Can a pool have both a ledge and a bench?

Yes, and many do — different depths, usually different ends, so they don't compete for the same water. Each is a modest formwork item, so building both costs less than doubling a single large feature.

Does either one count as swimming area?

No — treat both as furniture space and size the pool's actual swim area as if neither were there.

What water depth do floating or in-water loungers need?

Most want 12–20 cm of water over their base, which is why the standard 15 cm ledge depth works for almost every model on the market.

Where should each go?

The ledge on the sunny end near the terrace, close to the kitchen and out of shade. The bench at the deep end, as a stopping point after laps, or along a shaded long wall.

Which is better for a small pool?

The bench. On a 6 × 3 m pool a proper ledge can take a third of the water; a bench costs the swim lane only about 60 cm, whichever wall you put it on.

Tanning ledge vs bench

Two built-in resting zones at different depths — which one your pool needs, or whether it needs both.

Both are places to sit or lie in water without swimming, and both are built the same way — as masonry shaped into the shell, formed or blocked in before the finish goes on. Past that, they are almost opposites. A tanning ledge is a shallow platform, barely wet, meant for lying down. A bench is a deeper seat, meant for sitting with water at your chest. One is a destination; the other is a rest stop.

What doesn't change: neither one touches the plant room, the filtration or the depths elsewhere in the pool, and both are decided at design time, because retrofitting either means cutting into a finished shell. What does change is depth, footprint, who actually uses each one, and how much of your swim area they quietly take. Most pools that can afford the space end up with both — they serve different moments of the same afternoon.

the sweet-spot ledge depth — shallow enough to lie in, deep enough to cool you: 15 cmthe sweet-spot ledge depth — shallow enough to lie in, deep enough to cool you
bench seat depth below the surface — water sits at the chest, not the ankle: 45–50 cmbench seat depth below the surface — water sits at the chest, not the ankle
minimum ledge reach into the pool — a lounger is that long: 2 mminimum ledge reach into the pool — a lounger is that long
how far a bench projects from the wall, whatever length you build it: 60 cmhow far a bench projects from the wall, whatever length you build it

At a glance

	Tanning ledge	Bench
Water depth	10–40 cm (usually 15 cm)	~45–50 cm below the surface
Position	Lying down, loungers	Sitting, water to the chest
Who uses it	Sunbathers, toddlers, drinks	Adults resting, chatting, jets
Footprint	Large — 1.5–2 m into the pool	Slim — ~60 cm along a wall
Best spot	Sunny end, near the terrace	Deep end or a shaded long wall

Two depths, two jobs

A tanning ledge sits 10–40 cm below the surface, and in practice almost everyone settles on 15 cm: shallow enough that the sun still warms you and a drink stays out of the deep, deep enough that the water actually cools you and an in-water lounger's legs stay submerged. At 10 cm, waves slop over the edge and the ledge dries out between splashes; past 25–30 cm it stops being a ledge and starts being a shallow kids' pool with a bench-depth floor.

A bench sits far deeper — about 45–50 cm below the surface, low enough that an adult sitting on it has water at the chest, not the ankle. That difference of roughly 30–35 cm is the whole story: a ledge is shallow enough to lie flat in, a bench is deep enough to sit upright in and still feel like you're in the pool, not next to it.

What your body actually does there

On a ledge you lie down. It's built for a lounger, a towel, or just stretching out with your shoulders in the sun and your legs in cool water — the closest a pool gets to a beach. It's also where you stand ankle-deep to plant an umbrella, or where a toddler sits and splashes without anyone hovering over the deep end.

On a bench you sit upright, the way you'd sit at a table, with the water doing the work your legs would otherwise do treading water. It's where you pause mid-swim to catch your breath without a full exit, where two people stand and talk chest-deep, and — if it's positioned near a counter-current jet or a return line — where you can add a simple massage feature without building a spa.

