Neptune Pool at Hearst’s Castle – San Simeon, CA

I took this photo on a tour (Tour 1 to be precise) of the Hearst’s Castle historical monument in San Simeon, California. This is the famous Neptune Pool built by William Randolph Hearst with his architect, Julia Morgan atop The Enchanted Hill. The Neptune Pool took about 12 years to perfect. Today, restoration work continues to be done on the castle including the Neptune Pool as evidenced by the scaffolding in the picture.

When you’re standing up close to the edge of the pool staring straight through to the bottom, the water seems to entice you to get in and so the question on everyone’s mind is ‘can you swim in it?’ The tour guides hear this question all the time and the answer is – yes and no. The pool is opened once a year to employees who are allowed to bring 2 guests and swim in the pool for 2 hours. Our guide recommended becoming fast friends with an employee. For all others the answer is ‘no’ – no one is allowed in the pool. Although the week before our visit, a girl pushed her boyfriend into the pool. The fine for this was somewhere around $750 dollars and he was carrying his iPhone on him – so it was a very costly dip in the pool. The guide referred to the girl as the “ex-girlfriend.” I wouldn’t recommend getting in.

Hearst Castle draws more than one million visitors each year. It’s definitely worth seeing if you haven’t visited and especially if you like castles. It’s amazing to see some of the architecture and details that went into the castle design and buildings. Aside from the castle, the surrounding area of the California Coast is quite beautiful in itself.

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