Living on the Edge: The World's Most Thrilling and Dangerous Swimming Pools

 

Introduction

The swimming pool of death should be too dangerous to exist, but yet people still swim here. Infinity pools on the edge of earth, wave pools creating artificial tsunamis. Here are the top 15 most scary swimming pools in the world.

 

Number 15: The Marina Bay Sands Rooftop Infinity Pool, Singapore.

This incredible 478-foot-long infinity pool at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore is part of the complex Sky Park that connects the roofs of the three buildings. It's made of 422,000 pounds of stainless steel and contains 380,000 gallons of water.

 

The engineering required to build this pool would be impressive anywhere in the world. But what makes this one more frightening than any other is that its edge is right up against the side of the Sky Park, and on the other side is a 656-foot drop to the ground. It definitely makes for some incredible views from the water, but if you don't have a head for heights, then swimming up to the side will have your heart pounding.

 

Even more unnerving is the fact that the pool had to be designed to accommodate the natural swaying of the buildings that it's on top of and can actually move by as much as 19.6 inches because of four movement joints within the pool structure. Furthermore, when the buildings continue to settle into the ground long after they've been built, the pool is held up by 500 custom jacks, which can be continually adjusted to ensure it remains flat even if three buildings move at different speeds.

 

Number 14: Crocosaurus Cove, Australia

Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, Australia is home to the largest display of Australian reptiles and fish in the world. There are barramundi, archer fish, whip rays, turtles, and of course, crocodiles. And it's these crocs that live in what's arguably the scariest pool in the world.

 

It's here that if you're feeling brave enough, you can go cage diving with the crocs. But even though you're surrounded by a tough and perspex tube known as the cage of death, the sight of an 18-foot-long reptile coming at you with its 66 sharp teeth is sure to inflict a sense of dread on anyone.

 

Cage diving is, of course, a popular activity around the world with various different species. But these crocs are on a whole different level. They're capable of biting with a force of 38,800 newtons. And to put this into perspective, the bite force of a great white shark or a lion is just 2,700 newtons.

 

If you were in a pool without protection, you'd certainly be a victim to this crocodilian brutality. But the question is, would you trust the perspex to guarantee you're protected from it?

 

Number 13: Market Square Tower, Houston

Market Square Tower in Houston, Texas is a 500-foot tall, 40-story luxury apartment block that offers residents a range of incredible amenities such as an indoor basketball court, a movie theater, a virtual golf simulator, and plenty more.

 

But the thing that truly makes this building stand out above the rest is its death-defying swimming pool located on the top floor next to one of the penthouses. All residents have access to it, but not all of them make use of this privilege. That's because the pool has an infinity edge which goes up against the side of the building and looks out across Houston.

 

To make things even more surreal, there's part of the pool that juts out over the edge of the roof that has a transparent floor. You can, therefore, swim above the street while looking down at vehicles, creating the most bizarre and frightening experience you can ever have in a pool.

 

Number 12: Tokyo Summerland

Tokyo Summerland is a water park in Tokyo, Japan that has been offering residents and visitors the chance to cool off in a range of pools and slides ever since it first opened in 1967. It has an amazing lazy river, hot tubs, and countless themed areas.

 

It is one of the largest places like this in Japan, aiming to allow guests to enjoy the fun of summer no matter what the weather's like outside. One of the most popular places at the water park is the indoor pool with a powerful wave machine, and it's often filled with a large number of people throughout the year.

 

Sometimes, though, it gets more packed than you'd ever believe, seemingly with no safety limits of how many people can be squeezed in. This leads to the bizarre images of people swimming in the pool in such tight confines that you can't actually see any water.

 

It's only the fact that everyone's wearing swimming costumes, holding rubber rings, and bobbing up and down that you'd believe it was truly a swimming pool. Just imagine if an accident happened here. There'd be no chance of receiving assistance whatsoever.

Number 11, Murmansk, Russia

Murmansk in Russia is a city that's in the far northwest part of the country, just 67 miles from the border with Norway. Being located two degrees inside of the Arctic Circle, you can just imagine how cold it gets. Usually, it gets no warmer than 17 degrees Fahrenheit at the peak of summer, and temperatures can plummet to below negative 13.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter.

 

So, this is one of the last places you'd expect to find an outdoor swimming pool. But it's actually where the annual ice swimming world championships are held. In 2019, 400 swimmers from across 34 countries descended upon the city, where an opening was cut from the ice of Lake Simonovsky with a chainsaw, specifically for the event.

