Bondi Icebergs Pool

At the southern end of Bondi Beach, the clubhouse clings to the sandstone cliff and below it a 50-metre lap pool sits right at the edge of the Pacific. On a lively day the swell rolls in and breaks straight over the seaward wall, flooding the lanes with foam while swimmers keep ploughing up and down. Seen from the cliff path above, the rectangle of blue against the white water and the long curve of the beach is one of the defining images of Sydney. A smaller children's pool lies alongside, also cut into the rock platform.

The pool belongs to the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club, founded in 1929 by a group of local lifesavers who wanted to stay fit through the winter months. Winter swimming became the club's whole identity. Its season runs from May to September, and membership was traditionally earned the hard way: newcomers had to swim in competition on three Sundays out of four for five years. The season opens on the first Sunday in May, when members plunge into the pool holding great blocks of ice, a ritual that has become one of Bondi's most photographed moments. The club moved into the old premises of the Bondi Ladies Swimming Club beside the pool in 1932, and a small museum on the upper floor keeps its history.

The name Bondi is usually traced to a local Aboriginal word for the thud of waves breaking on rocks, which is precisely the sound you hear standing on the deck here. The beach as a whole is on Australia's National Heritage List, and the pool marks the start of the coastal walk that follows the cliffs south towards Coogee. The Icebergs also host an annual water polo event in the ocean pool and have been the subject of a documentary, but the best way to understand the place is simply to watch a big set break over the wall at dawn.

Getting there

The pool is at 1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach, about 7 km east of central Sydney; Coogee is about 3 km to the south along the coast. Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) is roughly 11 km away.