Tag Archives: central coast

Killcare Rock Pool – Putty Beach, NSW 2257

My experience in the pool The best time to come to Killcare ring of stones rock pool is at high tide on a calm day. Then, locals tell me, it's like being in a swimming pool. I almost made it on both counts, so managed a bit of a splash around on my back, but didn't really get to do a lap or even turn those arms over for freestyle or back stroke. I had noted down high tide times but got snarled up in traffic through Sydney so by the time I got to Killcare, I'd missed the high by about an Read more [...]

Avoca Beach Rock Pool – Avoca Beach, NSW 2251

Avoca is an Irish name meaning 'great estuary'. My experience in the pool Avoca Beach rock pool is really more of a wading pool than a swimming pool, to be honest. Even at high tide, the water barely gets above my thigh level even on a big wave, with the depth most of the time hovering around my knees. On a previous visit - in winter and to visit the fabulous cinema right by the beach here - a lifeguard told me the rock pool here is really more for kids to play safely in the water and Read more [...]

Copacabana Rock Pool – Copacabana, NSW 2251

Named after the beach in Brazil... My experience in the pool The first time we pitched up at Copacabana Beach was on a grey Sunday morning after attending an outdoor concert in Singleton, further up the central coast in the Hunter Valley. Funnily enough one of the singers in that concert was from Copacabana and she had mentioned the place in her intro, so we were quite excited to find the place the next morning. Sadly, neither the weather nor the tides were that kind to us. It was a Read more [...]

Terrigal Rock Pool – Terrigal, NSW 2260

Named for an Aboriginal word meaning 'place of little birds' My experience in the pool I'd read somewhere that the best time to come to Terrigal rock pool was around high tide, so we checked our tide times and the weather forecasts before heading up the coast from Kiama for a day trip to the Central Coast. When we got to Terrigal it was mid-morning on a warm Saturday at the end of May, with some sort of surf carnival going on to add a bit of colour on the beach itself. The rock pool Read more [...]

Macmasters Beach Rock Pool – NSW 2251

Named after the Scotsman who first settled here in 1855, though nobody seems to know where in Scotland he came from… My experience in the pool It was a cloudy day in midweek just after the sweltering hot holiday weekend in October, which might explain why the place was deserted apart from the handful of surfers who, I quickly realised, would glide past the pool on a wave and then walk back along the coast path and past the pool again before stepping across the rocks to rejoin their surfing Read more [...]