With Eliza's parents in town, and knowing of Eliza's mom's love of the ocean and the beach, we decided to take a quick weekend trip out to the Pacific Ocean and check out one of the items on our Chile bucket list, the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile. It was a quick 90 minute drive from our house in Santiago, Chile and in no time we were enjoying the hot weather and beautiful views from our 12th floor, 3 bedroom condo facing the beach and pool. We were able to book it for about $250/night, which is hardly a bargain, but there are no other options if you want to have access to the largest pool in the world. We spent 2 nights at the resort and had a very relaxing weekend together.
Basically, San Alfonso del Mar is a private resort complex with 10-12 large buildings with condos that face the pool and the ocean. The only way people can come in to check out the pool is to rent or buy a room at the resort. There are gates and guards all around the complex, and, although many people try to get in (we witnessed dozens of instances of people trying to sneak into the complex from the beach just to snap a photo of the pool), they do a great job with security. Consequently, the pool is pretty private and you pretty much have the place to yourself.
The pool is 1,013 meters long (3,323 feet) and covers 20 acres of land. It contains 66 million gallons of seawater (water is pumped from the ocean, filtered, and treated). The maximum depth of the pool is 115 feet (35 meters). The big pool is not for swimming, but you can kayak and paddle board on it. Each one of the buildings has a smaller (but still very large) pool that is sectioned off from the large pool where people are allowed to swim. The pools are not heated, but with the sun as hot as it was, this was not a problem for us. The pool is between the hotel/condos and the beach. There is a wide boardwalk all the way around the pool and a couple places where you can exit the pool area and head to the beach. The resort has brought in sand from the beach and put it between the hotel/condos and the pool and there are beach chairs and umbrellas for the guests to enjoy. This is an enormous resort (it takes like 30-45 minutes just to walk around the pool). In addition to the giant pool and the smaller swimming pools, there are smaller baby/child pools that are about knee depth as well as showers to wash off the sand/seawater.
We spent the first afternoon and the next morning at the pool, just swimming and exploring. We were able to do some paddle boarding and all that wanted to were able to try their hand at it. Even paddling out to the midpoint of the pool was quite a bit of exercise and from the paddle boards it was amazing to see how huge this pool actually is. We had excellent weather, blue skies and sunshine, with gentle breezes coming in from the ocean. We spent the next afternoon at the beach, playing in the water and the sand and just enjoying the breeze and the sunset. One one of the nights, the adults headed into Algorrobo and had some dinner and dessert and explored the night markets on the edge of the beach.
We pretty much had the resort to ourselves and it wasn't until Saturday afternoon that we really started seeing other families begin to show up and enjoy the facilities. We headed back to Santiago on Saturday to get Eliza's parents and Savannah ready for their flight back to the US that night.
The pool (largest in the world) at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
The pool (largest in the world) at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Burying Ryder in the sand at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Eliza with her parents at the beach markets in Algorrobo, Chile on a summer night in January.
View of the pool (largest in the world) and the beach from our balcony on the 12th floor at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
View of the pool (largest in the world) and the beach from our balcony on the 12th floor at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Sunset at the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Video of a time lapse of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean (view from our 12th floor balcony at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile).
Hotel beach on the edge of the pool at the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Cody, paddleboarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Cody and Ryder paddle boarding in the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Savannah, Sawyer, Nash, Ryder, and Zander at the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
The kids on the edge of the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Ryder, Cody, Nash, and Zander at the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Looking back from one end of the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
The kids wading into one end of the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Sawyer, paddle boarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Nash, paddle boarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Cody, swimming in one of the small pools on the edge of the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Sawyer and Savannah paddle boarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Sawyer and Savannah paddle boarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
12 year old, Sawyer paddle boarding on the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Sawyer and Savannah at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar near Algorrobo, Chile.
Savannah, Sawyer, and Ryder, relaxing at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
The kids relaxing at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile with the hotel/condos in the background.
Our crew, including grandpa and grandma Haws (Eliza's parents) at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Playing at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Playing at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
Playing at the beach at San Alfonso del Mar, near Algorrobo, Chile.
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