Swimming caps, twelve mention your ears and one has a pocket for them
The short answer
Prices in GBPUSDEUReach row carries the day it was read
Twenty one swimming caps from one search and the order export, none of them handled here. The cap you pull on at the pool to keep your hair together.
Twelve titles mention your ears. One cap has a pocket for them.
Which you are buying
| What the photographs show | Listings |
|---|---|
| A plain or printed silicone cap | 9 |
| A silicone cap with a raised bubble texture | 2 |
| A silicone cap with moulded ear pockets | 1 |
| A cloth cap | 6 |
| A cloth cap with a coated inside | 3 |
Silicone is the smooth cap that grips. Cloth is a stretchy fabric with seams that pulls on easily and lets water through. The coated cloth caps sit between the two, cloth outside and a grey coating inside.
Ears
Twelve of the twenty one titles mention the ears, most as protect ears or ear protection, on silicone and cloth caps alike. Only one is shaped for it: a silicone cap with a moulded pocket over each ear. The rest are a plain dome that comes down over the ears or does not, depending on your head.
Hair, and how much of it
Nine titles say long hair, and several sell an extra large cap. Swim England said in a statement in July 2021 that swimming hats designed for Afro hair can reduce barriers to the sport for under-represented groups, and that these hats are permitted at all Swim England clubs and competitions.
If you need room, check the size. Nine listings give one. The silicone caps measured here are about 18 to 25cm each way laid flat. One cloth cap with a coated inside gives 20cm that stretches to 30cm, and one cloth cap gives 52cm round the brim. Two silicone caps give a weight, 50g and 55g.
Waterproof
Fourteen titles say waterproof, seven of them on a cloth cap, three of those with a coated inside. One cloth cap says waterproof in its title and, in its own photograph, breathable fabric that wicks away sweat. A cloth cap holds hair together. Expect it to get wet.
Does your pool need one
That is the pool’s rule. Sefton Council’s Meadows leisure centre, for one, asks swimmers to tie back long hair and does not mention caps. Read the rules for your pool before buying for it.
What was left out, and why
Two caps named Arena and 361 degrees, big makers’ names on cheap listings, are not on this site. Two joke bald-head caps, a custom-logo cap, a beanie, a neoprene diving hood, disposable ear stickers and two goggle sets came back from the search and were taken out. Of what is left, the dinosaur cap is for a child, the printed caps say no more than the plain ones, and the cloth cap with ties and the printed cloth cap are among the dearest here. One coated cloth cap is sold twice in the same photographs.
Side by side
Prices in GBPUSDEUR. Each row carries the date its price was read.
| Product | Price | Why it is here | Where to buyLink |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall, and the one with ear pockets Silicone Swimming Cap with Ear Pockets - High | £4.10$5.40€4.83checked 18 Oct 2026 | A silicone cap with a moulded pocket over each ear and a ridged surface, measured at 7.55 by 8.81 inches in its own drawing, and its own panel lists a large interior space. Its title says long hair. Black or blue, with a three step photograph of how to pull it on. The only cap here shaped round the ears rather than only saying so | Check opens in a new tab |
| A plain silicone cap, measured Waterproof Silicone Swim Caps Women Men High Elastic | £3.72$4.96€4.37checked 18 Oct 2026 | A smooth silicone cap in six colours and two marbled ones, drawn at 8.8 by 7.3 inches and 7.8 inches high. The only listing here that prints care symbols: hand wash, and do not bleach, dry clean or iron. Photographed on a swimmer and on a model head | Check opens in a new tab |
| For long hair, the widest measured Silicone Swimming Cap Long Hair High Elastic Durable | £4.50$6.00€5.30checked 18 Oct 2026 | A large silicone cap drawn at 25cm across the top, 19cm high and 20cm at the brim, the widest silicone cap here that gives a size, so the most room of the measured ones. Black, pink or white. Every photograph is a captioned render, so judge it by the drawing | Check opens in a new tab |
What you can settle before you buy
- Silicone or cloth. Twelve caps here are silicone, a smooth rubbery cap that grips the head. Six are cloth, a stretchy fabric with seams, and three are cloth with a coating on the inside. The photographs show which is which more reliably than the titles.
- Room for your hair. Nine titles say long hair, and several sell an extra large cap. Swim England said in July 2021 that swimming hats designed for Afro hair can reduce barriers to the sport, and that they are permitted at all its clubs and competitions.
- Check the size. Nine listings give one, the silicone caps between about 18 and 25cm each way laid flat. A coated cloth cap says 20cm that stretches to 30cm, and one cloth cap gives 52cm round the brim.
- Whether you need one at all. That is the pool's rule, not the cap's. Sefton Council's Meadows leisure centre, for one, asks swimmers to tie back long hair and says nothing about caps, so read your pool's rules before buying for it.
What to read twice
- Twelve titles mention your ears, one cap is shaped for them. Protect ears or ear protection is on the titles of cloth caps and plain silicone caps alike. Only one has moulded pockets that sit over each ear.
- Waterproof on cloth. Fourteen titles say waterproof, seven of them on a cloth cap, three of those with a coated inside. One cloth cap says waterproof in its title and breathable fabric that wicks away sweat in its own photograph.
- Claims with nothing behind them. One bubbled cap says its drop shape makes you faster, its colours make you safer and it protects your scalp from chlorine. Another says it keeps hair dry. No listing shows a test.
- Some are for children. Five titles mention kids, boys or girls, and a dinosaur cap with spikes is modelled only by children. Two titles named big swimwear makers and are not on this site.