskogo metro station. Territory – 103 hectares. But where exactly should we look for a beach in such a huge space? There were no signs of it at any of the entrances to the park. But we were lucky: we ran into a group of teenagers with beach bags. They suggested the route along the central alley to the roundabout and advised: “The route should be built when booking the pool and session.”
In order not to get lost and not get caught in a technological break between sessions, it is better to find out everything in advance on the mos.ru website.
The priority is the sun.
And here it is, an aquatic paradise. One of the largest beach areas. Three drinking fountains for adults, one for children and a jacuzzi. There are sun loungers and umbrellas around. Most of the sun loungers are occupied by young people, but we found some free ones without difficulty. “Our pool is designed for 265 people at a time,” pool manager Alexey Polishchuk told RG. “The number of guests depends on the weather, but families with children go straight to the pool.” The maximum depth of the adult pool is 1.8 meters, the children’s pool is 0.6 meters.
The 18 outdoor pools are all equipped in the same style: on a platform raised 2 meters above the ground. It is fenced with a discreet grey fence. At the entrance there is a ramp and steps, on the arch there is a colourful inscription “Summer in the park”. A smiling girl at the entrance asks you to show her the reserved ticket on your phone and then helps you formalize your consent to visit the pool. You pay for the session at the ticket office, if necessary, rent a towel and buy bracelets for your child, and put on some flip-flops. And you’re at the resort!
Four sessions per day
All venues have the same schedule, with a half-hour break between sessions. As the administrator explained, this is necessary to clean the area: remove debris (there is a lot of poplar fluff now), check the water quality (acidity and chlorine data) and temperature, which should vary from +28 to +33 degrees. For swimming per day – 4 sessions. The morning one is the shortest, from 9.00 to 10.30, and also the cheapest: ticket prices start from 250 rubles. The rest are 3 hours. The most popular times in all pools are from 11.00 to 14.00 and from 14.30 to 17.30. There are still plenty of people willing to attend the last session at 18.00.
Close to home
As Nadezhda Sokolova, a resident of Koshtoyants Street, said, she came to the pool with two granddaughters: “The youngest is 7 years old, and the eldest is 10. We walked a few minutes from the house. The water is warm. There is sunshine, fresh air, and you can have a snack in the food court.” Meanwhile, the girls, squealing, throw water on each other. Besides them, there are about a dozen other children in the children’s pool. One of the girls is learning to swim under the guidance of her mother, who is standing to the side. A lifeguard keeps an eye on the whole crowd, standing next to a miniature rescue tower. On the tower there is a rope and other things necessary in case of emergency.
There are lifeguards in each of the three pool areas, including next to the jacuzzi. This entertainment pond is no less popular than the children’s bowl.
holiday price
First session
Children, beneficiaries: weekdays – 250 rubles, weekends – 550 rubles Adults: weekdays – 550 rubles, weekends – 1110 rubles.
Second – fourth sessions
Children, beneficiaries: weekdays – 550 rubles, weekends – 1110 rubles Adults: weekdays – 1100 rubles, weekends – 2000 rubles The most expensive rate is for a VIP sun lounger for two with a canopy and a soft mattress – 5 thousand rubles.
Useful information
In Krasnaya Presnya and Sokolniki parks, you can pay for your visit to the swimming pool online.
In other pools, reservations are cancelled 20 minutes after the start of the session.
In order not to formalize consent to visit the pool every time, you can open a “loyal guest card”. However, you will still have to book the session online.
By the way
According to city authorities, 18 pools receive 10,000 visitors in just one week.
mos.ru
Rostov region: 3D pool with sea view
An interesting tourist place appeared 50 kilometres from Rostov, which immediately attracted the attention of those who wanted to spend their holidays in an interesting and comfortable way. The first large-scale swimming pool in Russia with transparent walls decorated with three-dimensional graffiti with sharks, octopuses, divers and submarines was opened in the thermal centre of the Morskaya resort.
The glass pool is shaped like a bird, hence its name. One side, eight meters long, is covered by a completely transparent wall. Although the glass is 12 centimeters thick, it is practically invisible. Taganrog artists painted the wall with graffiti based on the works of Jules Verne in 3D style, and now visitors swim alongside sharks and octopuses that naturally look out of the water.
Businessman Sergei Melikhov highlighted the main attraction of the place: from the steep cliff there is a stunning view of the endless expanse of the bay. It was this advantage that he decided to use. At 40 meters above sea level, and when you swim in the pool, the horizon visually merges with the bay. The effect is unique: whether you are swimming in the pool or already in the sea…
After the first pool, it was the turn of the second, third and fourth, and now the territory of the aquatic zone consists of four large reservoirs, four more types of baths and a sauna. On the wooden benches of the sauna with a panoramic window, girls take beautiful selfies with a view of the sea.
Nowadays, when most families still have limited travel options, both financial and temporal, when you not only want to wait an entire year for a vacation, but simply go on your day off, it’s hard to imagine a better opportunity. So the main contingent of people coming here are families from Rostov and Taganrog, and there are also more and more “transit” travelers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Voronezh, who stop in an unusual park on the way to the sea.
