Morrison Hill Swimming Pool

Nice place for laps. Indoor heated pool for the winter, smaller outdoor pool with sitting area if you just want to relax in the summer. Its busy but what do you expect for a public pool?

I like swimming in Hong Kong, because the public pools make it incredibly easy to do so. Morrison Hill public swimming pool is one such pool. Located in Wan Chai, it’s not the easiest pool to get to — it’s a bit of a walk from the MTR, but then, nothing is really that far away Hong Kong, is it?
Entry to the swimming pool is via cash or octopus card at the turnstile, at this moment it is HK$ 19. You also don’t have to be a member of a club, or a Hong Kong resident, to enjoy using the pool. It really is totally public in the best sense of the word.
The pool itself is 50m, and is fairly wide, so it has a number of lanes. At any given time, a number of these lanes may be rented out for classes, or club swimming, but there will always be a few lanes reserved for public «walk-​in» swimmers. There’s usually at least a fast lane and a slow lane, so you shouldn’t get stuck behind some body who’s technique is just a shade over drowning. Word of warning; in Hong Kong the definition of swimming fast seems to be a leisurely breaststroke. If you want to get any serious training done in a public pool, you may have to be a little bit obnoxious and swim past people, or you may be better off actually joining a club anyway.
As well as the main pool, and there is a small children’s training pool, and a toddler’s pool.
The other facilities at Morrison Hill pool are fairly rudimentary, there are two large changing rooms, one women’s and one men’s (obviously). They have toilet facilities and many shower cubicles with hot water, but no air conditioning, only giant fans that blast warm air around the changing rooms. If you get a sweat on when you’re swimming, expect to be sweating all the way back home or to the office.
The pool offers viewing facilities for competitions, and of course this can be used at any time by parents or those not wanting to swim. Also, life guards are on duty during the sessions.
Working out of the swim times can be a little bit confusing, depending on cleaning days and public holidays, but the website is kept up to date, so do a quick check to make sure that you are going on a day where there is actually some swimming available. Fortunately, the pool is indoor, so there is no change in timings between Winter and Summer.