What’s it like to go swimming in the CaLevornia pool in Leverkusen?
This weekend was very hot, around 33 degrees C, so we went swimming on both days: On Saturday, we ventured out to the Waldbad (forest pool) in Hilden, and on Sunday, we visited the CaLevornia indoor pool in Leverkusen from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the CaLevornia outdoor pool from 1 – 4 p.m. Then, a thunderstorm was approaching, and we quickly drove home before the rain (and later, hail) even started.
For comparison, the indoor CaLevornia pool is awesome: It sports a huge, winding, yellow slide that changes colors inside and also has a dark stretch, which is a little bit scary for young kids. When you come out at a bottom, a digital clock tells you how fast you were, and what the record speed of the day was. Cool!!! The indoor pool also has a swimmers’ pool, a learners’ pool, a fun pool with a current and a mushroom from which it is raining down, one hot tub, a baby splash area, and a non-swimmers’ pool with some attractions, like a rotating water pump and a tropical fruit bowl high up that spills over and splashes you regularly with water. Further, there’s a small grotto at the entrance of which the water comes down in a waterfall, which is really nice. The water inside is very, very warm!
You pay with your wrist band that also locks your locker (and you pay at the exit, including for your food and drinks, not at the entrance). The wrist bands have no number written on them, but should you forget your lockers number when it’s time to go, you simply hold your wrist under a reader standing in the hallway and it tells you the number, so you can find your clothes again 😉
The restaurant inside is quite nice (although it takes a while to receive your food). We had chicken nuggets, curry sausage, French fries, a chocolate muffin for Leander, and soft drinks for about EUR 25.00 for two people together. Not cheap, but if you stay a whole day, it’s feasible.
In addition, there is a Solebad (salty water) outside that you can walk to from the inside, plus a porch pool that you can also reach from the inside. However, the inside and outside pool landscape are separated, and you have to pay extra to go into the park and swim in the two big pools that are there.
Now to those:
The pool for the bigger kids (non-swimmers) and the swimmers was a bit boring. There was only one middle part like a pier to stand on, a canal to swim through without current, one shower for a back massage, and the water was icy cold, so that we could only stay for a few minutes. Th kiddie pool, which you can see on the picture above, had a wooden pirate ship in the middle to play on, but the water was less than knee deep for a toddler. It warmed up quickly in the sun and was more bearable than the cold water in the other pool. In addition, there was one shower in the shape of a penguin.
In the vicinity, there was a beach ball sand field (but nobody played there, since it was incredibly hot). There were lots of high, shady trees to put up your mats, but visitors are not allowed to bring any lawn chairs, and those provided were but a few and not sufficient for the masses that came to swim and relax.
There was no nice, big playground anywhere, but a little sand-and-water patch for little kids to play on:
At least, it had sun shades to protect the kids.
All in all, it would have been terribly boring and disappointing for Lyons Cub had we only stayed in the outside pool area, but since we were inside first and for most of the time, it was great!
My summary: For an outside pool, I would recommend the Waldbad in Hilden. For an inside pool, I would recommend the Hildorado in Hilden (which has deeper water than the CaLevornia, so it’s more fun for adults, especially when swimming through the strong current) or the CaLevornia (which has a better slide).