All posts by Simon Duffin

Born in Yorkshire, now living on the beautiful south coast of NSW. Have lived and worked in eight different countries over the years and swum in nearly all of them. Now in Australia, I want this website to reflect a new life, where swimming takes centre stage and there's a pool in nearly every small community.

Avoca Beach Rock Pool – Avoca Beach, NSW 2251

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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 [...]

Brooklyn Baths – Brooklyn, NSW 2083

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My experience in the pool Brooklyn Baths up on the Hawkesbury River have really useful depth markers against the shark fence on the riverside of the pool and along one of the sides in the shallower waters. These are essential for swimmers as the tides can vary the water depth enormously, and with the water being a bit murky - at least on the December morning I pitched up - there'd be no other way of knowing how deep you're getting, or more importantly, whether you have enough depth to swim Read more [...]

Manly Cove Swimming Enclosure – Manly, NSW 2095

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My experience in the pool I'd never seen the swimming enclosure at Manly Cove so busy as on the hot morning I visited in mid-December 2016. With overnight temperatures barely falling below 28C and a daytime high of 38C forecast, the waters by the Manly Ferry wharf suddenly became popular. I've walked past this shark-netted enclosure hundreds of times over the years and hardly ever seen anyone in the water. I was here myself just a week earlier and had stared at the choppy waters for a good Read more [...]

Little Manly Baths – Manly, NSW 2095

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Holiday excursion steamers used to dock at Little Manly from 1861 My experience in the pool They don't make shark-protected swimming enclosures like the baths at Little Manly any more. There's no shark net here. Rather, they keep the big fish out with a row of snugly fitting vertical wooden sticks in this bathing area not far from Manly that was first built as long ago as 1879! I wasn't at Little Manly at the best of times, though. The tide was out, so the swimmable area was much reduced Read more [...]

Pickering Point Baths – Seaforth, NSW 2092

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George Pickering was an early settler in the area near these baths. My experience in the pool Pickering Point Baths on Middle Harbour near Seaforth are an idyllic place for a dip on a hot afternoon. I came here on the bus from Manly after sitting for twenty minutes looking at the swimming enclosure next to Manly Ferry wharf and deciding it was just too windy and the water not tempting enough for my swim that day. It’s a ten minute walk down steeply-winding streets from where the bus Read more [...]

The Blue Pool – Bermagui, NSW 2546

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Some say 'Bermagui' comes from an Aboriginal word meaning canoe with paddles. My experience in the pool Bermagui’s Blue Pool is every bit as special as everyone told me it would be. It sits out on the rock face, way further south than most of the other NSW ocean pools, and although it was more green than blue, it was a pure delight on a warm December morning. I took a bit of a gamble on the weather because when I left my own home 3 hours and more north of Bermagui, it was grey and Read more [...]

The Pool Community

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This Ocean Pools NSW website has so far been all about mapping the pools as I swim in them. By my reckoning, I still have over 30 ocean pools, harbour baths and other protected swimming enclosures to do before I finish that part of my quest. My idea with this new blog is to broaden the scope of the website to include anything new happening around the pools, whether it be events people let me know about, exhibitions, works of art or other projects I hear of. One of the things I love about Read more [...]

South Maroubra Rock Pools – South Maroubra NSW 2035

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My experience in the pool You've got to pick the right tide to go for a swim at South Maroubra's ring of stones rock pool. I managed it on my third visit, though the earlier attempts were not a waste of time as they helped me find the right spot when I did come back at high tide. Basically, at low tide, you have the best views of exactly where this rock pool is, and can visualise where you might swim when the water is deeper, but on that low tide you'll be lucky if you can do more than Read more [...]

Forty Baskets Swimming Enclosure – NSW 2093

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Forty Baskets name came from the quantity of fish caught locally for soldiers at the Quarantine Station nearby in 1885. My experience in the pool Forty Baskets pool across the harbour from Manly is best at high tide, I'm told. It's not the easiest harbour baths to get to on public transport, so I had postponed my visit several times after checking the tides on days I was free. But I finally made it on this warm morning at the end of November and the tide was just an hour past high. I Read more [...]

Enfield Aquatic Centre – Enfield, NSW 2136

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Sydney's first freshwater Olympic Pool. My experience in the pool My first lap of Enfield Aquatic Centre's Olympic pool was an absolute delight. It began simply enough, in fairly shallow water for maybe the first 30 metres or so, but then dips away dramatically to form the 5m deep diving area - or rather what was the diving area till they removed the diving board! I love swimming in such deep pools and Enfield must have been a fantastic place when they hosted the national diving championships Read more [...]