Tag Archives: shark net

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 [...]

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 [...]

Northbridge Baths – Northbridge, NSW 2063

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Northbridge is named for the stone bridge that takes you back towards the Sydney CBD. My experience in the pool Northbridge Baths tick all my boxes. 50m laned swimming in beautiful salty water, with pretty big fish swimming just below you, kookaburras cackling in the trees by the water and if you go in spring, magnificent jacaranda blossoming on the water's edge. Time the visit really well and you'll be here at high tide, when the laned section must be around 4m deep. There's a sandy Read more [...]

Clontarf Baths – Clontarf, NSW 2093

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Clontarf is named after a suburb of Dublin, where there also used to be an ocean pool. My experience in the pool Clontarf Baths were apparently one of my favourite places to come when we lived in Sydney 50 years ago and I was just a little primary school kid, who couldn't even swim at that point. Coming here 50 years on, with the water a delicious 20C at least and the sky a cloudless blue, I can see why. Funnily enough, when I was looking up who had written blog posts on Clontarf Baths, Read more [...]

Woolwich Baths – Woolwich, NSW 2110

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Woolwich is named after the area of London on the Thames, famous for its arsenal. My experience in the pool Woolwich is a sleepy but beautifully-preserved part of Sydney, with wonderful old 19th century houses and cottage gardens. Woolwich Baths are half way along the peninsula along the Lane Cove River that keeps the NSW version of Woolwich so little changed, apparently, from how it must have felt decades ago. It's a far cry from its London namesake! The baths are best at high tide, Read more [...]

Taylors Point Baths – Clareville, NSW 2107

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Taylor was an early settler at a time when only access to the area was by boat. My experience in the pool OK let’s get the confession out of the way, first: I didn’t actually swim in Taylors Point Baths near Clareville on Pittwater. I did get into the water – upto my knees – and waded for a while, so it does count in my book for an exercise which is more to do with mapping the pools and checking they exist still rather than me trying to do any number of laps or even get my head 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 [...]

Balmoral Baths – Balmoral, NSW 2088

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Named after the Royal Estate in Scotland My experience in the pool Apparently Balmoral Beach was my family's favourite when we lived in Sydney's northern suburbs in 1967-8. When I got there on a warm Friday morning in March 2016, I have to confess I had no recollection of the place. A whole bunch of people were doing leisurely freestyle up the beach when I arrived, and I passed the time with a few of them. They seemed more interested in the fact that I now live in Kiama since we had Read more [...]

Nielsen Park Swimming Enclosure – NSW 2030

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Named after a former Minister of Lands from 1911 My experience in the pool This is the best beach in Sydney to go for a swim, at least according to the lady who got off the bus with me at Nielsen Park, which sits towards the ocean end of Sydney Harbour. It's a great spot for swimming, with or without the shark net, she added. That shark net protects about a 100m stretch of water off what is disconcertingly called Shark Beach (and the net is taken down for four months in winter). There Read more [...]