Can You Open Your Eyes in a Salt Water Pool?

Yes, you can. A properly run salt pool sits around 3,200 ppm salt, which is roughly a third as salty as your tears and about a tenth as salty as the ocean. The salt is rarely what stings. If your eyes burn, check the pH and look for chloramines, and never open your eyes underwater with contact lenses in.

This page is part of our salt water pools guide. If the problem is your skin rather than your eyes, read our page on a rash from a salt water pool instead.

How salty a salt pool is next to your tears

Your tears are not pure salt water, but their total concentration of dissolved particles is close to medical saline. A review of tear research puts normal tear osmolarity at about 302 mOsm/L. The FDA label for 0.9% saline says it contains 900 mg of sodium chloride per 100 mL and has an osmolarity of 308 mOsmol/L. 900 mg per 100 mL is 9,000 mg per liter, or about 9,000 ppm. So “tears are about as salty as 9,000 ppm salt water” is a fair shorthand, as long as you remember it compares concentration, not recipe.

The pool and ocean figures come from our salt levels page. The ratios are simple division: 3,200 / 9,000 is 0.36, and 35,000 / 9,000 is 3.9.

In eye terms, pool water is hypotonic, meaning less salty than your tears. A Cleveland Clinic ophthalmologist says pool water is “hypotonic” relative to the eye, and lists corneal swelling as one part of the irritation swimmers feel. The ocean is the opposite case: at almost 4 times tear strength, it is hypertonic.

A salt pool is closer to your tears than fresh tap water is, because it has some salt and tap water has very little. We have not found a study that measured whether that makes a noticeable comfort difference, so we are not claiming one. If you want the full picture of what makes pool water “fresh” or “salt,” see saltwater vs freshwater pools.

What if the salt level is way too high?

It happens more than people think, and the panel is often the cause. A salt chlorine generator has no salt sensor. It infers salinity from how easily current crosses the cell, so a scaled cell or cold water shows a low number while the real salt level is fine. Owners who trust that number keep adding bags. Test with an independent pool salinity tester before you add salt, and run the pool salt calculator on the real reading.

Even a pool pushed to 6,000 ppm is still below the 9,000 ppm tear-equivalent figure, so overdosed salt still should not sting much. It is still worth fixing for the equipment. Our lower salt level tool works out the partial drain.

What actually makes your eyes sting

Chloramines, not “too much chlorine”

The common advice is that red eyes mean the pool has too much chlorine. That is usually wrong. Chlorine reacting with swimmers’ waste and grime creates chemical irritants called chloramines, according to the CDC. A county health department puts it bluntly: your eyes are irritated by chloramines, formed when chlorine reacts with pee, poop, sweat or dirt. The same source notes that this reaction also uses up chlorine that would otherwise kill germs.

A salt pool is not exempt. The cell makes the same hypochlorous acid as bleach, which is why a salt pool is still a chlorine pool. If your salt water pool smells like chlorine, that smell is combined chlorine, and it is the likely reason your eyes hurt. The fixes are the dull ones: shower before swimming, and keep free chlorine at or above the floor for your stabilizer level on the CYA chlorine chart.

Where sources disagree: a county health fact sheet on salt pools says chlorine from a salt chlorine generator is less harsh on skin and eyes. It gives no measurement or reason. The chlorine a cell makes is chemically the same as the chlorine from a jug, so we do not repeat that claim. A salt pool may feel gentler because the cell doses a little every day instead of in big swings, but we have no test that proves it.

pH out of range

Cleveland Clinic’s ophthalmologist says the pH of pool water “can have a big effect” on eye irritation. The CDC’s home pool page recommends pH 7.0 to 7.8. The Arkansas Department of Health, citing the CDC, gives 7.2 to 7.8. Both agree on the top end, and the top end is where salt pools cause trouble.

Salt pools drift up. The same county fact sheet says that as chlorine is generated, pH will rise. Orenda’s technical blog explains why: hydrogen bubbles off-gassing from the cell stir the water and drive out carbon dioxide, which raises pH. If your eyes sting and the chlorine reading looks normal, test pH next. Our guides on lowering pH in a salt water pool and muriatic acid cover the fix.

Contact lenses: take them out, every time

Salt does not change this rule. The FDA says to remove your contact lenses before swimming and not to expose them to any water, and its list includes ocean water. It also notes that tap water has been linked to Acanthamoeba keratitis, a corneal infection it describes as resistant to treatment. The CDC says Acanthamoeba is commonly found in tap water, lake water, well water and other water sources.

If water does get on your lenses, the CDC says to take them out as soon as possible, then throw them away or clean and disinfect them overnight. Cleveland Clinic adds that lenses can trap chlorinated water under the lens and make dryness worse. If you need to see underwater, the CDC suggests prescription goggles.

Goggles and rinsing

You can open your eyes in a salt pool. Whether you should, for long stretches, is a separate question. Cleveland Clinic’s advice is stricter than our headline answer: don’t open your eyes underwater unless you’re wearing goggles, and rinse your eyes with fresh water afterward. For a quick look at the bottom of a well-balanced pool, most people are fine. For laps, wear goggles.

Quick check when your eyes burn

Salt pools have real downsides, and we list them honestly on our dangers of salt water pools page. Salt stinging your eyes is not one of them. If pain or blurry vision lasts after you are out of the water, see an eye doctor.

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