sundlaug akureyrar

It's been a while since I reviewed any Icelandic swimming pools here on the Iceland Report. The pools have become such a part of my daily life that I almost take them for granted at this point. But having just had a trip to the Akureyri swimming pool, I feel it's time to give this excellent pool its due. Overall, it's one of the best in the Land. (If you're reading this from Akureyri now, ummm, well, it's no question the best in the Land!)

What makes it great:

• Overall: Nice new facilities. Friendly slow-speaking staff. Rock'em shock'em layout.
• Locker rooms: High-tech automated shower system. Easy-operate soap dispensers. Plenty of changing room by the lockers.
• Lap pool: Was mostly jammed with the Akureyri swim team when we were there. But a good solid 25-meter pool. I couldn't tell if there was salt water mixed in or not. But something about the hot water in Akureyri makes it more slippery than the Reykjavík hot water. So I swam faster.
• Small lap pool: In a brilliant innovation, the Akureyrians have added a second lap pool for the dads'n grads. Well, really just probably for slower swimmers. I saw a grandpa in there, doing the breast stroke, unmolested by the fast-splashing water-crashing swim team in the main pool.
• Socializing hot tub: Right outside the doors, this tub had various seating levels and some kind of low-power massaging bubble system that the locals were seen to activate by means of a hidden button.
• Serious hot tub: The 40° tub has neck-deep seating and the classic push-button back massager that's found in so many non-Reykjavík pools. The kind with the "awesome power" and the chest strap that keeps you from getting jetted out across the pool, into the air, and out into Eyjafjörður.
• Water slide: Back-snappingly awesome, and in a tip of the hat to Akureyri's lush greenery, it's integrated into a mini forest garden. It's a solid tube with two "skylight" sections, lots of vertical drop, plenty of twists and turns, utter blackness, and a surprise ending. Not for the easily confused.

Area for improvement:

• The steam room: Just not hot enough. Not steamy enough, either. No sound of blasting steam.

The Akureyri city pool: probably the best swimming experience to be had a few miles south of the Arctic Circle. Check it out when you're next in the lovely Icelandic town of botanical gardens and parking clocks.