Shelly Park Ocean Pool, also called the Shelly Beach rock pool, is a free, unpatrolled ocean pool in Cronulla beside a big grassy park with a fenced playground, a short walk from Cronulla station.
Key facts
- Type
- Ocean pool or baths
- Managed by
- Sutherland Shire Council
- Cost
- Free
- Lifeguards
- No
- Parking
- Free, fills on summer weekends
- Public transport
- About 15 minutes' walk from Cronulla station
- Dogs
- Not allowed
- Best time to go
- Mornings; most swell conditions
- Water quality
- GoodShelly Beach (Sutherland), 0.1 km away. Sampled 28 Oct. Source: NSW Beachwatch.
- Town
- Cronulla, NSW
What it's like
The pool sits at the edge of Shelly Beach, a small sheltered beach at the southern end of the Cronulla Esplanade. The park behind it makes it an easy family day out: lawns, shade, picnic tables and a big fenced playground.
Locals swam here in the early 1900s, but it became a proper ocean pool in the 1930s, when the walls were built as a Depression-era unemployment relief project. The park has an art deco pavilion with change rooms and toilets.
When to go
It is good most days, since Shelly Beach is more sheltered than the surf beaches to the north. Mornings are quietest. On summer weekends the park is busy with families and barbecues.
Getting there and facilities
Walk about 15 minutes from Cronulla station along the Esplanade, a sealed coastal path with sea views the whole way. Parking around the park is free but fills up on warm weekends. There are toilets and change rooms in the pavilion, and across the road a takeaway shop and a cafe.
Good to know
There are no lifeguards. Council warns of slippery surfaces, sharp edges, sea urchins and oyster shells. Dogs are not allowed in the pool.