Mahon Pool with Darelle and Sally

Today we returned to one of our favourite pools, Mahon at Maroubra.

What's good about it:

• there is a change area (though it desperately needs updating), so you don't have to travel home with that clammy "swamp-butt" feeling
• the water is lovely, and because the seas get high at Maroubra, it does get regularly flushed
• there is a great cafe just across the road. Plus they were able to serve me a delicious salad without any salt! RARE!
• there is soap available in the toilets
• it isn't too much of a "scene". No yummy mummies with oversized "look-at-me" strollers, just a great mix of people of all ages and ethnicities
• parking is relatively easy to find, even on a Saturday of a long weekend, in the school hols

The downsides:

• not much shade
• the steps are getting a bit slimy with algae and are a bit precarious for those of us with some balance issues

Darelle and Sally's swimming adventures Part 1: Mahon Pool, Maroubra

My friend and I have decided to check out different swimming locations around Sydney - one  a week if we can...

First up is Mahon Pool at Maroubra. I've posted about it before: see here Feb 2011 and see here (2009)

We visited here on New Years Day, 2016.  

Mahon was constructed by Randwick Council in 1932 as part of unemployment relief program. See timeline of its history on the 2009 blog. 

We liked that there is a large grassy area above, so you don't have to perch on the rocks. The toilet and change facilities are adequate (though housed in an indescribably ugly red brick block!). Unfortunately there's nothing in the way of shade other than Bring Your Own, as the cliff above is very exposed.

The water at Mahon can be quite cold - on this hot day it was "refreshing" !!!

Maroubra Mahon Pool

Had never been to Mahon Pool before this, and I absolutely loved it. I think it has become one of my favourite Sydney rock pools. It's totally unpretentious, with a really mixed crowd, and there's those stunning views along to the beach at Maroubra.

Above: Searching for rock crabs, and Below: One I saw











































Photos taken 24 Jan 2009

From NSW Ocean Baths website:
1932
The pool was constructed by Randwick Council as an Unemployment Relief project.
1958
The Maroubra Seals winter swimming club formed.
1979
Pool improvements were sought to enable the weaker members of the community and children to use the pool. When seas were a little rougher than usual, young children and older folk were frequently swept against the rocks and at times even experienced swimmers found swimming in the pool was impossible.

There were proposals to extend the pool to a full 100 metres, creating a more sheltered swimming area and making it easier for social swimmers to continue to use part of the pool, while competitive club swimming events were held in the rest of the pool.
1983
After requests from residents and the Maroubra Seals Club, the Mayor of Randwick, John Ford, and the Council engineer inspected the pool and agreed the needed repairs included repairing the safety chain and drainage outlet, repairing the sea wall, paving and handrail, diverting fresh water seepage from the pool surrounds. They estimated the repairs to minimise injury to bathers would take two weeks.
1984
Residents were writing to newspapers complaining about the neglected Mahon Pool in a distressing state of disrepair, virtually empty and unswimmable at its 'worst in the last 18 years'. The neglected state of the pool was seen as depriving adults and children of healthy exercise and enjoyment.
1985
Randwick Council decided earlier suggestions for extending the size of the pool were too costly, but people who had been swimming at Mahon pool for around 50 years thought it had never been in such poor condition. They feared that Randwick Council intended to leave the recently levelled car park unpaved and felt better access was needed so older people 'who felt the salt water was beneficial to them could use the pool in calmer weather' and so ambulance officers could reach the pool easily in case of an emergency.
1988
The Mahon Pool was considered in deplorable condition and Randwick Council was confronted with two separate petitions with a combined total of 313 signatures urging attention to the pool and its surrounds. Alderman Charles Mathews noted that the pool was in use all year and very popular with older and young people who wanted to swim in sea water, but were concerned about the danger of the surf. Extensive repairs to the pool's concrete wall approved by Council in 1987 had been delayed for a year by rough seas.

The Maroubra Seals proposed additions and alterations to the Mahon Pool change-rooms to the Randwick City Council. Council accept the Seals' generous offer to undertake the work on the conditions that the work was not detrimental to the environment, complemented the attractive foreshore environment would not impose additional maintenance costs on Council.
1994
The National Trust classified the Mahon Pool and listed it on its heritage register.
1996
The novel Get Rich Quick by Peter Doyle featured a body floating in the Mahon Pool. In real life, a fisherman at Mahon Pool had a heart attack and nearly drowned after a wave washed him off the rocks. His fishing partner and two other men kept him above water, while lifesavers were alerted. He was brought to the beach in a rescue patrol boat and flown to hospital in the Westpac lifesaver helicopter.
2000
As part of its State of the Environment (SOE) report, Randwick City Council reported on water monitoring in the Mahon Pool.
2002
Letters to Sydney's Daily Telegraph complained that steps leading to the Mahon Pool were 'covered in thick moss' which caused swimmers to slip and cut themselves on the rocks and demanded that Randwick Council act to keep it a 'safe and enjoyable area'.
2003
Real estate pages, newsletters and advertisements for apartments and houses at Maroubra feature images of the Mahon Pool.