Each Pod contains only 10 inches of incredibly salt-dense water, therefore, it is not required that the user know how to swim. As for drifting off to sleep, we highly encourage it! 1 hour of sleep in the Pod is equivalent to about 4 in your bed due to flotation encouraging your brain waves into theta state. If you happen to roll over in the Pod (trust us, it’s hard to do), the discomfort from the salt water in your eyes will quickly wake you (don’t worry, there’s a fresh water spray bottle in the Pod for a quick rinse).