Take a walk towards Shelly Beach on a warm day and you’ll see a congregation of bathers around a triangle ocean pool of aqua salt water. The triangular-shaped Fairy Bower Pool, found on Marine Parade, is a shallow rock pool that’s enticingly calm and clear compared to the waves at Manly Beach.
Swimmers may find the shape and depth of the pool too tricky for laps – it’s 20 metres long, but only if you want to swim to one side. The beauty of this swimming hole is that most people come to cool off or sunbake, so you won’t be in the way if all you fancy is elbows on the side staring out at the ocean.
One of the other distinctive features about this pool is the bronze sculptures on the ocean side, created by St Ives-based artist Helen Leete. The Manly Sea Nymphs or Sea Spirits are inspired by dolphins and mythic sprites cavorting in the waves.
