Piscinas Municipais de Óbidos

The Piscinas Municipais de Óbidos are part of the council’s sports complex (Complexo Desportivo Municipal), which also has sports halls, a gym, the municipal stadium and a synthetic football pitch. The council’s page lists what the pool building holds:

• A 25-metre pool with eight lanes, 2 metres deep all the way along.
• A learner pool (tanque de aprendizagem) of 17 by 9 metres.
• A spectator stand with 240 seats.
• A lounge (Lounge+Ativo), a massage room, a rooftop and a medical room.
• A bar and café.

The main pool is deep everywhere, so it isn’t a place where a small child can stand. The learner pool is where babies, toddlers and beginners have their lessons. The council does not publish its depth.

Swimming for babies runs on Saturday mornings. On the 2024/25 timetable, the most recent the council had linked when checked, classes ran between 09:00 and about 11:30 in three age groups: 6 to 12 months, 13 to 24 months and 25 to 36 months. Ask at reception how many adults can go in with each baby. The 2024/25 price was €17 a month.

The council’s page lists the levels its swimming school teaches: adaptation (adaptação 1 and 2) for children getting used to the water, learning (aprendizagem 1 and 2), improvement (aperfeiçoamento), and competition squads from pre-competition to masters.

On the 2024/25 timetable, children’s classes ran on weekday afternoons from 16:30, either Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday and Thursday, and on Saturday mornings. There were separate adaptation groups for ages 3 to 5 and 5 to 14, plus learning and improvement groups.

Lesson prices for ages 3 to 14 on the 2024/25 list were €14 a month for one class a week, €18.50 for two and €23.50 for three. From 15, swimmers paid €16.50 to €25.50. You also pay registration (€14.50, or €8 if you join from March onwards) and sports insurance (€6.50); renewals cost €10. A single trial class cost €5 for babies and €4 for children, and the money is taken off the first month if you sign up in the same month.

Discounts apply to monthly fees and can’t be combined: 5% for a second member of the household, 7% for a third and 10% for four or more. Paying in advance saves 5% for three months, 11% for six and 17% for eleven. Paying after the 8th of the month costs 5% extra.

Óbidos offers recreational swimming (natação recreativa, or hora livre) to registered users. Packs cost €10 for 5 visits, €17 for 10 and €21 for 15, or €25 a month for unlimited visits, on the 2024/25 list. The packs are personal, and unused visits carry over to the next season, as long as you re-register. The council’s documents don’t give a public-swim timetable or age limits for children swimming without an adult, so ask at reception before you register.

The Óbidos pages we found do not spell out pool rules such as swim caps, flip-flops or swim nappies. Pack a cap and flip-flops and check the rules at reception before your child’s first class.

The pool is outside the walls of Óbidos, the medieval town that fills with visitors for its Christmas village and chocolate festival. A swim works well as the second half of a day walking the walls. Parque D. Carlos I in Caldas da Rainha, with its lake and rowing boats, is a short drive north.

Does Óbidos pool have a baby pool?

It has a learner pool of 17 by 9 metres, where baby classes and beginners’ lessons happen. The 25-metre pool is 2 metres deep throughout.

From what age can children have lessons?

Baby classes start at 6 months. Children’s adaptation classes start at 3.

How much are swimming lessons in Óbidos?

On the 2024/25 list, from €14 a month for one class a week for ages 3 to 14, plus registration and insurance.

Is there a café?

Yes, the pool building has a bar and café.