Coogee

McIver’s Ladies Baths, Coogee Beach

Visitor info

Highlight: Women and children only, and open to all women including trans women and girls. A 32.9 metre pool, and no photography anywhere on the site.
Entry: $2.50 single entry. 10 swims for $22.50. Annual pass $185, or $160 renewing.
Open: 7am to 7pm 1 October to early April. 7am to 5pm early to late April. 7am to 4pm 1 May to 30 September.
Where: 145-149R Beach Street, Coogee NSW 2034 (steps down from Grant Reserve).
Council page →

History

Set into the cliffs at the southern end of Coogee Beach, McIver's Ladies Baths were once a sacred space for Aboriginal women and remain a women's and children's only space to this day. After being used by female colonists from the 1830s they were excavated to be deeper with new concrete walls in 1876. The baths have been named after Robert and Rose McIver, who operated them from 1918 until the Randwick and Coogee Ladies Amateur Swimming Club took over the lease in 1922. Here you can swim laps with tiny fish and maybe even meet the local octopus while taking in the view.

Water temperature by month

Much the same right along this stretch of the Sydney coast. Approximate — the water runs about a season behind the air.

Jan 22–23°C

Feb 23–24°C

Mar 23–24°C

Apr 22°C

May 20°C

Jun 19°C

Jul 18°C

Aug 18°C

Sep 18–19°C

Oct 19°C

Nov 20–21°C

Dec 21–22°C

Approximate. Sources disagree by a degree or two. The water lags the air by about a season, so autumn stays warm after the crowds leave and spring stays cold after summer seems to have started.