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Original poster

Salt water swimming pool

11 replies

Cheeseandhamtoast · 08/07/2015 22:05

I am looking to book a hotel in Tenerife for October half term, but the one I am interested in has an unheated salt water swimming pool.

I just wondered if anyone has taken their DCs to a hotel with a salt water pool, and whether it has hurt their eyes when jumping in the water. My DCs are a bit fussy, and complain about their skin hurting in the sea Hmm so don't want to be on holiday without a pool they can enjoy.

OP posts:
mummymeister · 09/07/2015 09:37

We had salt water pools in Belize and the children hated them. The salt dried onto their skin and they found it really irritating to their eyes. it seems fine to swim in an but not fine if you want to splash and play about in them. we also found them not to be as warm as traditional pools. whether this was just the pools we had or something specific to salt water ones I don't know. why do you want an unheated salt water pool? I think you may also have answered your own question. fussy kids that don't like the sea are going to hate this I am afraid.

Seeline · 09/07/2015 09:39

I used a salt water pool in Tenerife. It was brilliant for me as I am not a good swimmer, but the extra buoyancy made it impossible to sink Grin
I think it was actually very salty - probably more so than the sea as I am quite capable of sinking there!
If salt is a problem I wouldn't have though it ideal.
The hotel I stayed at had other pools as well though so you had choices.

CrystalCove · 09/07/2015 13:29

We were in a salt water pool in California before we realised it was and I couldn't understand why my eyes were stinging so much. Luckily the hotels other pool wasnt!

AttilaTheMeerkat · 09/07/2015 14:54

I would find another hotel to stay in (why this one anyway?)
with a different type of pool (also these pools can feel colder). If they are already unhappy about their skin hurting in the sea you may well find that a seawater pool is something they will point blank refuse to use.

Lifeisadancefloor · 09/07/2015 15:17

We had a saltwater pool in Florida (cant remember where) one year and all I can remember is that it cured a particularly bad verruca on my DS's foot - we tried everything to get rid of that thing - but swimming in that pool for an hour a day for a fortnight blasted it and he hasn't had one since.

Apologies for the unhelpful memory Grin

Original poster
Cheeseandhamtoast · 09/07/2015 15:59

Thanks for all the comments. I had a good quote for this hotel, and it has adjoining rooms which are good for the DC. I was just about to pay the deposit when I found out about the swimming pool. The hotel does have another smaller freshwater pool, but I can imagine that getting very crowded and the saltwater pool being empty!

OP posts:
struckwithindecision · 09/07/2015 16:01

We stayed in a hotel like this in Tenerife (the Anthelia). Great hotel but the kids would not go in the large saltwater pool. To be honest the pool was almost empty and everyone was in the smaller one. I would avoid.

MeganTrainer · 09/07/2015 16:08

We stayed in a friend's place in Tenerife that had a saltwater pool.

I'd stayed there loads of times before and it hadn't bothered me because all I tended to do with swimming pools pre-DC was roll off my sunbed, plop into the pool to cool off, haul myself out and recommence sunbathing. I am as keen on getting my face/head wet as the average cat.

However playing with the kids and getting splashed resulted in us all getting sore eyes. The kids hated it. We'd never go anywhere with a salty pool again.

specialsubject · 10/07/2015 10:31

all swimming pools will be heavily chlorinated so their eyes will get sore in those too. They could wear goggles.

the 'skin hurting' is either tiny jellyfish wherever you went before, or they weren't rinsed off with fresh water after a sea swim. As the salt dries on the skin it then clogs round the hairs and pulls them, hence the tiny sting.

tell them what is going on, rinse them off after swimming and refuse to entertain whining.

SecretSquirrels · 11/07/2015 15:07

We stayed in a hotel with a salt water pool once when DC were about 8 and 10. DC love to spend the entire holiday in the pool and the holiday was almost ruined. They jumped in once and flatly refused to go in again.

tell them what is going on, rinse them off after swimming and refuse to entertain whining
It's their holiday as well, and there was nothing that would have persuaded them.

There was a second, smaller, fresh water pool which was very crowded, but better than the huge, empty, salt pool.
Ever since I have scrutinised the small print to check. I have rejected many fab looking hotels because of this, including many in the Canaries, Kos and various Sensatori ones.

PestoSwimissimos · 17/07/2015 10:27

We went to a hotel in Crete with salt water pools and waterslides when the DDs were young. In spite of being desperate to go on the slides, they avoided the pools after the first dip as their skin was stinging. We spent the rest of the week on the beach & they loved going in the sea instead.

Since then I have always avoided hotels with salt pools.

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