The Largest Swimming Pool in the World

San Alfonso del Mar, a seaside resort in Chile, houses the biggest artificial swimming pool in the world. San Alfonso del Mar is situated on Chile’s southern coast, 100 km west of the capital Santiago.

San Alfonso del Mar has already been attracting people from all over South America and this artificial lagoon and swimming pool, eight hectares in size and with an incredible 250,000 cubic meters of water, is intended to turn it into a must see for virtually all people. Acknowledged by Guinness World Records as being the world’s largest swimming pool, the lagoon trounces all other record holders in the category, including the Orthlieb pool in Casablanca, Morocco, itself a huge 150 meters by 100 meters – the San Alfonso pool is 1km in length.

The unique clear water artificial lagoons, transparent to a depth of 35 meters and unprecedented in design and construction methods, are the work of Crystal Lagoons founder, biochemist and Chilean businessman Fernando Fischmann. It is equivalent in size to an incredible 6,000 normal backyard pools. The lagoon, cost an estimated $US1.5 billion ($1.74 billion) to build. The pool itself took five years to build and the annual maintenance bill will be £2million. It can harvest, filter and permanently recirculate ocean water by itself.

The water in summer is kept at 25 degrees Celsius, around nine degrees warmer than the chilly Pacific Ocean nearby. The man-made lagoon large enough to allow guests make use of small kayaks boats to ferry around the pool.

The lagoon technology can “harvest, filter and permanently recirculate ocean water,” according to the Chilean biochemist Fernando Fischmann who heads Crystal Lagoons Corporation, the company which developed the technology.

The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo since its opening. Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end.