Brighton Baths – Brighton-le-Sands, NSW 2216

Named after the UK Brighton beach maybe, but why le Sands? Anyone know? My experience in the pool They call Brighton-Le-Sands 'Little Greece'. I didn't know this when I arrived for my swim at Brighton Baths but virtually all the old guys lounging around the beach seemed to be speaking a language that sounded a lot like Greek (not that I'm a Greek speaker myself), but since I'd passed Greek restaurants, Greek lawyers, Greek travel places, I kind of guessed. The Brighton Baths Athletic Read more [...]

Fairlight Rock Pool – Fairlight, NSW 2094

Named after a village in Sussex near Hastings My experience in the pool Is it an ocean pool or should I call them harbour baths? Fairlight Rock Pool could be called either. There's no surf here; it's far too tucked away, protected from the ocean by Manly and the other stony outcrop that houses Balgowlah. But if they took away the pool wall at the eastern end and you just kept swimming, you'd end up out in the middle of the Tasman Sea heading towards New Zealand. It certainly has more Read more [...]

Whale Beach Rock Pool – Whale Beach, NSW 2107

Origins of the name uncertain:  a beached whale or the shape of the headland? My experience in the pool It was a sunny April morning, with temperatures rising to over 30C, when I turned up at Whale Beach Rock Pool. Well, to say ‘turned up’ hides the considerable effort you need to make to get here if you’re doing it in public transport. The buses were particularly slow that morning and then there’s a ten minute walk from the nearest bus stop to get to Whale Beach. But that ten Read more [...]

Avalon Rock Pool – Avalon, NSW 2107

Named after the island in Celtic mythology My experience in the pool I liked Avalon Rock Pool as soon as I saw it. It was not just its unorthodox shape – a kind of parallelogram jutting out towards the surf – but also its clear water which looked temptingly fresh and deep as I walked along the pool edge taking my shots for the blog. It’s only about 22m long, but when a pool is as beautiful as this, who cares about serious 50m lap swimming? Its depth does help with Avalon Pool; Read more [...]