Hollywood swim

Hollywood. Not that one, not in Los Angeles... I mean the one in the outskirts of Belgrade's airport... the water park and swimming hall. That one.

Their official name is Aqua Park Hollywoodland, and they actually reside in two separate parts, an entirely outdoor raised pool area with more slides and bigger area, and then a mostly indoor swimming hall which is nicer in design.

Coordinates for the Aqua Park Hollywoodland are N 44.80144 E 20.34249. They don't appear to have a working webpage, but the instagram is here. Entrance is 1500 local, or about 15€.

I also visited another swimming facility, or rather a gym, in the city, the Wellness Land. Coordinates for the Wellness Land gym are N 44.80095 E 20.48050. Their webpage is here. Entrance is 3000 local, or about 30€. That is steep for what you get, IMHO.

Photos from Hollywoodland, first the inside part:

Right by the building there's a nice outdoor pool as well, with a slide on top:

Then the separate outdoor pool area. This isn't as fancy but is quite big, the pool is 40 meters across for instance:

Photos from Wellness Land:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. These articles do not show swimmers or sauna goers, and are taken when the facility is empty.

Laukkoski school beach swim

As I was visiting my mom nearby, I also wanted a swim for the day. And Pornainen's Laukkoski school beach was easy to get to. In fact, I wanted to start a challenge: swim every day. Let's see how long I can make that work.

The beach was deserted, I guess it is starting to get too late in the season. But the water was warm, weather was sunny... what's not to like? 

The beach is small, but had a very interesting amphitheater seating made out of massive granite blocks. The beach itself has a bit of sand, a pier, a "puucee" dry toilet, and a building for changing rooms.

Parking is few hundred meters back.

The beach is at coordinates N 60.43927 E 25.40235.

See also Pornainen pages and Hagerlund.net review.

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.

Sandfjärden

Today I returned to the same nature area as yesterday's wonderful swim (link, alt. link) in Sandvik was at. Today's beach was Sandfjärden, the beach next to Kopparnäs parking lot and the grill, hut and other facilities there. This one is likely going to have other people, but is indeed easy to reach.

Coming here on a sunny but windier day than yesterday, I also observed that at the evening this beach is in the shade, unlike the beach at Sandvik yesterday. Yesterday was also a bit chilly in general but the sun made it good. Today... a bit more chilly. But if you walk far enough in the water to get some depth, you may actually reach the sunshine. But then you are, I don't know, at least 50 meters onto the sea, as the bottom is very shallowly sloping down.

Still, a wonderful experience. Had a swim. Then I did a hike around the area to the other direction than Sandvik. There's very nice path on top of the smooth rock covering the Långmossaberget (southwest from the parking lot and beach). You can make this a round trip and return on a path closer to the seashore. Or continue further southwest towards Rävberget and Bergudden, or even all the way to the other parking of Kopparnäs.

Sandfjärden is at N 60.05681 E 24.27529.

There were also ruins of an old, stone-foundation house at N 60.05008 E 24.26356.

Beach area photos:

Hiking trails:

Ruins:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. No photos of swimmers or sauna goers are taken in these articles.

Sandviken

What a find! Kopparnäs is an outdoors and nature preserve area with easy access, just 25 minutes from my office. And I had not been there. And, if you skip the main hub around the parking lot and walk just a bit over a kilometer, you get to the pristine, sunny beach of Sandviken. No one around, with swimming, grill place, firewood, camping opportunities just for you, very likely.

The coordinates are N 60.05911 E 24.28718. Read more from Uuvi's official page and Ant's trail blog article.

Photos from Sandviken:

The overall area of Kopparnäs is wonderful, here's a map:

There's also another sandy beach, smaller/more busy but with spectacular facilities for grilling and staying, they have these covered wooden huts. I need to stop by here for another swim some other day:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. No photos of swimmers or sauna goers are taken in these articles.

Störsvik sand pit swim

Today a bit better swim at the Störsvik sand pit in Siuntio than yesterday (article, alt. link).

Wonderful, clear water, warm too (or at least warmer than elsewhere). Never been, and this was just 14 minutes from the office.

Very nice pier, plenty of swimming place around the lake, good forest and paths around the lake, ample parking. What's not to like?

The place is near the seashore, too. In fact, that's where I thought I was going... but it is a sand pit. Which makes it much warmer than natural, deep lakes. Let alone the raging sea :-)

Read also about this from Tony Hagerlund's blog article. The funny thing he mentions in this article is that it is such a good swimming spot that it is often mentioned as Kirkkonummi's best swimming beach (despite being in Siuntio) :-) 

Stairs to the pit from the parking lot:

Overview of the area from a barren rock face above the lake:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Tough times...

... too busy, too little time to swim. I hope floating on the basement jacuzzi qualifies as a swim on my swim-every-day challenge?

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Karjalankallio swim

 

Karjalankallion laavu (the lean-to of Karelia Cliffs) is a nice, easy to reach fire-pit and viewing point near the Punkaharju Arboretum. The arboretum hosts among other things Finland's tallest tree.

While there was no beach, it was possible to go the water quite easily, at least if you have good swimming shoes to keep your feet stable on the smooth rock face sloping down to the water. A bit further on there are rocks under the water, but still walkable if you are careful.

Water was wonderful and clear, as always in this area. Very soft, too, having been used to swimming pool water.

The coordinates of my swimming spot were N 61.817097 E 29.332400. and the lean-to itself is at N 61.816699 E 29.332082. You can drive to a near-by parking lot, maybe 500 meters from the lean-to. The location and more information about the arboretum can be found here.

The shoreline:

The view from the lean-to:

I was in Punkaharju for a health rehabilitation course. This included heavy exercise, like taking a nap under a sleeping bag on a terrace:

The tallest tree:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Punkaharju beach swim

What a sunset! And how incredibly clear water there is! And no one around. Granted, it is late in the evening on a Thursday night, but still. 

I am at the official beach of the Punkaharju city. It is a bit away from the center, but such a nice spot. There's a pier, a jumping platform, boat harbor, parking lot, toilets and changing rooms...

The coordinates are N 61.751637 E 29.385698.

Read more from Tony Hagerlund's blog article.

Photos:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. No photos of swimmers are taken in these articles.