Coogee calling: Ocean sunrises, rockpool bliss and beach society

Local guide to my suburb: After a decade of living in northern California, where the ocean is barely warm enough to dip your toe into even in summer, I vowed on my return to Sydney to live by the coast. I wanted to live a walk from a beach and immerse myself in the healing ocean daily. I chose Coogee because a friend asked me to house-sit in 2009 and I’ve been here ever since. Swimming most mornings. I especially love sunrise when the sun’s rays catch the sandstone cliffs and my nostrils fill with the invigorating scent of saltwater. My heart expands when I see the statue of Olympic swimmer Mina Wylie with the glorious view of Wedding Cake Island and the Tasman Sea behind her. That for me says home, along with the distinctive castellated concrete shape of Coogee’s Ross Jones Memorial Pool; I think of it like a submerged castle where magic happens. Even in winter, every day I swim here feels like a holiday.

Ross Jones Memorial Pool in Coogee with its distinctive castellated concrete.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Back in the days the tram wove its way down Havelock Street to the beachfront, from 1928 until 1934 there was a huge Brighton-like fun pier which was demolished by high seas. Among the debris on the ocean floor are the original piers and a rusty old shark bell. In 14 years of swimming here, I’ve only sighted the sunken bell on the seafloor four times. Each time I see it, I try to dive to touch it with the enthusiasm of Valerie Taylor. The beach is the centrepiece of Coogee social life, from the Anzac Day dawn service to the New Year’s Eve fireworks. My friends and I call it the Coogee campus because we walk everywhere. Bumping into neighbours clad in budgie smugglers and stopping to chat is a daily hazard. Car-free living is recommended here.

Helen Pitt in Coogee’s Ross Jones Memorial Pool.Credit: Chris Chen

Best cafe? Barzura, which in 2024 celebrates its 30th birthday. Rod Sen, who runs it with his wife Mary, is a stalwart of the Coogee community. The couple also run the Living Room yoga studio above the cafe, the best place in Sydney to watch the sunrise in a tree pose.

Best restaurant? For something special Mimi’s arched windows in the Coogee Pavilion boast one of the best views of the beach coupled with fine dining. In the same Merivale complex, Una Mas tapas bar is a little less formal but fun. Consistent fave is Sugarcane, an omnibus of Asian cuisine.

Swimmers celebrate the onset of the winter solstice with a dawn dip at Wylie’s Baths.Credit: Janie Barrett

Best beach, park or pool? We are spoilt for choice with four ocean pools: at the south end 1907-built Wylie’s Baths, McIver’s Ladies Baths which dates to 1876 and Ross Jones Memorial Pool, while at the north end Giles Baths, the remains of an old gym, is now a swim spot. My favourite swim is out in the ocean, over the reef at the south end towards Wylie’s, boasting eagle rays, blue gropers, schools of gloriously coloured fish and once even a turtle. Who needs the Great Barrier Reef when you have Coogee?

View of Coogee from the McIver’s Ladies Baths.Credit: Chris Chen

First place you take visitors? To the amphitheatre in the middle of the beach with its welcome rainbow-coloured flag for Sydney’s best sunrise. Then a walk along the coast to Bondi.
Perfect night out in your suburb? Watching the full moon rise over the ocean, ending with a night swim in an ocean pool.

Sunrise at Coogee Beach’s Rainbow Flag amphitheatre.Credit: Helen Pitt

What would make your suburb better? A bit more greenery, bringing the light rail to the beach and making Coogee Bay Road a car-free pedestrian zone.
Best secret spot in your suburb? Fred Hollows Reserve. It’s a unique rainforest gully a few hundred metres from the ophthalmologist’s former home. It’s such a tropical delight you could think you were in the Daintree.