Who actually uses each one

The ledge belongs to sunbathers and small children. It's the one place in the pool a toddler can splash without a parent within arm's reach of deep water, and it's the spot loungers, drinks and phones end up on any warm Saturday. Households with young kids get more daily use out of a ledge than almost any other single accessory.

The bench belongs to adults, and mostly to conversation. Nobody naps on a bench; people sit on it because it's where you land after a lap, where you rest between games with the kids, or where the household gathers at dusk with a drink and the pool lit from below. It's a smaller, quieter feature — and in adult-only households it often gets more real use than the ledge would.

Footprint: what each one costs the swim area

The ledge is the expensive one in square metres. Plan at least 2 m of reach into the pool — a lounger is 2 m long — and 2.5–3 m of width if two loungers should sit side by side. On an 8 × 4 m pool a 3 × 1.5 m ledge barely dents the swim area; on a 6 × 3 m pool the same ledge eats close to a third of the water. Size it to the pool, not to a photo of someone else's 12 m pool.

A bench is a sliver by comparison: it projects roughly 60 cm from the wall, however long you run it, so even a bench spanning a full 4 m wall barely narrows the lane. This is the practical reason small pools often carry a bench and skip the ledge — the ledge is the one accessory whose cost is measured in lost water, and on a short pool that cost is real.

Where each one belongs

Put the ledge on the sunny end, close to the terrace — it's an extension of the deck as much as it is part of the pool, and the shorter the walk from lounger to kitchen, the more it gets used. Keep it out of the shadow of the house or a tree; a shaded ledge just makes a very shallow, very unused corner.

Put the bench at the deep end or along a shaded long wall. At the deep end it's the natural stopping point after a lap, right where you need to catch your breath; along a shaded wall it stays comfortable to sit on through a hot afternoon, the way a shaded terrace chair beats one in full sun. Neither needs to fight the other for space — put one at each end and the pool zones itself.

Construction and cost

Both are built the same way as steps: formed and poured with the shell in a concrete pool, or a prefabricated insert welded under the liner in a liner pool. Neither adds real complexity to the build — a flat shelf and a flat seat are simpler shapes than a staircase, and both are moderate line items next to the shell and equipment budget.

The real cost driver isn't the feature, it's the footprint: a wide, full-length ledge costs more in floor area — and therefore in overall pool size for the same swim length — than the modest strip a bench needs. Add loungers, umbrella sleeves or a jet at the bench and the accessory budget grows, but the masonry itself is inexpensive either way. Put both into the designer at your actual pool size and watch how differently they eat into the water.

Do you need both, or just one?

They aren't really rivals — a ledge is where the afternoon happens, a bench is where the swim pauses and where the evening happens, and a pool with room for both zones itself without any extra planning. If your pool is 8 m or longer, or wider than 4 m, there's usually room for a modest version of each.

If you have to choose, let the household decide: families with small children get daily value from a ledge no other feature matches. Adult households, and any pool under roughly 6 × 3 m where every square metre of water counts, are usually better served by a bench — it gives most of what people actually use a ledge for, at a fraction of the footprint.

Our take

They're teammates, not rivals: the ledge is the daytime destination, the bench is the resting spot mid-swim and the social perch at dusk. If you must pick one — families with small kids take the ledge; adult households and small pools take the bench.

Frequently asked questions

Can a pool have both a ledge and a bench?: Yes, and many do — different depths, usually different ends, so they don't compete for the same water. Each is a modest formwork item, so building both costs less than doubling a single large feature.
Does either one count as swimming area?: No — treat both as furniture space and size the pool's actual swim area as if neither were there.
What water depth do floating or in-water loungers need?: Most want 12–20 cm of water over their base, which is why the standard 15 cm ledge depth works for almost every model on the market.
Where should each go?: The ledge on the sunny end near the terrace, close to the kitchen and out of shade. The bench at the deep end, as a stopping point after laps, or along a shaded long wall.
Which is better for a small pool?: The bench. On a 6 × 3 m pool a proper ledge can take a third of the water; a bench costs the swim lane only about 60 cm, whichever wall you put it on.

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