San Alfonso del Mar is a resort located in Algarrobo, Chile featuring a 1,000m long, 19-acre outdoor pool, 250 million liters of water which holds a Guinness world record as the largest in the world.

Apart from its large size, the lagoon has another spectacular feature: its waters have the transparency and intense turquoise color of tropical seas. This has been made possible thanks to an advanced technology developed by the Chilean company Crystal Lagoons, which uses water pumped from the Pacific Ocean, that is then filtered and treated for supply to the pool, built at the cost of US$3.5 million whilst the maintenance costs are said to be 1/4th of those associated to a pro golf course.

Amenities

San Alfonso has created a private world with activities for all family members to spend days full of enjoyment without ever leaving the resort.

For sport lovers, there are sport schools imparting training classes on sailing, kayak, scuba diving, swimming, ocean navigation, golf, tennis and paragliding, and they also will find at their disposal artificially-lit five-a-side soccer courts, volleyball courts and tennis courts, a real statutory soccer field, a last-generation 3D golf simulator and a gym with large windows that enjoy a stimulating overview of the lagoon.

Children have play grounds and entertainment activities organized by child monitors, whereas teenagers have an exclusive space destined for them - the Teen-Pub -, and also SubTerra discotheque, where often music recitals and live shows are featured.

The Beach Club with spa, a tempered beach under a crystal pyramid, open-air Jacuzzis, sauna, beauty parlor and gym; the Blue Spa, the first medical spa in Chile; the cybercafé; the exhibition and cultural activities room; the open-air amphitheater; the Lighthouse Café with icecream parlor and teashop; the sushi Lighthouse; the supermarket and the North Bay pub-restaurant with its own dock and a large terrace along the lagoon’s coastline – where often amusing parties and shows are held – are also part of San Alfonso's facilities.

To all that, the South Bay development has to be added, where the SubAqua Café stands out for its inner aquarium, the largest in Chile, which holds more that 60 Chilean species that can be appreciated in full magnitude through a 25-meters-long glass surface. A giant 100-meters-long water chute is also located in this zone. This sector will be completed by the South Bay Pub that will have a multiple-level restaurant, a Jacuzzi-bar with a giant screen and a gym.

Getting there

San Alfonso is located at only 90 kilometers apart from Santiago in Algarrobo's northern sector, the closer beach spot to the eastern sector of the capital city.

Arriving to this “private world” is faster and safer than ever, since the access routes have been substantially enhanced. One of the alternatives from Santiago is taking Highway 68 that runs between Santiago and Valparaiso – with double lane in all its course – and continuing to the highway that communicate Casablanca and Algarrobo. Then, it is possible to reach San Alfonso directly by the Aguas Marinas branch, without passing by Algarrobo's downtown, thereby avoiding traffic jams and delays, especially during summer. It is worth to mention that Costanera Norte and Vespucio Norte franchised expressways in Santiago allow anybody to reach Highway 68 non-stop in a matter of minutes.

Another alternative is taking Autopista del Sol and then continuing by the highway that joins all the seaside towns between Algarrobo and Santo Domingo. This highway runs parallel to the coastal route and makes possible to go from Algarrobo to San Antonio’s harbor in just 20 minutes.

(see map below).

About Crystal Lagoos

Crystal Lagoons is a new but fastly growing company. It was born 2 years ago after the San Alfonso del Mar pool won the Guinness record. Since then, the patented technology has spread around the world, with more than 80 projects in 35 countries, involving an investment of US$60.000 million.

Crystal Lagoons green technology requires 100 times less chemicals and utilizes only 2% of the energy versus traditional pool technologies. It uses
10 times less water than a golf course and it’s much cheaper to build and maintain.

San Alfonso del Mar was the first resort associated to one of these crystal water lagoons. After the outstanding sales success, Fernando Fischmann
decided to export this real estate innovation. Currently the largest pool in the world is being built in Egypt, at Sharm El Sheikh, and it should be
inaugurated on February 2010.

Other major Crystal Lagoons projects:

• Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt): 30.000 homes, 12 lagoons (100 hectares of crystalline water in the middle of the desert) Investment: US$5.500 million.
• Abu Suma (Egypt): 50.000 homes, 18 lagoons and US$12.000 million investment.
• Lagoa Dos Ingleses (Brasil) 50.000 homes, 3 lagoons and US$6.000 million.
• Playa Blanca (Panamá) 2.000 homes, 1 lagoons of 7 hectares and a US$700 million investment.
• Dubai Lagoon (Dubai): 4.000 homes, 2,5 hectare lagoon, and US$1.200 million investment.
• Laguna Vista (Chile): 800 homes, 1 hectare lagoon and US$60 million investment.
• Las Brisas de Santo Domingo. 500 homes. 2,2 hectáre lagoon and investment US$15 million.
• Tan Tan (Marruecos) 620 homes, 5 hectares lagoon and US$180 million investment.
• Asia del Mar (Perú) 550 homes, 5,5 hectares lagoon and US$160 million investment.
• Guitar Project (Jordania) 1000 homes, 3 hectares lagoon and US$60 million investment.