Great news for Porto residents. You can now enjoy a swim in Atlantic seawater without freezing. The heated seawater pool on Canide Norte Beach in Vila Nova de Gaia has reopened for the season. The pool is built directly on the sand and filled with seawater heated to 28–29°C using solar energy.

A full beach-resort experience just 20–30 minutes from Porto city centre, located between the Grão de Areia and Ar de Mar beach bars in the Canidelo area. It’s the perfect place to combine a swim with a walk along the ocean promenade. Admission is free every day from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For whom is it useful:
🥶 For anyone who has always wanted to swim in the Atlantic but can’t handle the cold.
The ocean in northern Portugal rarely warms above 16–18°C. Here, it’s the same seawater, just about ten degrees warmer and without the waves.

👨‍👩‍👧 For families with children.
The pool has a gently sloping bottom: the water barely covers your feet at the entrance, reaches about 50 cm in the middle, and is no deeper than 1 metre. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

The rules are simple:
Take a shower before entering to rinse off the sand, stay in the water for no more than 30 minutes, and note that the pool has a maximum capacity of 50 people at a time. The facility has been operating since 2022 and is very popular, so queues can form during peak hours. Arriving in the morning is usually the best option.

The Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Gaia presents the project as an environmentally friendly initiative, combining Atlantic seawater with solar energy to create a sustainable public attraction.