Ural: on the crest of a wave
It’s so hot in the Urals that I can’t even believe it! On days like these, when the sun is hot in the south and you can’t find coolness even in the shade of fresh leaves, you feel like going to the water. It is a pity that there is no sea near Yekaterinburg. But the number of pools is growing, and the coolest option for comfortable swimming, even in the heat or cold, is the thermal complex in the south of Yekaterinburg, on Gorny Shield.
If it is already difficult to surprise locals with indoor and outdoor pools, then for the first time there is an opportunity to surf. The water attraction “Surf Wave” was designed both for those who want to learn to stand on a board, and for those who want to improve their skills throughout the year.
Training on the crest of a wave under the supervision of an instructor is available to everyone over 8 years old. The speed of the water in the attraction reaches 60 km/h, but the depth is shallow – just a few centimetres. According to the instructors, falls are not scary or painful, but are an integral part of skating, and under the boiling artificial wave there are soft mats.
Sochi: RG correspondent dived into a pool with a shark and a turtle
The largest aquarium in southern Russia, Sochi Discovery World, attracts visitors not only with the mystery of the inhabitants of the deep sea. It is located in a picturesque place in the resort town of Adler region. Nearby, as if anticipating the interior of the aquarium, there are mosaic fountain pools with figures of fish and marine animals, built half a century ago according to the design of Zurab Tsereteli.
The two-storey building with an area of 6,000 square metres consists of 13 thematic zones, a 44-metre tunnel with a 24-metre window, 30 aquariums and 5,000 tonnes of water. Scientists from Australia, China and New Zealand were involved in the creation and equipping of the aquarium.
Looking at the inhabitants of the seas and oceans through glass is a childish activity, the RG correspondent thought, and decided to master the basics of diving. I immediately warned the organizers that I was a novice. In any case, everyone must undergo training first. Forewarned is forearmed. The main rule is to constantly blow your ears, which, even at shallow depths, begin to clog up as if you were climbing mountains or taking off and landing in an airplane. It’s quite simple: you need to exhale with your nose closed.
Next are the technical rules. What to do if water gets into the mask, you have difficulty breathing because of the tube with the balloon, etc. The main thing is to remember the conventional signals and not confuse: “we are floating” and “everything is fine.”
– Are there sharks there? – I’m interested.
“No, they used to be, but they were moved to a separate aquarium when a dangerous sand shark was brought to us,” warns experienced diver Kirill Trey. – There is a big turtle. For her, as for the brunette, the main thing is not to put your fingers in her mouth. And there are also small fish that often mistake the hair for algae and start chewing it. Don’t be afraid or back down. In general, all movements under water should be smooth, do not panic. This way you won’t help yourself, you’ll only leave yourself breathless.
After receiving instructions, I put on a wetsuit and walked towards the aquarium. To enter the large pool, you first have to get past the small one, in which… a shark swims.
– She got sick and we took her away. Don’t be afraid, she’s almost domestic, tame, we feed her by hand,” the instructor explains, but for some reason his words don’t reassure her. The shark is small in size, but still somewhat awkward. Therefore, my task was to have time to sneak over the edge and climb the stairs while she was on the other side.
Having overcome the obstacle, I find myself at the edge of a large pool 3.5 meters deep. A turtle about a meter in size immediately swims there. I saw something similar in the wild, in the Gulf of Oman. He stuck his head out of the water like a periscope and I saw his “teeth.” It seems like I’ve never rowed to shore so fast before. Here the situation is even more delicate: I found myself between Scylla and Charybdis. Who should you choose: a small shark or a large turtle? But there is no time to think.
“If she’s too curious and comes closer to you, just push her by the shell near her head,” Kirill urges me and dangles a five-kilogram balloon on my back. – Don’t worry, there is enough air there for several hours of continuous swimming underwater, and we will dive for half an hour. I will also put six kilograms of weight on you.
You don’t feel the weight of the water. In the meantime, I’m learning to breathe underwater with a snorkel. At first it’s very unusual, but gradually breathing becomes even. The turtle follows us everywhere. It’s true that you almost immediately stop being afraid of it. It even seems that the sea creature smiles sweetly at the guests. And when it sets sail, people start to miss it by their side: it’s like a guardian angel for lovers of the deep.
Yakutia: swimming in the deep taiga
One of the most unusual pools in our country is located in the Neryungri district, in the remote Yakut taiga, right in the open air. It is small in size, but the water in it is not ordinary, but mineral. It comes from an artesian well of the Malo-Nakhotsky mineral water deposit.
It is surprising that you can swim in this pool all year round, even during the Yakut frosts. The water temperature here never drops below 32ºС and is constantly being refreshed. Healing, clean and warm mineral water flows from a large pipe connected to the pool. You can even drink this water.
It is used in the treatment of diseases of the liver and biliary tract, the musculoskeletal system and metabolic disorders. The clean air of the pine forest also has a healing effect.
It is an indescribable feeling to swim in warm, clear waters in the middle of a snow-covered pine forest in absolute silence! In the Soviet years, they planned to build a sanatorium of all-Union importance on a geothermal spring, but they only managed to pave the road. The Nahot recreational center can be reached by a dirt road; It is located 23 kilometers from the town of Chulman.
