Seeing Sydney’s Bondi beach for the first time will surely send chills up your spine. The surroundings are amazing and the beach is really long and filled with people. The problem is that on a windy day, the ocean gets pretty choppy and the beach guards allow you to swim in only a tiny section of the beach.
So you end up crammed in a little space with way too many other people, fighting the waves, hoping they won’t take your swimsuit off. And you can forget swimming – even if you managed to make it through the waves, you would keep bumping into other people.
(More info about safety on the beaches in Australia and how they are patrolled in this post.)
Recently quite a few lists of beach-side pools have sprouted and one of the most awesome-looking ones is right on Bondi! This pool has been featured e.g. on NBC’s 10 Gorgeous pools you won’t believe are public.
Best solution for swimmers: Ocean pool
Fanfares…! Let me introduce the Bondi Icebergs Pool. Just check out the picture, doesn’t it look totally amazing? If you walk the coastal sidewalk from Tamarama beach, this pool is going to take your breath away even before you get to Bondi beach.
Why the name Icebergs? – Because this pool is the home base of the winter swimming club, The Icebergs. They are around mainly throughout winter, so you won’t have to share the pool with them during the summer months.
Bondi Icebergs feature a 50-metre Olympic pool & kids’ pool. The water from the ocean is used, so you still swim in the nice ocean water, just a tame version of it :) The violent waves sometimes try to crash into swimmers making laps in the side lane, but all they can do is splash!
The pool is open every day from 6.00am – 6.30pm. It’s open to the public, yet residents that live nearby need to become members of the club if they want to come. You as a traveler will just pay a one-time entrance fee. Pay just $6.50 per adult, $4.50 per kid and you can experience what all the fuss is about. If you wish to only come and have a look, you can pay a ‘spectator fee’ of $4.50.
Needless to say, the water temperature changes naturally with the ocean. Even on the hottest summer day it’ll still be refreshing because the concrete construction of the pool doesn’t allow the temperature to climb too far up.
You can also make use of their gym or massage parlor and they even do yoga classes… Or just lie on the sundeck, eat at the bistro and enjoy drinks at either of the two bars. There are plenty of activities to kill the whole day!
Also, if you’re visiting Sydney with teenagers, they will love the Icebergs pool. It’s pretty instagrammable!
The people behind Bondi Icebergs seem to be active on Twitter, check their tweets about the water temperature and info on whales and dolphins at @bondiicebergs
You can find some more current info on Bondi Icebergs website.
Have you been to the ocean pool on Bondi beach? Tell us about it!
Here’s a pin for you to save for later:
Petr
Sunday 3rd of January 2016
I hope I will visit this place someday!
Veronika
Monday 4th of January 2016
I'm sure you will! Just keep travelling, further and further from the home base :)