Piscina Municipal de Odemira

The Piscina Municipal de Odemira is the council’s covered pool in the school and sports zone at Horta dos Reis, on the edge of Odemira town. The municipality reaches from the inland hills to the Atlantic at Vila Nova de Milfontes and Zambujeira do Mar, and this pool is its heated option for days when the sea is too cold or rough.

Both pools are heated by gas boilers, and the water is disinfected with an ultraviolet system. The council’s page and the pool regulations describe:

• A 25-metre pool, 16.67 metres wide, with eight lanes. It’s 1.20 m deep at the shallow end and 1.80 m at the deep end, so most young children can’t stand anywhere in it.
• A learner pool (tanque de aprendizagem), 16.67 by 10 metres with four lanes, from 90 cm to 1.20 m deep. This is where babies, toddlers and beginners have their lessons.
• Group and individual changing rooms for men and women, with 250 lockers, and changing rooms adapted for disabled users.
• A café-bar for swimmers and spectators, and a spectator stand for 198 people, with access and changing rooms adapted for people with reduced mobility.
• A 105 m² gym, for adults.

There are no slides or leisure features. This is a sports pool, used for lessons, lane swimming and competitions.

The pool runs by sports season, from September to July. It closes on Sundays, for the whole of August, on national public holidays, on Carnival Tuesday, on Odemira’s municipal holiday (8 September) and on 24 and 31 December.

The pool’s hours, on the council page updated in August 2026:

• Monday to Friday: 08:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 22:00.
• Saturday: 08:00 to 14:00.

Public swimming happens in set slots inside those hours, around the swim school’s classes. The council’s page points to its online Loja do Munícipe (citizen’s service desk) for timetables, so ring or email the pool for the current public-swim slots.

Public swimming is called utilização livre, swimming without a teacher. The council’s 2026 fees regulation (Regulation 90/2026) sets these prices per hour:

• With a user card: €1 for ages 4 to 14, €2 over 14.
• Without a user card: €1 for children up to 48 months, €2 for ages 4 to 14, €2.50 over 14.
• Books of tickets: 20 swims for €18 or 40 for €35 (ages 4 to 14); 20 for €35 or 40 for €65 (over 14).

The user card (cartão de utente) costs €7.50, with €5 a year to renew it and €5 a year for insurance.

The regulation also gives discounts: 30% for people aged 65 and over, 30% for holders of the municipal social card (50% if also 65 or older), and 25% off lessons when three or more people in a household are enrolled in the swim school.

The municipal aquatic activities school runs taught classes, which the council lists as baby swimming, learning to swim, improvers, water aerobics and more. Monthly fees in the 2026 regulation:

• Parent-and-child classes, 6 to 48 months: 30-minute classes, €10 a month for one a week. A parent is in the water with the child.
• Swimming lessons for ages 4 to 14: 45-minute classes, €10 a month for one a week, €15 for two, €20 for three.
• Swimming lessons over 14: €13, €22 or €30 a month.

Enrolment for under-18s needs a parent’s signed authorisation on the form, with a copy of the child’s ID. Late payment adds €2.50. Details of enrolment and class times are on the council’s online service desk, or ask at reception.

The pool regulations, which the council links from its page, set out the rules. The ones that matter most for families:

• Everyone, of any age, must wear a swim cap, put on properly.
• Flip-flops are compulsory, and everyone showers before going to the pool area.
• Swimwear must be made for swimming.
• In public swimming, children aged 9 and under must come with an adult who takes responsibility for them, and the adult also pays.
• Public swimming is only for people who can swim.
• No food, drink or chewing gum in the pool area.
• Children up to 7 can use the changing room of the opposite sex if they’re with an adult of that sex.

The regulations date from 2007, so ask at reception if anything has changed.

• The pool is closed all of August, so it can’t help on a rainy summer holiday.
• Neither pool is shallow enough for a toddler to stand, so plan on holding little ones or bringing them to a parent-and-child class.
• Public swimming shares the building with lessons and clubs, so check the timetable before you drive in from the coast.
• The café is open for most of the day on weekdays, handy for waiting parents during lessons.

Odemira town sits on the River Mira. Its skate park gives older children something to do after a swim, and in summer the river beach on the Santa Clara reservoir is inland near Santa Clara-a-Velha. On the coast, Vila Nova de Milfontes’ public garden and Praia do Almograve are within the same municipality.

Is the Odemira pool heated?

Yes. Both the 25-metre pool and the learner pool are heated by gas boilers.

Do children need a swim cap?

Yes. The regulations make a cap compulsory for everyone, whatever their age, along with flip-flops and proper swimwear.

How much is a swim in Odemira?

From €1 an hour for ages 4 to 14 with a user card, or €2 without. Under-4s pay €1 without a card. Adults pay €2 with a card and €2.50 without.

Can my child swim on their own?

Children aged 9 and under must be with an adult in public swimming. Everyone in public swimming must be able to swim.

Is there a baby pool?

There’s no paddling pool. The learner pool starts at 90 cm, and parent-and-child classes run there for babies from 6 months.

Is the pool open in summer?

It’s open in June and July but closes for the whole of August, and it’s always closed on Sundays.