Setapak Hot Spring

What is there now

The New Straits Times described the pool in December 2017: behind gates manned by security guards inside the apartment compound, with several foot baths around the pool, a small kiddy pool fed from the main pool, and separate bathroom cubicles for men and women. The writer found the water clear and the pool fairly clean. The watchman said some people take the water home and some drink it, and visitors still throw coins into the pool.

That is still the most detailed description, but Google Maps reviews show the pool in daily use in 2026. A February 2026 reviewer said the apartment residence now looks after it. In June 2026 a visitor found regulars, mostly older locals, who showed newcomers the best spots; there was a lot of algae, though the water runs through rather than sitting still. A May 2026 reviewer who lives in the block warned that the toilets had no water for showering, that mid-afternoon is too sunny and hot, and that evenings get crowded and parking awkward. Google lists the pool as open daily from 7am to 7pm, and a July 2026 reviewer confirmed it closes at 7pm. The RM2 fee is still the 2017 figure.

How hot and what is in the water

A UiTM team took GPS readings and sampled two points at Setapak for a study published in 2013, recording 45.9°C and 55.2°C. An online hot spring database lists the Resource Springs pool at 44.8°C and a separate spring on Jalan Air Hijau, also in Setapak, at 55.3°C, so the hotter UiTM reading may come from a different outlet. Expect the pool you can actually use to be in the mid-40s.

The water was close to neutral (pH 7.3) and mostly sodium (66 to 71 mg/L), with 5 to 11 mg/L of total sulphur, almost no sulphate (under 0.5 mg/L) and 15 to 20 mg/L of chloride. That is lightly mineralised water, much like Selayang Hot Spring in the same study. The authors advise against drinking Malaysian hot spring water because it does not meet the national drinking water standard.

A short history

A Straits Times report of 20 May 1891 described two hot springs in Selangor "having therapeutic values", one in Hulu Kelang and one in Setapak, and urged the British government to develop them for bathing and drinking. People boiled eggs in the Setapak pool, washed clothes in it and bathed in it for skin complaints. By December 1950 the paper reported it had lost its appeal after ghost rumours, and a dhoby was using it for laundry.

In the 1970s it was still a large steaming pool with a run-down hut at one corner and zinc-roofed baths at the other. A caretaker rented out a roped bucket for 10 sen; bathing was free if you brought your own pail. Development has since swallowed most of the site.

Before you go

This is a pool inside a residential compound, not a park. There is no published phone number or website. Google lists it as open daily from 7am to 7pm. If you are nearby, drop in. If you want a long soak with several pools, Selayang, about 10 km north-west in a straight line, is the larger free public option.