AdvertisementCute Union - Apparel and Gifts with Cute Pandas
Home » Personal, Scuba Diving, Travel » Scuba in Europe’s largest swimming pool

Scuba in Europe’s largest swimming pool


by
Posted on Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 at 12:30 pm CET

Last weekend we visited NEMO 33, a swimming pool in Brussels with a maximum depth of 33 meters. The pool holds 2,500,000 liters of clear water and is a great place to practice skills or just have a relaxing dive.

The pool is open for scuba divers a few times during the week. We went last Friday for the lunchtime dive. After checking in, visitors can relax in the bar area before the changing rooms open (about 15 minutes before the dive is scheduled).

Nemo-33 020 (26-May).jpg
The ladies dressing room – no privacy

TIP: If you sign up for membership with NEMO 33, you receive a discount on the cost of the dive. Registration is free and should be done online before you visit the pool. For afternoon dives, you save 50% (€10 instead of €20). Evening and weekend dives are also discounted.

At 12:30 we met the dive masters by the pool for the briefing. The first 10-15 minutes of the “dive” are spent snorkeling or freediving.

Nemo-33 015 (26-May).jpg
Entry to the pool; rental wetsuits and tanks in the background

The only personal gear allowed in the pool are masks, snorkels, and closed-foot fins. Personal regulators can only be used if they are integrated with a dive computer. Dive computers and cameras are also allowed. All other gear is included in the price of the dive. Our rental BCDs and regulators were in good condition. NEMO 33 also provides masks, fins and wetsuits for those who do not bring their own.

Nemo-33 017 (26-May).jpg
Rental fins and masks

Arthur tried out his new dive computer while I played around with our camera. We only descended to 10 meters as the deeper area was crowded with divers and bubbles. TIP: Get in the water fast and descend to your maximum depth quickly, before it gets too crowded.

Nemo-33 011 (26-May).jpg
Looking down 33 meters

We practiced our bouyancy and finning. Arthur did a few skills, including mask removal, fin pivot and regulator retrieval. He took at least one photo too.

Nemo-33 014 (26-May).jpg
Amy in the warm water

We had a good time and will definitely go there again. For just €10 each it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon. The reception area also serves as a lounge / bar, where snacks and drinks are served. There are observation windows in the lounge where non-divers can watch the action in the water.

Comments

Jun 14, 2006
5:27 am
#1 Alex wrote:

I made a general information post about Nemo 33 myself a while back.

I would love to visit it some day.

Dec 28, 2006
10:53 am
#2 Angelo wrote:

I just would love to say looking at these wonderful pics is very amazing to scuba in such a huge pool but i just wanna amy your looking very sexy underwater in the pool with scuba on.

Feb 14, 2007
7:16 am
#3 joe wrote:

Hi, thank you for the posts.
Hello,
My name is Naomi , I am a 10 year old from Minneapolis, MN. USA.
My dad and I are scuba divers. I am doing a project for school, entitled “cool places I would like to go to on my vacation.” In order for me to complete all of the questions on the work sheet, I would like to get the following facts from you.

I would like to get some additional facts about the NEMO33 pool that I could not research on the internet.

1. I would like to know how long it took to make the pool?
2. The length of time once all the construction work began?
3. Approximately how much solar energy panels save you in money for heating?
4. What was the total cost to build it?
5. How many visitors per year use the pool?
6. When did the pool officially open up for business?

My project is due within 2 weeks, so I would kindly appreciate your taking the time to answer these questions, and also, I would like to use your photo’s that you have on your web site for my school project. Is this ok. I will just be printing them and paste them on a board for the presenation.

I will be presenting my project to 3 classes of 5th graders.

I can’t wait to dive in your pool. My dad said maybe within the next two years we could vacation in Belgium.

thank you very much for your help.

naomi
5th Grade class project
Minneapolis, MN USA

Feb 14, 2007
10:12 pm
#4 Amy wrote:

@ Naomi
Unfortunately I cannot answer these questions. I am not affiliated with Nemo 33 .. I was just a diving customer there. Please contact Nemo 33 directly. You can find their contact details at http://www.nemo33.com/index_en/contact.html

Feb 21, 2007
7:29 am

Hey, thanks for this post.
I’ve never heard of Nemo 33. This sure looks like a nice place to test my new scuba diving computer.

Jan 2, 2008
2:36 am
#6 A person wrote:

That is one deep pool! I would be scared to go down in that circular pit! I heard it’s really deep! It would take me forever to get down there, baecause I’m a slow swimmer!

Jun 19, 2008
9:33 pm
#7 Try Diving wrote:

I had never heard about NEMO 33 before… sure beats my local swimming pool in the UK (deepest point is around 2metres!). I would love to dive their the next time I’m in Brussels (expecting to visit a friend there in September)… is it open all year round?

Jun 19, 2008
10:47 pm
#8 Arthur wrote:

@Try Diving: Yes it’s open all year except 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January and on holidays, see: http://www.nemo33.com/index/page/horaire.html

Feb 24, 2011
9:41 pm
#9 Swimming Training for Triathlete wrote:

There are many good pools around the world but few are open to the public. Hope that these pools will be open to the public for them to experience the natural beauty of it. Thanks for sharing this.

Trackbacks to this post. Thanks for the linkage.

Leave a Comment