No longer content with a humble hot tub, superyacht owners are demanding ever bigger and more sophisticated swimming pools as their yachts grow in size and volume. Here are our editors’ picks for the ten most stunning superyacht pools in the world.
#10 Nomad (OceanFast)
228-foot luxury motor yacht Nomad (ex Floridian and Aussie Rules) was built in 2003 by OceanFast and underwent a superb refit in 2005. Beautifully designed for long range exploration and comfortable cruising, she is among the largest aluminum luxury motoryachts in the world and offers a massive collection of toys, tenders, fishing and dive equipment. The sun deck features a Jacuzzi spa pool where you can swim up to the bar, with sunbathing mattresses on each side as well as a fantastic barbeque area.
#9 Lady M (Palmer Johnson)
At 213 feet (65 meters) Palmer Johnson’s extraordinary new flagship, Lady M, is set to be a must-see yacht at September’s Monaco Yacht Show. The aluminum-hulled superyacht sportscruiser is the first of the yard’s 210 range and features styling inside and out by Nuvolari & Lenard, with folding terraces on both sides of the main-deck salon. But the real joy is the outdoor spaces. There are pools aft on the main deck by the sunpad as well as on the foredeck. At night, the underwater lights in the aft deck pool are mesmerizing and enhance the overall aesthetics of Lady M.
#8 Reborn (Amels)
Motoryacht Reborn is a 249-foot (76-meter) Amels, launched in 1999 and beautifully refitted in 2010. For fans of alfresco, the aft deck has two ten-person dining tables plus extensive sunbathing areas and a spectacular five-meter, counter-flow sunken swimming pool on her sun deck. She also has a lower deck beach club and spa facility.
#7 Pegasus V (Danyard Aalborg/Royal Denship)
258-foot luxury motoryacht Pegasus V (ex Princess Mariana) was built in 2003 in the Danyard Aalborg in Denmark and finished by Royal Denship. She has six decks—the naval architect is Espen Oeino Naval Architects and the interior designer is Francois Zuretti. In addition to her exquisite spa pool (top), one of her most impressive features is the Beach Club—a drydock for the custom-built tender that can be “flooded” when tender is out, forming a 12-meter swimming pool with underwater lighting and steps. A special filter cleans the pool from debris or impurities.
#6 Ancora (Baglietto)
Motoryacht Ancora is a 141-footer (43-meter) built in 2009 by Italy’s Baglietto. The aft sundeck is equipped with a remarkable custom infinity pool, lined with mosaic tiles and surrounded by luxurious cushions and sunpads. The forward portion features lounge chairs for sunning, a dining table and a bar overlooking the bow of the yacht.
#5 Lady Christine (Feadship)
Sloshing water was an issue when it came to designing the pool aboard 223-foot (68-meter) Lady Christine, built by Feadship for Lord Irvine Laidlaw. His original idea was that the water in the infinity pool on the afterdeck would flow freely over the glass wall in the stern. Feadship did not like the idea of having chlorinated water splashing the teak and paintwork, so it devised a system to create the cascade effect with spray nozzles evenly distributed across the glass.
#4 Quattroelle (Lurssen)
279-foot (88-meter) Quattroelle (meaning “four Ls” in Italian—life, love, liberty and luxury) was custom built in 2012 by Lurssen Yachts in design firm Nuvolari Lenard’s first collaboration with the builder. Her massive infinity pool has an artificial counter-current and a full dive station, and appears to drop off directly into the ocean.
#3 Vibrant Curiosity (Oceanco)
Dutch shipyard Oceanco upped the ante in pool design on 280-foot (85-meter) Vibrant Curiosity, also designed by Nuvolari Lenard. This time the swimming pool was placed on the upper deck with skylights in the bottom, illuminating a lower deck corridor leading from the aft platform up to the main salon. “By putting the swimming pool on the upper deck, which also affords more privacy, we were able to create a void space for the corridor on the lower deck,” said Dan Lenard. “The concept wasn’t a simple one because it meant a radical shift in thinking, both in terms of layout and structural engineering.”
#2 Alfa Nero (Oceanco)
Oceanco’s 269-foot (82-meter) Alfa Nero is a steel and aluminum superyacht that is nearly 47 feet at her widest point. Alfa Nero’s aft deck is perhaps her most idiosyncratic and famous feature. Here the unusually large swimming pool, complete with glass waterfall siding, converts to a helipad. In the world of modern superyacht pool innovation, one could argue it all started with Alfa Nero—the star of the 2008 Monaco Yacht Show, which devoted much of her main deck aft to a huge infinity pool with a base that can be hydraulically raised to provide a helipad that doubles as a dance floor.
#1 TV (Lurssen)
Launched in 2008, Lurssen’s TV (ex Madsummer) is a celebrated 257-foot (78.3-meter) Espen Oeino-designed full-displacement high-volume luxury superyacht. TV‘s sundeck area features a large, stunning spa pool with a capacity of 16 persons and a contra flow swimming pool, plus bar, barbeque and dining area. The upper deck owner’s suite has panoramic views and opens on to a private deck with spa pool. Guest accommodation includes a twin cabin and four VIPs, each sporting a colour theme that even extends to the choice of books. On the lower deck, a health centre incorporates a gymnasium, sauna, massage and beauty rooms.
