Little Bay

Little Bay Pool

Visitor info

Highlight: Built in 1905 as a safe swimming spot for hospital nurses
Entry: Free
Open: Open at all times
Cleaning: Natural rock pool, not drained and not on any cleaning roster. The ocean flushes it.
Where: Little Bay Beach, Little Bay NSW 2036 (below the former Prince Henry Hospital site)

History

This little pool at Little Bay was built out of rocks to create a safe swimming space for nurses who were battling Sydney’s outbreak of smallpox in the local hospital. Although a hundred years passed between nurses swimming there in 1905 and the Prince Henry Hospital site being turned into apartments in 2005, the rock pool has remained the same.
Although things did temporarily change when environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude turned Little Bay into the largest single artwork that had ever been made in the world. After wrapping two and a half kilometres of the coast in fabric and rope for 10 weeks, Little Bay became Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia 1968-1969.

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.