QLD’s coolest pools: Find out the top 20 making a splash in 2021

Pools have never been more popular as we shift to at-home holidays due to COVID. Check these out for ideas, inspiration and a little pool envy.

Elizabeth Tilley

@liztilley84

4 min read

February 13, 2021 - 12:00AM

Australia's 100 Cool Pools – Behind the Scenes

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An infinity pool in a tropical island oasis, the ultimate beach bath in Coolum and a pricey indoor pond in one of Brisbane’s ritziest suburbs.

There is no place like Queensland when it comes to wanting to escape the heat.

We’re the nation’s pool capital, and we’ve tracked down the coolest pools making a splash in the state — and around the country — in a special feature in today’s new At Home magazine.

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Talk about a pool with a view! This villa in Hayman Estates on Hayman Island has an amazing pool.

The number of Queenslanders with pools climbed a whopping 20 per cent last year, according to research from Brisbane-based start-up, Plungie, which has launched a new concrete plunge pool business especially to meet the demand.

They recently installed one at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast. Where else but Queensland can you be literally metres from the players as you watch a footy game from a pool?

Brisbane start-up Plungie recently installed this plunge pool at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast. Image supplied by Plungie.

Swimming Pool and Spa Association (SPASA) of Australia CEO Lindsay McGrath said a

growing trend among homeowners to invest in and improve their abodes — driven by COVID-19 — meant demand for pools had never been higher.

“Many pool builders and installers are fully booked up until Christmas 2021,” Mr

McGrath said.

It comes as data released by home improvement site, hipages, reveals a 33 per cent increase in demand for pool-related jobs this spring compared to last spring.

The view from the pool in the villa for sale in Hayman Estates, Hayman Island.

Topping the list of Queensland’s best pools, compiled by The Courier-Mail’s real estate team, is a secluded villa on a tropical island in the Whitsundays.

One of just six houses in Hayman Island’s private estate, Hayman Estates, this Great Barrier Reef gem is the ultimate lifestyle home, but the pool is in a league of its own.

Perched high above the Coral Sea, it drinks in the surrounding beauty while enjoying complete privacy, surrounded by a barbecue island and entertaining deck and with the services of a butler, concierge and private chef at your disposal.

The pool is even more impressive at night.

While Hayman Island is often frequented by A-listers, honeymooners and well-heeled jetsetters, if you have a cool $12 million, you can pretty much claim this peaceful corner of Queensland as your own.

Jump on a plane and head further north where you’ll be blown away by an 80,000-litre, infinity-edge pool that seemingly blends in to the surrounding tropical landscape.

The property at 9 Colonel Cummings Drive, built into a cliff and cantilevered over a steep drop, has been described as the jewel in the crown of Palm Cove —.a beautiful beachside town in far north Queensland.

The wet-edge pool at 9 Colonel Cummings Dr, Palm Cove.

Should you feel like a dip at any time of the day or night, simply step off the sleek poolside living area and into the pool, which takes in the ocean views over the treetops and out to the surrounding mountains, Double Island, Cape Tribulation and beyond.

The property comes with a $7.5 million price tag.

The pool is major a selling point of the property at 9 Colonel Cummings Dr, Palm Cove.

Of course, the Sunshine Coast isn’t the hottest housing market in the state for nothing.

It has its fair share of cool pools, including one that’s part of the Noosa mansion owned by a hemp tycoon that made headlines for its eye-watering $80,000 holiday rental price.

The three-level, eco-friendly lair is camouflaged under a green canopy on the edge of Noosa National Park, but there’s no hiding the impressive 25m pool — from the air at least.

It stands out for its design and unrivalled ocean views, which are luring cashed-up high-flyers from all over the world.

The pool at ‘Domic’ in Sunshine Beach is impressive from the air. Photo: Patrick Woods.

You’d be hard pressed to find a pool that overlooks a more magical vista and enjoys a more stunning sunset than ‘Stonelea’ at 430 Cooroy Mountain Road.

A hidden escape on the upper limit of the ridge line on lush Cooroy Mountain, the home itself is unapologetically decadent with the pool the centrepiece of this luxurious acreage estate.

The living spaces open directly onto a terrace beside a 12m-long heated pool, which runs along the length of the house, offering panoramic views of the hinterland reaching all the way to the sea.

With a list of features bigger than the 160 sqm walk-in wardrobe, the Cooroy Mountain Stonelea property is one of a kind, with the pool its centrepiece.

It features a wet edge, like a waterfall cascading to the forest below, and on the lower level of the house, two portholes from the pool filter light into the subterranean media room, complete with 2000-bottle wine cellar.

Of course, a pool this good comes with a $15 million asking price.

The pool at ‘Stonelea’ features a wet edge, like a waterfall cascading to the forest below.

Somewhat of a Brisbane icon, the no-expense-spared, highly engineered pool at ‘Balaam’ was especially designed by award-winning architect Shaun Lockyer to be striking, but also practical.

The incredible cantilevered structure was set into the side of the first floor of the home at 33B Harbour Road so the original owner’s children could be seen from the kitchen when they were swimming.

This house was designed around the cantilevered pool.

The suspended concrete pool has a glass front edge that one high-profile Brisbane real estate agent said was “rated so highly you could use it in SeaWorld to keep polar bears in”.

‘Balaam’ in Hamilton has been described as one of Brisbane’s finest homes, sitting on an impressive 48.3m stretch of the Brisbane River.

These are just a handful of the cool pools gracing Queensland homes. Check out today’s HOME magazine for the full list and see how we measure up with the rest of the country.

Go on, take the plunge!

QUEENSLAND’S TOP 20 COOLEST POOLS

1. Hayman Estates, Hayman Island

2. 31 Pacific Heights Court, Coolum Beach

3. 1 Leopard St, Kangaroo Point