It's really looking and feeling like summer around here now. Time for a swim!
Sure, we're naturally surrounded by water, but sometimes you need to get the kids to a public pool, and those are all over the place too. Here's where to take your crew when it gets too hot to hang out at home this summer. (As you may have heard, there's a lifeguard shortage at the moment, and some pools and parks are still enforcing some Covid protocols, as wellas requiring a swim test of some kind, so check ahead before you plan a pool day with the kiddos.)
The best place to start is a great post on the website Parent Map: Summer Swimming: Outdoor Pools and Water Parks Around Seattle, Tacoma, and Beyond.
First up on that list, and one of the best pools around (IMHO) is on the very edge of West Seattle in Lincoln Park, with a view of Puget Sound -- Colman Pool. Why is it so beloved? Two words: heated saltwater.
Seattle has a few choice swimming spots, but there are great pools all over the place: Renton, Edmonds, Kirkland, Tacoma, and for a real adventure, there's always Wild Waves in Federal Way with a lazy river, multiple water slides, a 500,000 gallon wave pool, and 60 rides. If you can swing a mid-week visit to WW, you'll find it a lot less uh . . . .wild, which might be easier on younger kids.
If we have a prolonged heatwave like we had last summer, and you're one of the majority of Seattle-area residents making do without air conditioning, you might want to just pack up the fam and check into a hotel -- but not just any hotel; how about one of the 7 Best Hotels With Outdoor Pools in Seattle. From the five-star Four Seasons in downtown Seattle to the Travelodge near the Space Needle, you'll find relief indoors and out at one of these places.
Wherever you go, have fun, don't forget the sunscreen, and stay safe!