Children's Pools in Uzbekistan

Two formats: family fun or swim lessons

The swim schools — STUDIO 13 in Tashkent and AQUATUTTI in Samarkand — run year-round and accept children from 3 months. They usually don't sell single-visit tickets: lessons follow programs and packages, and AQUATUTTI requires a pediatrician's and dermatologist's certificate before starting. The other venues in this category are family pools and aquaparks with a children's zone, meant simply for a day out: single entry, slides and shallow pools, and at some complexes children under 3 enter free.

How much it costs

A child ticket starts at 35,000 UZS — at May Weather Resort in Bukhara, for instance, children under 14 pay 35,000 UZS per hour. At aquaparks the child rate depends on the child's category: at Sogdiana in Samarkand it's 60,000-80,000 UZS. Swim-school lessons are sold as packages — a trial lesson, 4, 8 or 12 visits — with the price depending on the program and the child's age.

What parents should check

• Pool depth — listed on the pool's page where the data is filled in; it's the key safety criterion for children under 7.
• Coach — marked at 2 venues in this category, both specialized swim schools.
• Kids' zone — at 6 venues in this category. It's also marked at 12 open-air pools and 11 aquaparks, so it's worth looking beyond this one category.
• Schedule — 8 venues operate year-round, 3 in summer only.

Which regions to look in

Most children's pools are in Samarkand (4) and Bukhara (3), with more in Navoi (2), Khorezm and Tashkent (one each). This is the smallest category in the catalog — if there's no children's pool in your region, look at open-air pools and aquaparks with a children's zone.