The Mermaid Pool is gorgeous, a huge natural rockpool located at a stunning and quiet beach close to Jervis Bay. The water shimmers turquoise in the sunshine and the clarity allows you to spot all the little fish you’ll be sharing the pool with.
Though only a minute’s walk from the beach, it’s completely shielded from view due to the surrounding rocks, so it feels lovely and secluded. The perfect place to relax on a warm sunny day.
Here’s everything you need to know to visit the Mermaid Pool.
The walk to Mermaid Pool
The stats
Distance: 3.2km return
Elevation gain: 0m
Difficulty: Easy
Trailhead: Berrara Beach
Summary: The walk to Mermaid Pool is as easy as it gets: flat and with very minimal rock hopping. The only thing you really need to be mindful of is the tide and the swell. To reach the beach that the pool is located on requires crossing Berrara Creek.
This is easy at low and mid tide and shouldn’t be above knee height - we crossed during mid tide and it didn’t quite reach my knees. High tide may be more of a wade.
We’ll share more details on the tide and swell in relation to Mermaid Pool itself later in the post.
The walk
From the nearest parking area beside the beach (full details below), you’ll walk along the concrete path and down a few steps to the edge of the lagoon, around 100m away.
No matter when you choose to cross the lagoon, this is a shoes off job as even at low tide the water will submerge your boots.
To be honest it’s totally fine to do this whole walk barefoot which means you don’t even need to worry about taking your shoes on and off. The rock shelf at the end of the beach doesn’t suffer from many of the sharp barnacles and shells you find at many rock pools, so with care you can cross easily barefoot.
Back to the lagoon crossing, and it’s probably only five or so metres across.
We’ve done this walk a couple of times and when we crossed at mid-tide, the water was still just below knee height and it doesn’t have any fast moving water (unless in flood in which case you wouldn’t cross anyway), so it’s about as easy a crossing as you can get.
Once across you simply walk along the beach for just over 1.3km.
It’s a beautiful beach and even when we visited in the school holidays, so quiet.
At the end of the beach you’ll have around 50m of rock hopping followed by 50m on quite a smooth surface along the rock platform before reaching the pool.
It wasn’t at all slippery and was very straightforward, but always watch out for moss and shells which could change that!
Swimming at Mermaid Pool
Mermaid Pool is stunning, with turquoise water and amazing clarity. You’re surrounded by rocks, which keep it feeling secluded from the beach, yet you can still see a bit of the ocean beyond.
It’s also a proper little sun trap and still caught the full sun late into the afternoon (in spring).
How the pool will look depends on the time you choose to visit and how high the tide is, as this will determine how much space you have inside the pool.
At low tide there are almost two pools, one is very shallow and one has some deep sections, deep enough you can even swim a couple of strokes.
As the tide rises more of the pool becomes covered in water, though three hours after low tide, there were still two distinct pools. I imagine just before, or around high tide, is when it forms to become one large pool.
Getting in and out of the pool is really easy, you don’t have to worry about slippery rocks or deep drop offs.
Mermaid Pool tides and swell
Most rock pools we visit are best at low tide, however, Mermaid Pool is very shallow at low tide. You can still laze around for sure, but it makes the pool feel a bit smaller.
Roughly three hours after low tide the pool was still relatively shallow in places, so maybe around four hours after low tide would be optimal.
However, for this to be enjoyable and safe you want to go when the swell is slight as the waves do come right up to the rocks beside the pool and if the swell is high or even moderate you are very likely to get some rogue waves crashing into the water.
When the swell is slight it’s a really relaxing spot, with plenty of room to laze around in the water.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Getting to Mermaid Pool
Mermaid Pool is located on the southern end of Berrara Beach, in Berrara. There is room for a few cars to park right beside the toilet block next to the concrete path down to the lagoon - you can see the location here on Google maps. If these spots are taken there is plenty of free parking just a few metres back and beyond.
There are toilets and a shower beside the parking area.
It’s around a 35 minute drive from Huskisson, Vincentia and Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay.
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