Ocean Baths / Rock Pools

Ramsgate Baths – Ramsgate Beach, NSW 2217

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Named after the Ramsgate in Kent, also a seaside resort. My experience in the pool The air temperature may have been up at 22C and the morning sun still warming the back of my neck as I undressed on the sand at Ramsgate Baths, but the water has got a whole lot cooler in the last few weeks. The guy who dipped in head first next to me and pushed off along the side of the shark net had a heavy duty swimming cap on, and this reminded me of the advice I received almost a year ago when I Read more [...]

Monterey Baths – Monterey, NSW 2217

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Named after the Californian town, but only in the 1970s officially My experience in the pool Monterey Baths came as a bit of a surprise. I didn't even know they were there. Though better studying of another pool blogger who came here a few years ago should have been enough to make me keep an eye open for them (see the links below for their take on the baths). I had set out on a bright, warm morning in May to swim in the baths closest to the runway at Sydney Airport. But to swim in Kyeemagh Read more [...]

Brighton Baths – Brighton-le-Sands, NSW 2216

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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

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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

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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

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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 [...]

Mollymook Bogey Hole – Mollymook, NSW 2539

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Possibly named after a type of albatross: the mollymawk My experience in the pool It took several visits to Mollymook Bogey Hole before I actually got in the water. This was partly because I did a reccie of the area after swimming in the ocean pool at nearby Ulladulla some months ago, and had no plan to strip off for a second time that day. But also because if you want to swim at Mollymook Bogey Hole, you have to get the tide right. Don’t bother going at low tide because the water Read more [...]

Palm Beach Rock Pool – Palm Beach, NSW 2108

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Named for the cabbage-tree palms which grow around here. My experience in the pool Palm Beach is as far north as you get within Sydney's official boundaries. Palm Beach Rock Pool sits at the southern end of the beach, so you can look back up the curve of the bay towards Barrenjoey Lighthouse and out to sea where the next bit of land becomes the NSW Central Coast. This is multi-millionaire territory, the home of film stars and other celebs, not just from Home & Away, which is set Read more [...]

Bondi Icebergs – Bondi, NSW 2026

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Named after the winter swimming club which began here in 1929. My experience in the pool You need to pick your time well if you want a quiet swim at Bondi Icebergs, with maybe a lane to yourself. According to the manager on duty as I left, the best time for that is between 8am and 9am on Monday or Wednesday. It certainly wasn't quiet on a warm Friday morning in March, with lots of lane swimmers ploughing up and down by 9.15, when I arrived. But it's not just the 50m pool that fills Read more [...]

Bilgola Rock Pool – Bilgola, NSW 2107

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Named after an Aboriginal term meaning 'swirling waters'. My experience in the pool For one of the swimmers who contacted me since I began this tour of NSW ocean pools, Bilgola Rock Pool is the best. So I was keen to see what made her make this claim. The pool was a lot busier for a weekday morning than any other I have been in, so Bilgola certainly has a sizeable fan base, and most of those I chatted with made the same claim: it's got to be the best rock pool in Sydney, they all said. It Read more [...]