By Gail Marsh
Our RV park has no pool! The solution? A public pool! Or, even better, what about a private pool… that’s public? Swimply is the answer to that!
Water-cooled
There’s nothing better on a horribly hot day than dipping into the cool water of a swimming pool. Usually when RVing, we don’t feel a swimming pool is a necessity. However, the weather forecast calls for temperatures here to hit the 100+ degree mark for the next several consecutive days. Ugh. Suddenly, a pool sounds a bit more like a necessity!
If you’ve ever wanted to find a pool to enjoy and your RV park lacks one, here are some alternative ideas to try.
City pool
The medium-sized city nearest to our current RV park has a city pool. The non-resident entrance fee is $10 per person, per day. With our RV’s indoor afternoon temperature inching toward 85 degrees, that pool fee sounded quite reasonable.
Then I read the fine print: “All guests must be accompanied by a pool member.” Pool members reside within the city limits and pay a yearly $200 fee! Suffice it to say that we have no personal connections with anyone in the city, so the city pool was a no-go for us. You may fare better in the locations you visit. It’s worth a try, right?
YMCA
If you have a current YMCA membership, you may be able to use the swimming pool at another Y, even when far from home. Many Y’s across America participate in the Nationwide Program, but you’ll want to call ahead. There may be some restrictions, blackout dates, and other qualifying criteria. The Y near our RV park did not participate in the Nationwide Program. You may have better results, depending on where you’re traveling.
Swimply
I was talking to my son about my search for a swimming pool and he suggested Swimply. This is an online service that matches private pool owners with folks who want to swim. Pool owners list their pools with Swimply, submit pictures and a brief description, and note their fees. Swimply posts the pool on their website and guarantees liability insurance for the pool owner.
I found a wonderful pool listed for $25 per hour at a home quite close to our RV park. My husband and I enjoyed a fabulous, private, backyard setting while cooling off in the pool. We paid through Swimply’s secure payment system, and returned to our RV relaxed, refreshed, and much cooler, too! We didn’t swim every day, of course, but that one short respite from the heat surely helped!
Bonus: Swimply also matches folks with tennis and pickleball courts for rent. Give this app a try to see for yourself.
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Private setting? The owners are watching you through their kitchen window, lol!
Wow what a nice idea. It should also be noted that even smaller Canadian towns have public pools for a small fee.
Do they remove the goals before thawing them?
leave them in for water polo
Anyone can use my pool, but call ahead so I can inflate it….
Hahaha, thanks for the laugh!
Mine would be, “Call ahead to give me time to get my ducks out and clean it!”
Thank you, Gail! Well, this seems to count as a “good” thing that owes its existence to the internet. Congratulations on beating the heat however briefly. I might have just taken a chilly (lukewarm?) shower in our RV.
We got our pool for the same reason we got our travel trailer. We prefer to not share germs with strangers.
Out of all the options shared, I was kinda thinking “swim in the lake” would be one of them.
🙂 was a bit worried when I saw RV and private pool. Thoughts of inflatable hot tubs crossed my mind. Thankfully that is not what Gail meant. Especially in the south-west, RV parks typically ban using the park’s water system to fill anything that could remotely be considered an on-site pool.
This sounds like is could be a little dangerous for the pool owner as well as the Rver. Some bad folks out there! I wonder if the Rv Park could be an annual sponsor for it’s guests. $200.00 divided by the number of sites wouldn’t usually amount to much; however a liability issue may also ensue.
Thank you, Gail! Well, score one for the internet! I cannot imagine this happening without it. I guess it isn’t all bad. Happy new year and safe travels!