Forty Baskets Beach is a small harbour cove in Balgowlah Heights with a netted tidal pool, a grassy reserve and Norfolk pines behind the sand. It's free and quiet, and the best swim stop on the Manly to Spit walk.
Key facts
- Type
- Harbour or river baths
- Good to know
- Toilets, Change rooms, Lifeguards
- Facilities and access
- Toilets, change rooms
- Cost
- Free
- Lifeguards
- No
- Best time to go
- High tide, weekday mornings
- Water quality
- GoodForty Baskets Pool, 0.1 km away. Sampled 27 Oct. Data: NSW Beachwatch, CC BY 4.0.
- Town
- Balgowlah Heights, NSW
What it's like
The netted pool sits in the middle of the beach, so you can swim in calm North Harbour water with the headlands all around you. It's a locals' beach, mostly families and walkers cooling off mid-hike. The name comes from a catch of forty baskets of fish sent to New South Wales troops held at the North Head Quarantine Station after they returned from Sudan in 1885.
When to go
High tide gives the pool the most water. Weekday mornings are quiet, and the beach makes a natural halfway break on the Manly to Spit walk.
Getting there and facilities
Walk in on the Manly Scenic Walkway, or come down from Beatty Street, Balgowlah Heights. There are toilets and change rooms by the beach.
Good to know
There's no lifeguard. Give the water a few days after heavy rain.