Isa Wye (Dee Why) Ocean Pool

After a three‑pool stop in Manly, I'm keen to get to the main attraction today: a couple of spectacular ocean pools that Sydney's beaches are famous for. First up, it's a 15‑minute drive north of Manly to Dee Why for a dip in their ocean‑filled rock pool.

The pool goes by a new name these days. It used to be the Dee Why Rockpool, but the local council renamed it the Isa Wye Ocean Pool. I'm sure the similarities in Why and Wye will cause a bit of confusion! Isa Wye was a local legend — awarded an MBE in 1973 and an OAM in 2002 — with 85 years of involvement in the Dee Why Ladies' Amateur Swimming Club. She became honorary secretary at just 16, served as club president for 50 years, and stayed on the executive committee until her passing in 2013. In March 2019 the pool was renamed in her honour.

This one is a proper rock pool. It's a concrete 50 m, eight lane pool set right on the Sydney sandstone at the southern end of Dee Why Beach, a long spit that separates Dee Why Lagoon from the ocean.

I park in the (quite expensive) pay‑and‑display car park just above the pool, then wander down to the basic but perfectly fine changing rooms. Jammers on and out across the rocks to the far end of the 50 m pool.

It's busy around the pool and on the surrounding rocks. There are no lockers, so I pack everything into my swim bag and leave it at the lane end. A couple are sitting on the edge chatting — I mention I'm going for a 15‑minute swim and ask if they'd mind keeping an eye on my bag.

I jump in and get going. It's cold, but a couple of degrees warmer than the ocean pools yesterday. This is pool number four today, so I work through my now‑standard 1200 m set (even though 1 km is the target, my OCD likes to add the extra 20%… just in case someone turns around and says, 'but it's only 49 metres long!').

As soon as I finish, the couple watching my bag get up and leave. I say thanks, but it does feel like they waited for me to touch the wall.

If I'd waited another hour I'd probably have had the full ocean‑pool‑waves‑crashing‑over experience. Yesterday I passed a pool down near Wollongong that was taking the full force of the South Pacific — the few people floating looked like they were having a great time, but it was impossible to swim laps.

Swim done, I grab a quick shower in the changing rooms to get the salt off, then head a couple of miles south around the bay to Freshwater Beach.