Can't make it to an Australian beach? U.S. cities offer plenty of plunging opportunities.

Big City Swimming

Hot time summer in the city — if only there were a place to cool off quickly without having to schlep to an outer-city beach or soak in public pools filled with chemicals and . . . who knows what else. “Jumping into cool water and blowing bubbles on a hot day — it’s the quintessential summer experience,” says Pancho Doll, author of four books on U.S. swimming holes. “I can’t think of anything better.” You don’t have to be excluded from these pleasures if you’re in a metropolis. Here are some ways to find a cool nirvana without having to stray too far from the steamy sidewalks you pound every day.

It’s more than possible to have underwater fun without leaving the big city.

"Jumping into cool water and blowing bubbles on a hot day — it’s the quintessential summer experience."

Austin, TX
It’s nearly impossible to find a great swimming hole without trekking beyond city limits, unless you’re in Austin, home of Barton Springs. The 900-foot freshwater swimming area looks like a pool but is actually fed with spring water and has a gravel bottom. There’s no sand or chaises lounges, but there’s a big grassy hill perfect for picnicking and sunbathing. Pooches love it too . . . there’s an area especially set aside for hot Texan doggies. (More information about Barton Springs and Texas’s other urban swimming holes can be found in the book Splash Across Texas.)

Boston, MA
Boston city dwellers with an hour or two to spare can head to Harvard Square where there are kayak and canoe rentals. Ralph Boynton, who runs the Bean Town branch of the Charles River Canoe & Kayak school, has been kayaking in the waterway for nearly 30 years. He says paddlers often will dunk in to cool off, although he suggests not touching the river’s floor. Says Boynton: “You know how that old song about Boston goes, ‘Love that dirty water?’ Well, it really isn’t so dirty anymore — except for maybe some broken bottles at the bottom . . .”

Nashville, TN
The 200-year-old, 35,000-acre Belle Meade Plantation on Nashville’s Richmond Creek was once little more than a series of log cabins where Andrew Jackson kept his horses. A Greek Revival mansion was built on the estate in the 1850s, and today it’s a much-revered antebellum historical site open for tours. However, feel free to skip the tour and head straight to the creek, which runs through the property. Chances are you’ll be the only person there. Kick off your shoes, roll up your pants, perch yourself on a rock under the lush trees, and you might just lose track of what century you’re in. Hear the water rushing through your toes? It’s music that rivals anything you’ll find at the Grand Ole Opry, just a stone’s throw away.

Las Vegas, NV
With its countless hotel and motel swimming pools (and saunas and steam rooms and Jacuzzis, oh my!), Nevada might just be the wettest desert on earth. But for those hoping for something that feels a little less, well, artificial, there are real (looking) canals at The Venetian. Gondola rides go all around the quarter-mile canal, both inside and outside. It’s a way to enjoy the water without having to get anything on your person wet, save maybe a finger or two dragged lazily off the side of the boat. The gondoliers, many of them bona fide Italians, serenade their charges with ditties like “That’s Amore,” which can be either romantic or embarrassing, depending on whether or not the person riding with you is your brother.

New York, NY
When it’s ninety and humid in New York City, nothing seems like a better idea than jumping into the water at Jones Beach or Coney Island . . . until you get there and realize every other New Yorker and his cabdriver has had the same bright idea. Those wanting a quick midday cool-down with fewer crowds can head to the East Village’s Russian and Turkish Baths, the gritty but oh-so-New York destination that’s been a no-frills chilling-out destination for urban bohemians since 1892. In addition to tons of saunas and steam rooms, the Baths have an ice-cold dipping pool that will shock you into forgetting that you could fry an egg on the pavement outside.

Posted on July 03, 2006