Kastrup Sea Bath

What with sharks, eels, giant squid, under toe, and only Satan knows what else, swimming in the ocean is not recommended. However if you must, you might want to do it in the futuristic wooden confines of the Kastrup Sea Bath outside of Copenhagen.

Part of the coastal Kastrup Strandpark in Copenhagen, the sea bath looks like something from the future of boardwalks. The award-winning feature was built in 2004-2005 by the White Architects firm, who put a modern spin on the classic wooden seaside attraction. The structure looks like a swirling ribbon falling into a semi-circular shape, with one end elevated above the other. To keep the thing from being destroyed by the harsh, salty sea winds, it was constructed out of a variety of African wood that is said to be harder than steel. Assumedly this would make slipping and falling, all the more painful.   

However once you are on the sea bath structure, you can see that even while it is decoratively lovely, it's also packed with functionality. More than just a diving platform (although it has one of those), the sea bath features bathrooms, benches, and different levels of lounge area. The real main attraction though is the little patch of sea that is contained within the circle. while it is not cut off from the wider ocean, it cetainly seems less likely that a sea monster will attack you while you are swimming inside.

At night, the whole thing lights up with classy accent lights that make it look even more science-fiction-y, even if it is made of wood. People seem hell bent on testing fate, and swimming out into the ocean, so lets hope they do it responsibly in the confines of the Sea Bath.