Columbus Monthly’s Best of Columbus 2023: Intriguing Ways to Stay Cool in the Capital City

Ohio is pool country. Thanks to our less-than-pristine lakes—including the big one to the north—the best (and safest) way to beat the heat is to take a dip in a man-made swimming hole. With the dog days of summer ahead, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most intriguing options in the Columbus region.

Suburban Standouts

A swimming pool arms race is occurring in the Columbus suburbs, and the Northwest Side is the site of perhaps the fiercest battle. The Hilliard Family Aquatic Center is one of the state’s largest, boasting a 15,000-square-foot leisure pool, two waterslides, a 300-gallon dumping bucket and a 500-foot-long lazy river, among other amenities. Meanwhile, in 2021, Hilliard’s neighbor to the north debuted the new Dublin Community Pool North, which features three separate pools, a 3-meter diving platform, a climbing wall, two waterslides and other goodies. You can’t go wrong with either option, but Hilliard gets bonus points for its open-door policy: It sells day passes to nonresidents ($15), while Dublin is less welcoming to outsiders (nonresidents can buy $12 guest passes if they are with someone from Dublin).

Read More:Columbus Monthly’s Best of Columbus 2023: Food, Arts, Sports, Shopping and Reader Picks

Skyline Swimming

If you want a pool with a view, Downtown is the place. The Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel boasts a rooftop pool—and you don’t have to be a hotel guest to swim in it. Through ResortPass, anyone can book a swimming staycation at the Renaissance (starting at $10), the only Columbus option on the website. In addition to sweeping skyline views, the pool also includes a hot tub, Wi-Fi, towel service and food and drink from the hotel’s Latitude 41 restaurant. Just down the road from the Renaissance is another unique option: a cantilevered pool with a glass wall visible from High Street. Despite lobbying from the public, this stunning pool, located on a third-floor courtyard in the Nicholas, remains just for residents of the Edwards Cos. mixed-use development (where apartments rent for $1,320 to $4,684 per month), as well as nearby sister developments the Citizens and the White-Haines/Madison’s project (when it’s completed).

Rent a Pool

Can’t afford your own backyard pool? Then rent one. In early June, Swimply, an online marketplace for private pool rentals, listed 16 options in the Columbus region, including in Delaware, Granville, Pickerington, Canal Winchester, Reynoldsburg and Worthington. For $28 to $100 per hour, you can host your own private pool party, complete with barbecue grills, privacy fences, fire pits and other amenities.

Get Wild

Peace and quiet isn’t for every swimmer. At the Wild Tides Wave Pool, you can pretend you’re crashing into the ocean surf, riding waves that reach up to 4 feet in height. The pool is part of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Zoombezi Bay water park, where tickets go for $38 to $40 for adults or $35 to $37 for children and seniors. Season passes cost $120.

This story is from the Best of Columbus package in the July 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly.