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Sydney’s outdoor pools

North Sydney Olympic Pool overlooking Sydney Harbour. Image Stephen Ward

Must do

Avalon Beach ocean pool. Image Andrew Gregory

Highlights

Best outdoor pools

Sydney’s saltwater pools are a perfect alternative to the surf – ideal for lap swimmers, toddlers or just floating around. You'll find them hewn out of sandstone at the beach or in idyllic parkland settings such as the Royal Botanic Gardens. There's even one located almost beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Waterfront swimming pools in Sydney

Outdoor pool at Balmoral Beach, Mosman. Image Andrew Gregory

Sydney’s many outdoor saltwater pools range from Olympic pools with modern facilities to shark-netted enclosures on the beach and beach pools washed by the ocean waves.

Sydney has a multitude of family friendly beaches. In the eastern suburbs you’ll find Neilsen Park, or Shark Bay, with it’s shady park (ideal for picnics), lovely kiosk, bushland walks and city views. The netted bay is perfect for swimming in summer. On the north side of the harbour, Balmoral Beach has a netted enclosure and is surrounded by shaded parkland, alfresco cafes, top restaurants and one of Sydney’s best fish and chip shops.

City-workers keen to swim laps should hop over to Andrew Boy Charlton Pool in The Domain. This stylish inner city pool has prime position overlooking Woolloomooloo Bay.   Swimmers at North Sydney Olympic Pool enjoy some of the best views in the world, looking across the harbour to Sydney Opera House. Set beneath Sydney Harbour Bridge and overlooked by Luna Park, it’s a short ferry trip to Milson’s Point.

Bronte Baths and Freshwater Beach Baths are lovely spots for a dip, set into the cliffs and washed by the waves. You can even enjoy a massage or yoga class at Wylie Baths, at the southern end of Coogee Beach.

Best city pools

North Sydney Olympic Pool. Image Robert Billington

You’ll find Sydneysiders as well as visitors enjoying a swim at well-appointed pools, indoors and outdoors, close to the city centre. Victoria Park Pool is in a parkland setting near Sydney University while North Sydney Olympic Pool has the ultimate harbourside location, beneath Sydney Harbour Bridge. Pools that also have gyms, hydrotherapy pools and saunas can be found at Cook and Phillip Park Centre in the city and the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre near Darling Harbour.

Women’s pool at Coogee

McIver’s Baths at Coogee Beach is the last-remaining women’s-only seawater pool in Australia after being built in 1886. Perched on a rock platform overlooking the beach, the baths are a private space where women can swim, have a massage and relax by the ocean.

Wylie Baths at Coogee. Image Sally Mayman

Unique to Sydney

Sydney's coastline is home to a series of beautiful pools that have been cut into the base of cliffs and rocky headlands.There are 30 between Palm Beach and Cronulla as well as 40 harbour pools. Don't miss Bondi Public Baths (now known as Bondi Icebergs) and Palm Beach Rock Pool.

Overlooking Bondi Baths at Bondi Beach, Image Pierre Toussaint

Catch a ferry for a swim

Cremorne's Maccallum Pool, from the 1920s, is in an idyllic harbourside location within easy reach of Cremorne Point wharf. Fairlight Pool is another popular harbour rockpool in a pretty sheltered cove close to Manly Wharf.

MacCallum outdoor pool, Cremorne. Image Hamilton Lund
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Don't miss things to do

  • Manly Boy Charlton Swim Centre Manly Boy Charlton Swim Centre Sydney North, Sydney, Manly

    The pools at Manly Boy Charlton Swim Centre are heated to 27 degrees. They offer activities such as coaching, learn to swim, lap swimming, school carn...

    www.manly.nsw.gov.au
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  • Greenwhich Baths Greenwich Baths Sydney North, Sydney, Surrounds

    Greenwich Baths is a beautifully located harbour beach at the tip of Greenwich Point, run by leisure management company, Bluefit. Shark-netted and ful...

    www.thegreenwichbaths.com
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  • Maccallum Pool Maccallum Pool Sydney North, Sydney, Mosman

    Maccallum Pool, on the western side of Cremorne Point, is a unique harbourside pool with heritage character and superb views. Its waterside timber dec...

    www.northsydney.nsw.gov.a
    Additional Information
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  • pool Andrew Boy Charlton Pool Sydney City, Sydney, City Centre

    Set on the shores of Woolloomooloo Bay near the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Andrew Boy Charlton (ABC) Pool offers breathtaking views of Sydney Harbour ...

    www.abcpool.org
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  • Wylies Baths Wylies Baths Sydney East, Sydney, Coogee

    Wylie's Baths located at Coogee, were established in 1907 by Henry Alexander Wylie, a champion long distance and under water swimmer. The constru...

    www.wylies.com.au
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