 

Competitors swim 40 lengths of the 82-foot-long pool and aren't allowed to wear wetsuits or any form of clothing other than traditional swimwear, meaning that they're directly exposed to water that can be as cold as 41 degrees Fahrenheit with wind temperatures far lower than that. Anyone who takes part risks hypothermia, cold shock, asthma, and excessive shivering, which surely makes you ask the question: why is this even necessary?

 

Number 10, the Shuyen Water Park

The Yulong Shuyen Water Park in the northwest of China opened in 2015 to great fanfare because it offered locals the chance to swim in a variety of different pools in a region that's notoriously vulnerable to drought and water shortages. It soon became a favorite destination and had half a million visitors per year.

 

But something happened in 2019 that showed how far the operators pushed the technology at their disposal and will surely make people question whether they'll ever visit again. One of the most popular pools was one with a wave machine, and it would often be full of people floating up and down on the calm waves that were being formed.

 

On one fateful day, however, something went wrong with the machinery, and it produced a gigantic wave far beyond what the pool itself was designed for. It sent people flying in the air and crashing into the hard floor. There were countless injuries, such as broken bones and bloodied faces, all supposedly because one of the computers in the control room had malfunctioned.

 

Number 9, the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City

The Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai is in the city's Festival City region, just a few minutes' walk from the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Its structure was based on the design of the boats that can usually be seen sailing in the nearby harbor.

 

As you'd expect from a luxury hotel in Dubai, the Intercontinental has virtually everything you can think of, such as direct access to one of the most exclusive malls in the city, use of spas and saunas, and even the ability to hire a camel ride from a hotel lobby for those feeling brave. However, there's a fitness center on the top floor, and the 82-foot-long swimming pool offers you views of Dubai like no other.

 

That's because as you reach one end, you realize that it actually extends out beyond the edge of the rooftop terrace and has a glass bottom to it. As you're doing your laps, you might just see another guest leaving on their camel, who'll probably be looking back up at you thinking how bizarre it is. We are constantly adding more people to the Top Fives production team to bring you all the best content. Be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button.

 

Number 8, the Pool of Death, Hawaii

Well, at first, Hawaii's Pool of Death might seem like a picturesque place to take a dip. But if you're there at the wrong time, you'll soon learn why it's got its name. It's a naturally formed sinkhole on the island of Kauai, and it seems quite inviting. But the tidal forces at work here have caught countless people off guard over the years. In a flash, the calm waters can suddenly become filled with huge waves.

 

But the real danger comes from the rapidly changing level of the water at the moment you decide to jump in. It could be just a few feet to the surface, but when you're in mid-air, the water can drain out so low that you'll have nowhere to go apart from landing on the rocks. It's said that no locals have ever been injured here, mainly because they know better than to act recklessly around the coast.

 

But every few years, a tourist falls foul of the unpredictable tide and severely hurts themselves on volcanic rock. If you're in the region, it's definitely worth visiting yourself, but make sure to take extreme caution if you plan on getting in the water.

 

Number 7, the Homestead Resort, Utah

Homestead Resort is a luxurious getaway in Utah and was opened around the site of a place called the Crater, which is a natural geothermic hot spring within a dark cavern thought to be at least 10,000 years old. The water is a constant 90 degrees and is 55 feet deep.

 

At least 135,000 gallons of water are thought to pump through the pool each day, which is why the water remains so clear. This has led to its development as a scuba diving and swimming destination. A tunnel has been dug for easy access to the site, and a wooden platform gives swimmers a way to easily enter and exit the pool.

 

The problem is this doesn't exactly make this natural formation any safer, and there's always a degree of risk involved with swimming in a place like this. In 2011, for example, a man died there after attempting a free dive, and as well as there being no lifeguard present to offer assistance, the route out of the Crater is complicated and not well designed for an emergency evacuation.

 

Essentially, this means that if you get into trouble in the pool, you're on your own, and by that point, you'll definitely wish you had chosen to swim somewhere else instead.

 

Number six: Hotel Unique, Sao Paulo

The Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo certainly lives up to its name. From the moment you see its ship-shaped structure, you know that this isn't a hotel like anywhere else. And the more you explore what it has to offer, the stranger things become. The main event, however, can be found on its roof, where there is a massive bar that serves virtually every drink you could ever think of.

 

Next to the bar is the swimming pool, and this one's as unique as everything else. Instead of having blue tiles to give the water a typical azure blue you'd expect from a pool, this one has red tiles that make the water look like a deep crimson color. At first, this might seem novel and fun, but it's actually quite dangerous to swim in a pool like this.

