Swimming in St Petersburg does not require a membership contract. Almost every district has a pool that will sell you a single session at the front desk, and the price band is wide: roughly 650 roubles in a municipal complex, up to 3,500 roubles in a private club where nobody asks you to leave the water after forty-five minutes. The difference is mostly about time, not luxury.
What a single session costs
Municipal pools run by the city agency that manages sports facilities (SPb GAU "Directorate for the Management of Sports Facilities") charge 650 roubles for one free-swim session, and a session means 45 minutes in the water according to a published entry timetable. The same price applies at the Swimming Centre on Khlopina Street 10, at the Nevskaya Volna water sports centre on Dzhona Rida Street 8, and at the Moskovsky sports and fitness complex on Moskovskoye Highway 3. One ticket covers an adult or a child aged 7 to 17 accompanied by that adult, and a single adult may bring up to three children.
Private clubs sell visits rather than water time. At the Atlantika chain, a three-hour pool visit costs 1,700 roubles and an unlimited-time visit 3,500 roubles; a child's ticket is 500 or 750 roubles, and a family package for two adults and up to three children is 3,700 roubles. First-time visitors can buy a trial pool-and-gym visit for 1,500 roubles instead of 3,700, valid for seven days. The Volna sports palace on Moskovsky Prospekt 150 charges 1,000 roubles for a single swim.
The medical certificate question
This is where visitors get turned away. There is no single city rule; each pool sets its own. The municipal directorate states plainly that a medical certificate is required before joining a swimming group, then at least once a year — and for single visits, before every visit. Atlantika works the other way round: you do not bring paperwork, but you pass a free medical check with the pool's own doctor on site, and pregnant visitors need a gynaecologist's note. The club also publishes its list of contraindications, which explains the rule: fever, infectious diseases, weeping dermatitis, widespread fungal infection of feet and nails, chlorine sensitivity, inflamed varicose veins, epileptic seizures, intoxication.
Opening hours and closures
Municipal pools open early: Monday to Saturday from 6:45 to 23:00, Sunday from 9:00 to 22:00. Atlantika lets swimmers into the water between 6:30 and 22:00, with everyone out by 22:30. Volna sells single swims on weekdays from 6:45 to 21:30 and at weekends from 8:00 to 20:45. City pools also close their lanes for competitions, and the directorate publishes those blackout dates in advance — worth checking the venue page before travelling. On 31 December the facilities close at 16:00 and on 1 January they do not open at all.
