I chanced upon a list of Sydney ocean pools and decided to swim all 45

With our newfound freedom we can finally make plans to travel – but sometimes the best travel options are right in front of us. Last summer, I chanced upon a list (in Places We Swim, Sydney) of 45 of Sydney’s (mostly) magnificent ocean swimming spots stretching from Palm Beach in the north to Gymea Bay Baths in the south, and I decided I was going to swim them all. Some of them were familiar to me, places where I had already whiled away countless hours, but many were not.

To swim all 45 was a self-imposed goal with no accountability and no deadline, but I pre-determined a “swim” meant a minimum of one kilometre at each, and that it would be nice to finish before the water got too cold and the cooler temperatures of winter hit.

Wylie’s Baths at Coogee in Sydney’s east is simply the best.Credit: Dillon Seitchik-Reardon 

It started well (and not too far from home) with the discovery of the unbelievably scenic Mahon pool which is nestled into a natural rock amphitheatre at the northern end of Maroubra beach. On a day when tides are high, this pool operates more like a washing machine and both humans and fish collide. But on a calm day there is almost no better place to complete the requisite laps. And so it began.

My meanderings took me to water holes I had never heard of and set up a hierarchy (in my mind) between “true” ocean pools and harbour swimming spots. Swimming in Sydney harbour is a little like Instagram v reality. Unbelievably photogenic from afar but up close a little murky, and at times a few too many jellyfish for my liking. But there was always a silver lining. At every single spot.

Chatting to seasoned locals sunning themselves at Malabar I felt like I had been transported to a sunny spot on a Greek island. Discovering the vast picnic grounds which accompany the Chowder Bay baths gave me the opportunity to chat to people who had travelled from distant suburbs to find the “perfect” picnic spot. The hidden sanctuary of Northbridge Baths, gives off Italian riviera vibes, albeit with slightly murkier waters. The abundant fish found in the pools of Wylie’s Baths at Coogee felt like I had landed in the Pacific, just with less temperate waters.

And each spot has its own story. I had never heard the backstory for Forty Baskets′ name, and while I am not inclined to dispute its accuracy, I can say the fish on display for my visit were far more limited in numbers. And I was unaware of the near tragedy that happened at Bilgola Rockpool in 2010, when an unsuspecting swimmer was sucked through the valve out into the ocean after a council worker had accidentally opened it to clean the pool.

By the end I had created my own hierarchy with a top six that claims no pretense at being objective. Now I have the freedom to move more than 5 kilometres from my home, I am making beelines for Wylies at Coogee (simply the best), North Narrabeen (be still my beating heart), Bilgola (while keeping a close eye on the valve), North Curl Curl (the most zen of them all), Bronte (33 metres of perfection) and circling back to where it all began at Mahon pool in Maroubra.

Travel is what you make of it – near and far. And if we have learnt anything from living through the pandemic for the last 18 months, it is to lower our expectations and find pleasure in small things, often close to home, that spark joy. And ocean swimming will do that for you every single time.

Justine Nolan is the director of the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney but swims in her own time.