A week after swimming the rock pools from Palm Beach to Avalon, we were back for the second leg of our Summer Ocean Pool Challenge, waiting for the bus at Berry’s Reserve, Narrabeen on another bright, sunshiney day.  We stepped off the bus at the Bilgola bus stop, and hiked down to the beach along the bush track.

#4 Bilgola Rock Pool

Bilgola Rockpool was silky warm and calm, and we swam some lazy 50m laps.  It’s not surprising to hear that Bilgola is one of the most popular pools on the northern beaches with the early morning squad.

A quick dry off, before following the bush track around the South Bilgola Headland towards Newport.

#5 Newport Rock Pool

After a gentle start to the day, the high tide and swell rolling through Newport Rockpool was something unexpected and different!  We had to time our entry into the pool as the swell washed across the path. The less confident swimmers wisely sat themselves down on the rocks at the base of the cliff to watch the rest of us enjoy a cautious lap in the washing machine.

From Newport, we walked along Myola Rd with a detour around Bungan Head to admire the castle. We bypassed Bungan beach as it has no rock pool, and headed for Mona Vale headland with lovely views north and south.

#6 Mona Vale Rock Pool

We descended the bush path and were soon enjoying Mona Vale Pool, arriving just in time to beat the hordes of enthusiastic nippers. The fancy houses on the headlands might have good swimming pools, but they can’t compete with the ultimate ocean infinity pool at Mona Vale.

As the nipper mob arrived, we left in search of coffee. The queues at Mona Vale were long, so we climbed up the Warriewood headland to get our caffeine fix at Sunrise Cafe.

#7 North Narrabeen Rock Pool

From Warriewood, we took the bush track around Turimetta Headland, where some hang-gliders were enjoying the thermals. On to Narrabeen Headland, where we descended the wooden stairs to North Narrabeen Rockpool.  Narrabeen is a big pool, with a boardwalk running through it, but the highlight for our swimmers was watching a pod of dolphins surfing just beyond the pool.

From Narrabeen, it was back through the suburb to Berry Reserve to our cars. A longer walk this week, but once again we all had a great day, and some of us followed it up with a nice afternoon nap.

Can’t wait to walk and swim Collaroy to Manly!

Leg 2 in a nutshell

Transport: 6:55am bus from Berry Reserve, Narrabeen to Bilgola
Start of walk: Bilgola
Finish: Narrabeen
Distance: 11.5 km
No of pools: 4

Thank you, Liz, for leading the group from Bilgola to Narrabeen.

Map