The Nuns Pool, once called the Chain Baths, is a tiny, sheltered bathing pool in a cove below the lighthouse at Flagstaff Point, reached by a narrow path cut into the sandstone. It's free and one of the oldest bathing spots in NSW, a romantic little dip for anyone steady on their feet.
Key facts
- Type
- Rock pool
- Facilities and access
- Narrow path cut into sandstone below the lighthouse
- Cost
- Free
- Lifeguards
- No
- Best time to go
- Calm days, mid to high tide
- Water quality
- GoodNorth Wollongong Beach, 0.4 km away. Sampled 24 Oct. Data: NSW Beachwatch, CC BY 4.0.
- Town
- Wollongong, NSW
What it's like
Sandstone walls wrap around a small, calm pocket of sea beneath the headland, with the lighthouse standing guard above. It's small and quiet, a place for a dip and a float rather than laps. First known as the Chain Baths, it took its present name in the early 1900s, when nuns from a nearby convent school brought girls here to swim.
When to go
Calm days at mid to high tide. In a big easterly swell, waves can wash over the path and the pool.
Getting there and facilities
Walk out towards the lighthouse at Flagstaff Point from Wollongong Harbour and Belmore Basin, then take the narrow path cut into the rock down to the cove. There are no facilities at the pool; toilets and cafes are around the harbour.
Good to know
The path is narrow and slippery, so it doesn't suit anyone unsteady on their feet. There are no lifeguards.