 

Because we're so used to swimming in blue pools, our ability to determine depth from looking at it and our orientation when you're in the water is severely compromised, meaning there's a good chance you'll either hit the bottom or swim at top speed into the wall. When you add alcohol into the mix at nighttime, then things can become surprisingly dangerous.

 

Number five: Grand Wailea Resort, Hawaii

You might think you've seen every invention that can be added to a swimming pool, but just wait until you see what they have at the Grand Wailea Resort in Hawaii. As proof that innovation isn't always exactly a great thing and that it can lead to dangerous-looking additions, the main pool is the only one in the world to have something that's completely unnecessary: an elevator.

 

The entire pool complex is impressive, even for one on a tropical island. There are water slides, rapids, a rope swing, and cabanas for those looking to relax. But all of this means that the pools had to be built at different heights. Instead of climbing stairs to go between them, the developers came up with a novel way of going from pool to pool, which involves swimming into a confined, cave-like structure, sitting down on the circular device, and then waiting for it to activate.

 

It begins to slowly spin, and after a couple of minutes, you're at the top and ready to go down a slide. Luckily, the mechanism behind it is thoroughly checked every night, because if something went wrong with it, the combination of water height and electricity would surely be a dangerous mix.

 

Number four: Golden Nugget, Las Vegas

Las Vegas is known for being one of the best adult playgrounds in the world. And if you're looking for a scary swimming pool experience like no other, then you'll need to visit the Golden Nugget, known as "The Tank." It cost $30 million to install and is built across three stories that are surrounded by private cabanas for hire.

 

What makes it special and terrifying is that in the middle of the pool is a 200,000-gallon aquarium that's full of deadly sharks, and you can actually ride a water slide that goes straight through it.

 

It's one thing seeing sharks, but it's a completely different level of fear being close to them in their natural environment with only a thin perspex tube separating you. Would you dare go down on this slide? How could it possibly be guaranteed that it's absolutely safe?

 

Number three: Hanging Gardens of Bali

The Hanging Gardens of Bali is a stunning resort that's located between the Ayung River and the Dalam Sagara Temple in Bali. Designed to make you feel at one with nature, all of the structures are built within a virtually untouched rainforest, and you're almost guaranteed to see monkeys and other local wildlife, taking as much of an interest in you as you are in them.

 

A place like this needs an astonishing swimming pool, and they definitely don't fail to deliver. Even though it might feel somewhat dangerous if you're in the water. The reason for this is that it's an infinity pool, which means there's no pool slide or lip along one edge, and this just so happens to be the edge of the pool that's up against a cliff face and looks out across the valley that the resort is built next to.

 

From the water, you can look over and see the vertical drop of hundreds of feet to the valley floor, and it seems all too easy to accidentally fall over. Luckily, no one has ever been injured in the pool, but that doesn't stop it from seeing an accident that's waiting to happen.

 

Number two: Deep Joy, Italy

How deep is the deepest swimming pool you've ever been to? There are quite a few facilities around the world that have super deep pools, which were designed for use by scuba divers who are training for particularly deep depths, and even astronauts.

 

And while it isn't the deepest in the world anymore, Deep Joy in Italy is still one of the most frightening pools on earth, submerging to more than 131 feet. It's the equivalent to the height of a 14-story building and contains an astonishing 1.1 million gallons of water. Within it are caves and ledges, so even if you don't swim to its deepest point, there are things for you to do.

 

And there's even a viewing tunnel and underwater panels, so that those who don't want to get wet can see what's happening beneath the surface while drinking a cup of coffee. Deep Joy is so deep that divers have to take precautions to avoid suffering from decompression sickness, and there are always safety divers on hand just in case anyone finds themselves in difficulty.

 

Even with these safeguards, only certain people are even allowed to get in the water in the first place to prevent any careless injuries.

 

Number one: Devil's Pool, Victoria Falls

Even though it's a natural formation, the Devil's Pool is undoubtedly the scariest and most dangerous swimming pool in the world, and one that definitely shouldn't exist. It's on the edge of the Victoria Falls in Zambia and is the precise part of a waterfall that you typically would do everything you could to avoid swimming in.

 

Somehow, though, someone found that there's an underwater ledge just before the drop-off, which creates a region of slow-moving water that's the perfect size for a group of people to sit in, almost as if it were a natural hot tub. You can't see its location until you're in the water, so you have to take it on faith that you'll find it before going over the edge.

 

It's also fraught with risk because one wrong move will almost certainly lead to your death, but it's probably this danger, along with the simply stunning views, that makes the Devil's Pool such a popular place for tourists to visit. If you do ever go, make sure you have a local guide with you who knows the area because the last thing you'd want is to be searching for the ledge of the wrong part of the waterfall.

 

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