Giles Baths is Coogee's wild side: a natural rock pool under the northern headland, reached through an old archway marked 'Baths'. It's free, raw and best on a calm day, when confident swimmers can float in a basin the sea refills with every set.
Key facts
- Type
- Ocean pool or baths
- Good to know
- Lifeguards
- Facilities and access
- Reached by the Coastal Walkway in Dunningham Reserve near the Bali Memorial, or along the rocky foreshore north of Coogee Beach; no dogs, alcohol, glass or smoking
- Managed by
- Randwick City Council
- Cost
- Free
- Lifeguards
- Coogee Beach lifeguards nearby
- Public transport
- Buses to Coogee Beach
- Dogs
- Not allowed
- Best time to go
- Calm days, low to mid tide
- Water quality
- GoodCoogee Beach, 0.2 km away. Sampled 28 Oct. Data: NSW Beachwatch, CC BY 4.0.
- Cleaning
- Natural pool, no cleaning schedule published
- Town
- Coogee, NSW
What it's like
Nothing here has been squared off. The pool is an irregular basin in the rock platform, with the ocean surging over its outer lip, so it feels closer to swimming a rock shelf than a pool. Men were bathing in this bogey hole in the nineteenth century. From the late 1920s the Giles family ran a gym and hot sea baths on the rocks above; the building is long gone, but its archway still marks the way in.
When to go
Pick a calm day around low to mid tide. Mornings are peaceful, while summer afternoons fill up with the Coogee crowd spilling north. In any real swell the surge gets rough, and lifeguards spend a lot of time patching up cuts and bumps.
Getting there and facilities
Walk north from Coogee Beach on the coastal walkway into Dunningham Reserve, near the Bali Memorial, then take the stairs down through the archway. Toilets, showers, cafes and buses are all back at Coogee Beach, a few minutes away.
Good to know
No dogs, alcohol, glass or smoking. The rock is sharp and slippery, so reef shoes are a good idea.