Superyacht swimming pools are a luxury in more ways than one, proving a technological challenge that, when pulled off, elevate a superyacht to even higher standards of splendour. BOAT takes a closer look at the yachts that have risen to the occasion, with designs that feature cinema screens, chandeliers and basketball courts...
Grey
The 49.9-metre Grey retains the same classic Paszkowski profile as sisterships Kinda and Olokun, but with several all-important differences – including the addition of the swimming pool. Commissioned in 2021, this Tankoa Yachts build has been customised by her owner to feature a larger-than-usual, glass-sided swimming pool on the foredeck, complete with a high-definition, high-luminosity cinema screen. Flanked by sofa seating, the screen also includes integrated speakers and a surround-sound system courtesy of British-French brand Focal and Naim.
Tatiana
The 80-metre Tatiana is the sister of Bilgin's bright-red Leona and both yachts have the same striking, bullet-style exterior. At her epicentre is a 110-square-metre, two-level beach club, connected to the main saloon by a dramatic, sweeping staircase. While there’s a pool on both decks, the largest is found on the lower deck. Clocking in at an impressive 8.5 metres long and three metres wide, the pool is surrounded by delicate glass columns, Carrara marble and a backlit, blue agate floor. When the yacht is anchored, the aft door and two side terraces unfold, creating a seamless connection to the ocean. The water from both pools is also recyclable, able to be stored in a heating holding tank.
Lady Jorgia
Lady Jorgia (formerly known as Ahpo) is a 115-metre, Caribbean-inspired family superyacht. While a lot of her defining features are plainly visible, some sights are reserved only for guests, such as the mosaic-lined, eight-metre long, glass-fronted pool. This pool features integrated LED lighting and privacy walls – not including the aft wall, which was left transparent for ocean views. Below deck and even more exclusive is Lady Jorgia's complementary spa plunge pool, prettified with a teak-and-teal wave mosaic design, bamboo panes and a leaf-shaped skylight. Both are warmed by the engines and generators’ normal operation, in an efficient heat-recovery system.
Seasense
The 67-metre Seasense's exceptionally large pool is actually what got the yacht sold – Cor D. Rover's pool-centric drawing stood out to future owner (and previous owner of three Rivas) Charles Cohen. At ten metres long, 3.6 metres wide and able to support a staggering 27,000 litres of water, Cohen wanted sunlight to reach every millimetre of his magnum opus. That's why Seasense's aft deck is so elongated, with the swimming pool actually being part of the hull rather than inserted afterwards (a more typical construction). To give you a better idea of its size, the crew can transform the emptied pool into a basketball court using 22 panels stored in lower deck lockers. A basketball hoop affixes to the deck overhang at the forward end of the pool.
Lady Fleur
The radical pool designed for 32.6-metre Lady Fleur doubles as storage for an 11-metre RIB tender, with the hydraulic submersible platform transforming into a five-metre-by-two-metre saltwater pool in seconds. Four bespoke rotor arms move the pool in a gentle swaying motion to avoid spilling water when underway, which builder X-Treme Yachts explained is part of a "totally custom-made system" that is "unique in the world". Designed for the owner's grandchildren, the pool contains nearly 19 tonnes of seawater when full and has an adjustable depth, from 0.3 to 1.5 metres.
Atomic
Inspired by her owner's favourite shade "Monaco Red", the 64-metre Atomic definitely stands out from sisterships Sealion and Roma. This yacht's beating (red) heart is her brilliantly iridescent spa pool, found on the sundeck aft. With a tiered structure and glass bottom, sunlight refracts on the water's surface and sends colourful, coral waves to the dining area directly below. Adjacent to the pool is a split-level lounge space with a gas firepit and a U-shaped bar, surrounded by high-backed custom seating.
Somnium
A World Superyacht Award winner in the Displacement Motor Yachts category, one of Somnium's stand-outs is her chic, built-in, 9,000 litre pool. Overlooking the yacht's transom, ample ocean views encourage relaxation, while a counter-current jet provides a light work-out for the more active members on board. The pool floor can be raised flush with the deck and modular furniture placed on top to provide supplementary lounge space. During construction, Feadship had to find space below the pool and its machinery for a beach club and gym, as per the owner's request. The pool tank and its mosaic walls are thus visible from the beach club through a large picture window.
Christina O
The 99.1-metre Christina O's recent role in Netflix drama The Crown isn't her first brush with the celebrity lifestyle. Delivered in 1943, she was rebuilt by the famous Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate and one of the world's richest men at the time. Under his ownership, Christina O entertained cultural icons Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Winston Churchill and JFK – and has an equally iconic pool to match her history. Found on the aft main deck, this saltwater fantail number is emblazoned with a Greek mythological minotaur mosaic. It is also capable of rising to form a dance floor at the push of a button.
Octopus
Built for the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the 126.2-metre Lürssen superyacht Octopus is indulgently decked-out with every conceivable amenity. Alongside her two helicopters and submarine, the heated, seven-metre freshwater swimming pool is considered Octopus' greatest asset. The pool has a glass bottom that rises to create an on-water dance floor. In the immediate area, you'll find a bar, pizza oven and former music studio, whose isolation booth makes the perfect place for a DJ.
Luminosity
This Benetti build boasts an expansive wellness area, the jewel of which is a 30-square-metre, counter-flow swimming pool, kitted out with underwater speakers and an adjustable bottom. Luminosity's pool is clad in mirror-polished stainless steel, reflecting its surroundings and blurring the boundary between pool and seascape. The space above is punctuated with a custom chandelier inspired by a diamond. "When you look at the water and the sun is shining, it looks like millions of diamonds," said designer Zaniz. An accompanying four-degree plunge pool is decorated with on-theme visual cues, such as mirror-backed acrylic "ice-cubes" and an acrylic ice cube accessory, seen above.
M'brace
The swimming pool on 74.5-metre M'brace (ex. Elandess) has a futuristic look befitting her technological design. Eight metres by 2.5 metres and able to hold 22 tonnes of fresh water, hidden beams below the pool distribute its substantial weight to the outer edges of the superstructure and down to the hull. Thanks to two 280-millimetre diameter pipes, the pool can also be emptied in only three minutes. The sundeck swimming pool skylight allows natural light to filter to a circular staircase below deck, glinting off mother-of-flecks in a plaster surrounded by DKT Artworks.
Kenshō
Designed with economy and efficiency in mind, the 75-metre Kenshō has an aft deck that does it all: social seating, dining, a party space and (of course) a pool area, located on the lower deck for "mesmerising views at the same level as the ocean”. A complementary spa pool features a cut-away glass side and a large sunbed, with a shape styled after a manta ray. Inspired by the natural forces of Arizona's Antelope Canyon, the aft walls and the stairs on the pool deck look as if they were carved by the sea.
DAR
Built by Oceanco, this 90-metre, shark-inspired superyacht features two spectacular swimming pools. Pictured above is DAR's 1.6-metre-deep bridge deck pool, surrounded by bright-white sun pads and fed by a cascade of waterfalls that begin on the upper deck. It has been raised to make it safer for small children. Hidden on the owner's deck, however, is a completely private spa pool, flanked by one-way windows that reveal the world to the owners, but not the owners to the world.
Read More/DAR: On board the 90m shark-inspired superyacht now for sale