KEY POINTS

  • The pool is 16 feet deeper than the previous record holder -- Y-40 Deep Joy in Italy
  • The venue features an underwater shipwreck and a recreation of Mayan ruins
  • The pool will also be used by the Polish army and firefighters

Poland opened the world’s deepest swimming pool, with a depth of 148 feet, to the public Saturday.

The swimming pool, named DeepSpot, was inaugurated in the Polish town of Mszczonow, about 25 miles from the capital Warsaw. The venue also offers training services for budding scuba divers.

The pool holds more than 8,000 cubic meters (282,517 cubic feet) of water, which is about 20 times the volume of a standard 25 meters (82 feet) long swimming pool, Euronews reported.

DeepSpot features underwater caves that resemble Mayan ruins as well as the reproduction of a shipwreck, which will be used to train divers, the Polish army and firefighters, UPI reported.

The DeepSpot center includes a hotel and an underwater tunnel. Guests can enjoy underwater views from the hotel rooms and watch the divers in action through the tunnel. The venue also reportedly features a restaurant and several conference rooms.

"There are no magnificent fish or coral reefs here so it is no substitute for the sea but it is definitely a good place to learn and to train in order to dive safely in open water," Przemyslaw Kacprzak, a 39-year-old diving instructor, said, EuroNews reported.

"And it's fun! It's like a kindergarten for divers!" Kacprzak added.

DeepSpot has crystal-clear water, which was initially promised by the designers so that divers will have "the impression of being suspended in space, as if there was no water around," the Lonely Planet reported. The pool's official website said the water would always be between 32-34 °C, to create a perfect condition for diving.

The pool was constructed at a cost of 40 million zlotys ($1,06,81,900), and about 5,000 cubic meters of concrete went into building the pool, Euronews reported. The construction lasted about two years.

DeepSpot leaves behind the previous record-holder Y-40 Deep Joy, which is located in Montegrotto Terme, Italy, by about 16 feet in depth. However, it is set to lose its crown soon to Abyss, a 50-meter (164.042 feet) deep swimming pool, which will open in Merseyside, United Kingdom, in 2021, Euronews reported.

Swimming Pool
Water in a swimming pool. Pixabay