Swimming Pool Games for Adults

It’s a hot Summer’s weekend and you have a pool. What better than to have some friends over and get the party games out?

Although I’m here to provide you with games that can bring some life to your pool party, they don’t all contain alcohol. Surprised? Me too. That’s not to say that some games aren’t naturally made better by pouring beer on top or including your favourite cocktail.

Here’s just 8 simple pool games you could take a dive at:

1. Water Polo

Here’s the classic game you’ll see in most holiday destinations: get your two teams, two goals and a ball that floats.

You’ll need two team captains and two people guarding the goals, like soccer. When you’re ready, have the two team captains stand in the middle of the pool and throw the ball into the air.

Whoever catches it should pass the ball between team-members to get it into the opponent’s goal.

The team with the most goals in a decided time wins!

2. Chicken Fight

For this one you’ll need at least four players: two in the pool and two on their shoulders!

The aim of the game is for the people sat on the shoulders to fight until one of them falls into the water. At that point, they have lost. Bonus points if a belly flop is involved.

I’m here to condone water safety, but it is much more fun with alcohol!

3. Cardboard Boat Race

This one is for the creative-minded individuals out there. Also the ones who haven’t taken their cardboard recycling out for a few weeks.

You’ll need at least two players for this game as well as lots of cardboard and any other craft supplies you think will help.

The start of the race begins when both people are sat with their crafts, when the bell rings they will need to start making a boat that they can fit into and float. If someone is confident with time, they can of course add all the sparkle they wish.

When the cardboard boat is complete, they just get into the boat on the water and sail to the other side. The first player to reach the other side with their boat in-tact wins!

4. Wet Shirt Relay Race

No, this isn’t what you’re thinking; that’s rude. However, that would also be a good game for adults.

Moving on, in this game you’ll have two teams. In your team, decide who will go first, second, third, etc. The first person will put a shirt on and jump into the water, swimming from one side to the other.

When they are at the other side, they will need to get out, take the shirt off and pass it to the next swimmer. This swimmer will put the wet shirt on, swim to the other side and so on. The first team to have all of their teammates back out of the water after swimming with the wet shirt, wins!

5. Volleyball

Here we have another water sport classic. As with most swimming pool games for adults you’ll need a pop. This one is just slightly larger than others. You’ll need a net that goes across the centre of the pool to create two pitches.

Then, with two teams of 3-5 players, hit a volleyball over the net. Normal volleyball rules apply and the first team to reach 25 points, wins.

6. Floating Beer Pong

Again, I’m here to condone water safety measures and, normally, alcohol in a pool would be a bad idea as it can lead to shallow-pool drowning if somebody becomes unconscious or can’t swim.

However, if you are in a very shallow area of the pool and you will not be swimming (or driving) after your pool games, then consider beer pong.

You can personalize however you wish by changing the alcohol, some may choose shots, others may go full-on frozen cocktail slushies for the adventurous bunch.

There will be two players either side of the ping pong table, in front of them are 10 drinks in the form of a triangle pointing at the opposing player.

Each player must take turns throwing the ping pong ball into the cups on the other side. If the player scores, then the other player must drink the beverage of the cup the ball landed in.

You’ve got your floating table, you’ve got your traditional red solo cups and you’ve got your ping pong ball. So, get pinging.

7. Walking Water Ball

This one is for those who have a little cash hanging around. You can either rent or buy the inflatable water balls or ‘zorbs’ as they are also called.

Once they’re blown up, anyone can climb inside and have fun walking on water.

Although there is no particular game with the walking water ball, with more than one person in a ball, anything is possible. You could make any swimming pool games with them: hitting each other, trying to stay upright (especially hard after a glass or two) or aqua zorbing ball games.

8. Noodle Jousting

If you’re wanting to find games for adults at a pool party, but don’t know what to do. Or, if you’ve got children and their toys floating around the pool.

I’ve got an idea for you to do some good old fashioned jousting. But, with the pool noodles.

This is very similar to the chicken fight pool game, but with noodles and running. There are two teams of two, with one person sat on the other’s shoulders.

Each team begins on either side of the pool and the member sat on the shoulders has a pool noodle. When the bell sounds, both teams must charge at each other with the pool noodles aiming to push the other team into the water.

It can be soft, violent fun!

Conclusion

So, there you have it. 8 fantastic games that adults can play in their swimming pool with friends and family.

If you are going to have alcohol while playing any of these games, please exercise caution and make sure there are no children in the pool. In case of spillages, you may need to complete a water treatment text the following day.

Even if you want to play all of these fantastic games but don’t have a pool, check out my other blog “How to Make a Homemade Pool”. It gives you all the information you need when you want to DIY build a pool at home on a budget!