Tunis Residents Turn to Outdoor Pools for Summer Lap Swimming

Tunis city authorities opened extended morning access at three outdoor swimming facilities on July 1, allowing lap swimmers to enter before 7 a.m. without prior booking.

July heat has pushed daily temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius, prompting more residents to seek shaded water venues instead of indoor gyms for regular training. The shift aligns with the municipality’s 2025 wellness plan that added lighting and lane markers at existing sites to support early and late sessions.

Named venues in central and coastal districts

The main outdoor lap pool sits inside Parc du Belvédère near Avenue de la Liberté, where six 25-metre lanes operate from 6:30 a.m. Local residents also use the natural rock pools at the Ain Zaghouan waterfront promenade, reached via the coastal path off Rue de la Corniche in La Marsa. Both locations fall under the City of Tunis parks department and share the same entry system introduced last summer.

Usage data released by the parks department shows 12,400 recorded entries across the two sites in June, up from 9,100 the same month in 2025. Weekday entry costs 4 Tunisian dinars for adults and 2 dinars for students with valid ID. The department added a third set of floating lane dividers at the Belvédère pool on June 28 to separate faster and slower swimmers.

Practical steps for first visits

Swimmers should arrive with their own towel and a cap, as the sites supply lane ropes but not equipment. Public transport users can reach Belvédère via métro line 2 at the Belvédère station, while the Ain Zaghouan rock pools lie a ten-minute walk from the La Marsa TGM stop. Current hours run until 8 p.m. on weekdays, with the last entry at 7:15 p.m. Residents planning regular visits can register for the free municipal wellness card at the parks office on Rue de Rome to receive monthly lap-session updates by text.