Our love affair with summer continues full steam (pun intended!) Nothing says summer holidays than a dip in cool blue waters - from infinity pools overlooking oceans to rooftop pools we are taking you on a tour of the most incredible, unique and epic pools in the world.
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
The ultimate cool pool has to be the famed 150metre infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands set into a cantilevered platform overlooking the city.
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
Gimmick or genius? Whichever way you look at it, you cannot deny that this tropical-themed playground holding 1.6 million-gallon wave pool (capable of creating waves up to six feet high) lapping up against a real-sand beach is one epic pool.
Alila Villas, Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
A dip at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. In the 50-metre swimming pool at Alila Villas you can do just that. And that’s on top of the private plunge pools each of the 84 villas boasts.
San Alfonso del Mar, Algarrobo, Chile
According to The Guinness Book of World Records, this two-thirds-of-a-mile-long crystalline pool the biggest in the world. And not only do you get to enjoy a swim in the biggest pool in the world but you do so with a spectacular view of the South Pacific.
The Joule, Dallas, Texas
Another rooftop, another cool pool. Hanging precariously over the edge of this renovated 1920s neo-Gothic building, this glass bottomed pool will also offer you some unprecedented views of the city underneath. Not for the faint-hearted.
Amangiri Utah, Arizona
Swimming in an oasis? Don’t mind if we do. At the Amangiri Utah Resort in a valley near the Grand Canyon, you can swim in the pool curving around a giant 165 million-year-old sandstone rock right in the heart of the Arizona desert. Stuff of mirages.
One and Only Reethi Rah Resort, Maldives
With over 50 pools on the resort, what would make one opt for this pool within an infinity pool? It could be that you can’t tell where the pool ends or the ocean beings, or perhaps that it is adults-only. Either it makes it on to our list of top cool pools.
The Library, Koh Samui, Thailand
Seeing red? Oh yes, you are. The Library in Thailand bucks the trend for turquoise, blue or sea-green and opts, instead, for blood-red. Would you dare take a dip in its crimson waters?
The Grace Santorini, Greece
Atop the cliffs of splendid Santorini is the Grace Santorini featuring a crystal clear infinity pool with the famed panoramic views of the caldera.
Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona
A pool with a view in the heart of a European capital? The rooftop pool at Mandarin Oriental Barcelona is it, overlooking the city's central Eixample neighbourhood, at the top of the Ramblas, and offering you a stylish swim.
Hotel Unique, São Paulo, Brazil
Unique by name, unique by nature. Hotel Unique is home to yet another crimson pool, this time on a rooftop overlooking the São Paulo skyline which comes alive at night. What’s more, you can enjoy music pumped through the pool via an underground sound system. Now that’s what we call epic!
The Cambrian Hotel, Swiss Alps
A dip après-ski? Deep in the Swiss Alps you can enjoy the endlessly clear views of the Alpine mountains and a high altitude swim in the infinity pool of The Cambrian.
Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
Imagine having your own palatial plunge pool. At the Oberoi Udaivilas, fashioned after the traditional Indian palaces, right in the heart of romantic Rajasthan, you can. The swimming pool encircles the palatial resort with the premiere lakefront rooms boasting access to a piece of the pool right on their private patios.
Nam Hai, Vietnam
The sea or the pool? Why choose when at Nam Hai resort in Vietnam you can have the grand pool leading straight on to the beach?
Huvafen Fushi, Maldives
At the Huvafen Fushi resort in the Maldives you are spoiled for choice. While each of the 38 villas offers its own private plunge pool, nothing can beat a evening dip lit by starry skies and the twinkling lights beneath the surface of this gorgeous infinity pool.
Laucala Island, Fiji
A pool within a pool? At the a 25-villa private-island resort, Laucala Island in Fiji, you can either do laps in a glass pool above the ground or splash around in a more natural looking pool the structure in embedded in. Either way, it will make for a cool swim.
Evason Ma’In Hot Springs, Jordan
The mineral-rich cool green waters of the eVASON mI’in Hot Springs in Jordan are not only enticing but also equally healing in quality. Easy on the eyes too!
Hanging Gardens, Ubud, Indonesia
No list of cool pools would be complete without one of the most famous pools in the world – the dual-layered infinity pool in Indonesia’s Hanging Gardens in Ubud, making you feel at one with the surrounding lush jungles.
