Public swimming pools in Monaco: the three municipal pools

The short version

Monaco has three municipal pools, all run by the Mairie or the State, and all far cheaper than the hotel pools that dominate search results. Which one you use depends on the month:

Residents get half price at the Stade Nautique, and anyone over 60 who lives in Monaco swims free at all three. Aquagym, aquabike and swimming lessons at the two Mairie pools are booked online at sports.mairie.mc. For sea swimming, see the beaches guide; for the hotel pools that sell day access, see hotel and resort pools.

Stade Nautique Rainier III (open-air, May to October)

The Stade Nautique is the pool everyone photographs: a 50-metre open-air basin of filtered, heated seawater (around 27 °C) on the Quai Albert Ier, looking across Port Hercule to the Rock. It has diving boards at 1, 3 and 5 metres, a 45-metre water slide, a small flume for young children, tiered stands and sun decks with deckchairs for hire. It is managed by the Mairie's sports service.

2026 season: Friday 1 May to Wednesday 7 October inclusive. Outside those dates the basin is covered and the site becomes Monaco's open-air ice rink from December to March — which is why the swimming season ends in early October however warm the autumn.

Opening hours (2026)

The Wednesday 7 am opening is the slot lane swimmers use. The slide and boards only open once the Grand Prix structures have been dismantled in June. The pool closes entirely during the E-Prix (14–18 May 2026), the Grand Prix (1–9 June 2026) and for the Splash Party on 12 September.

Tariffs (2026)

* On proof of address; also applies to Monegasque nationals. Students and Cercle A card holders pay the reduced €9 / €4.50 rate.

Aquagym (45 min) costs €9 and aquabike €15, or €81 and €135 for ten sessions, booked in advance on sports.mairie.mc; lunchtime aquabike runs Monday to Friday at 12:30 throughout the season. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Phone: +377 93 30 64 83.

Centre Nautique Prince Albert II (indoor, year-round)

The serious swimmer's pool sits inside the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille. Rebuilt and reopened in 2023, the aquatic centre has three pools: an Olympic basin of 50 × 21 m and 2.02 m deep, with a movable wall that splits it into two 25-metre halves; a learners' pool used for aquagym; and a diving pit with two 1 m boards, two 3 m boards and a 5 m board, also used for freediving training. The water is fresh, treated with chlorine and ozone and kept at 28 °C. Two saunas and public changing rooms complete the set-up. It is the home pool of Monaco's swimming, water-polo and artistic-swimming clubs and hosts the Monte-Carlo international swimming meet each June.

Public swimming hours

The rest of the timetable belongs to clubs and schools, so lunchtime and early-morning swims are the realistic options on weekdays. The centre closes for at least four weeks from July into early August.

Tariffs

Single entry €3.20, or €24.90 for a card of ten. Under-12s and over-60s pay €1.90 (€12.60 for ten); under-2s are free. Sauna €7.20, aquagym €7.20, a swimming lesson €11.10. The stadium's weight room next door is priced separately (see the gyms guide). Bus lines 5 and 6 stop at the stadium.

Piscine Saint-Charles (indoor, Monte-Carlo)

The third pool is the one most guides miss. The Piscine Saint-Charles, on the fourth floor of the municipal building at 7 avenue Saint-Charles — above shops, a crèche and car parks, a few minutes' walk from the Casino gardens — reopened on 19 January 2026 after six months of renovation. Its freshwater basin measures 18 × 12 m, is heated to between 28 and 32 °C and is supervised by lifeguards; four aquabikes can be booked for solo use on weekdays, and a small gym alongside runs coached classes (gentle gym, Pilates, and since 2026 body sculpt and spinning on nine bikes).

This is where the Mairie runs its baby swimming, pre-natal swimming, swimming school, adult lessons and aquaphobia courses, plus aquagym, aqua-back, aquabike, aqua-trampoline and stretching. Enrolment forms for the children's programmes are on mairie.mc.

Hours (term time, including the Toussaint holidays)

Last entry is 30 minutes before the basin is cleared. During French school holidays Wednesday becomes a continuous 13:30–20:30 afternoon and Saturday opens. Closures for 2026–27: 7–9 October (technical), 1–2 November, 19 November (Fête du Prince), 8 December and 20 December to 3 January.

Tariffs

Adult entry €5, ten entries €45, twenty €85. Reduced rate — ages 3–17, non-resident over-60s, Cercle A card, Mairie staff — €3.30 / €29.70 / €56.10. Free for under-3s and for residents and Monegasques over 60. Lessons: €20 for a 30-minute group lesson (three people) or €180 for ten; baby swimming €80 a month; pre-natal session €12; aquagym €9; aquabike or aqua-trampoline €15; fitness, yoga and Pilates classes €15. Sessions not cancelled at least four hours ahead are charged.

House rules: swimming cap compulsory, bermuda shorts banned, under-12s accompanied. Phone +377 93 15 22 95, email piscinesaintcharles@mairie.mc.

Which pool, which month

• May to early October — the Stade Nautique, obviously, but go at 7 am on a Wednesday or straight after 16:30 if you want lanes rather than a lido. Residents pay €6; a summer of daily swims on a ten-card works out at €5.40.
• Weekday lengths, any season — the Louis II Olympic pool before 14:30 is the best value swim on the Riviera at €3.20, with a genuine 50-metre basin and lane discipline.
• Evenings and Sunday mornings in winter — Saint-Charles is the only municipal pool open after 18:30 on weekdays, and Sunday from 07:30.
• Children's lessons — both Mairie pools run them, but the structured programmes (baby swimmers, swimming school by year of birth) are at Saint-Charles; the Louis II centre offers individual lessons at €11.10.
• August — plan around the closures: Louis II shuts for at least four weeks from July and Saint-Charles from 1 August to 6 September, so the Stade Nautique and the sea carry the month.

Related guides

• Hotel and resort pools open to day visitors — Monte-Carlo Beach, the Monte-Carlo Bay lagoon, the Fairmont rooftop
• Swimming and beaches in Monaco — Larvotto, the Solarium and sea temperatures by season
• Stade Louis II — the whole stadium complex
• Gyms and fitness in Monaco — including the municipal weight room and Hercule Fitness Club
• Spa and wellness — Thermes Marins and the other indoor seawater pools