Take Little Ones for a Swim at Grannies Pool

Have you heard about Grannies Pool? It’s a swimming lagoon near Blacksmiths Beach in Lake Macquarie. (It’s also spelled as Grannys or Granny’s Pool).

Facing the Swansea Channel, this shallow tidal pool is perfect for babies, toddlers and preschoolers and their parents or grandparents to splash around.

It’s a historic pool which occurred when a gap in the breakwall let in water from the Swansea channel. The result was a shallow pool in sand. The name of the pool comes from it’s history with parents and grandparents teaching their kids to swim there.

Grannies Pool fills up when the tide comes in so you’ll have more water when it’s high tide and much less at low tide so schedule your visits accordingly. Here’s the link to NSW tide tables.

The area around Grannies Pool was upgraded in late 2017 with a 350-metre shared pathway from the car park and a concrete viewing area.

As you follow the pathway and approach the viewing platform, you’ll see your first glimpse of Grannies Pool surrounded by lots of sand.

It’s a beautiful spot to hang out and splash in the shallow water. Bring sun shelter and beach toys to play in the water and dig in the sand as you might be here a while.

It also has a 50 metre accessibility path which makes it easier to take prams, wheelchairs and beach wagons down to the pool.

As it’s a tidal pool, the water varies. We’ve been there on some days at low tide when it’s a mudflat while other times, Grannies Pool has lots of water.

You can also follow the path around to Blacksmiths Breakwall for great views of Swansea Channel.

You can walk out on the breakwall and see great views of Blacksmiths Beach and beyond.

When planning a trip to Grannies Pool, be sure to check the tide first.

Also, be prepared for parking issues. The parking lot can fill up fast on busy days but there’s parking at the Swansea Belmont Surf Life Saving Club at Blacksmiths Beach, less than 400m away.

Information

Patrolled: No
Toilets & Showers: No toilets – nearest at SLSC but there is a shower at Grannies Pool in the carpark.
Shade: Bring your own sunshelter. On hot days, there’s entire camps of sun tents.
Parking: Free carparking area in parking lot. Follow signs to Grannies Pool from Blacksmiths SLSC. Additional parking near Swansea Belmont Surf Life Saving Club at Blacksmiths Beach.
Picnic Area: No. Closest at Swansea Belmont Surf Life Saving Club at Blacksmiths Beach.
Kiosk: Takeaway food shop located across from the beach car park is temporarily closed. Head to Blacksmiths shops for takeaways
Disabled Accessibility: Yes, ramp down to pool
Nearest Playground: Located 500 metres away on Gommera Street

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