Refuge Bay has the wow factor. Not only will you find a spectacular beach with a huge cliffside waterfall, but you’ll also have the chance to take a dip in a gorgeous hidden infinity pool on top of the falls. The combination makes for one of Ku-ring-gai’s best adventures.
Although the infinity pool is small and largely a place for a plunge, the views overlooking Cowan Creek are magical. It’s one of the most wild and spectacular spots near Sydney.
This article originally started life as a how to reach Refuge Bay on foot post. However, sadly the trail has been closed due to environmental reasons (vegetation dieback), the impact of which could be devastating to the area.
We've therefore decided to remove the instructions on how to visit on foot via Ku-ring-gai National Park. But before you click off, you can still visit the gorgeous beach, waterfall and infinity pool by boat. After arriving at the beach, you can follow our instructions to reach the infinity pool via the hiking track.
It's still an incredible adventure and well worth visiting.
The Refuge Bay Infinity Pool
The stats
Distance: 500m each way from the beach to the pool
Difficulty: Easy - moderate (it’s a bit of a scramble at points)
The new way to get to the infinity pool at Refuge Bay is a short scramble from the beach up to the cliff top. Whilst there is a trail, it isn’t in brilliant condition. It’s narrow and steep at points, so take it slowly and carefully.
The trail is fairly well trodden, so if you start bushbashing, you’ve gone wrong. There are some trail markers along the way, so go back to the last marker you saw and try to find the path again.
Starting the trail
The trail starts from the beach at Refuge Bay – a small secluded cove tucked away in Cowan Creek. At the time of writing, the only way to get here is via boat, so assuming you don’t have your own, you will need to hire one. We think the best place to hire from is probably Cottage Point, but if you have other ideas please let us know, so we can update the post.
You don’t need a license, but you will want a decent amount of time to get to the beach, then the infinity pool and back. When we checked, you could only hire a boat between 8am and 4pm, so you can’t go for sunset using this option.
At time of writing the boats cost $120 for 2 hours and $200 for 8 hours – you can check out the boats and availability by clicking here. If you have the energy you could also kayak out here, but it’s a fair paddle.
Once you arrive at the beach, you’ll notice the waterfall that drops down the cliffside and onto the sand. It’s a beautiful and wild waterfall, and the very top of it is where you’ll find the infinity pool. Facing the waterfall, look left and you’ll see the start of a trail going into the bush.
The trail is well trodden, but it’s a bit of a scramble from the start. You’ll have to step over tree roots and some rocky patches. The trail from here is marked with different national flags and will lead you to the rock platform at the top of the cliff.
Hug the cliff wall where possible and the flags will lead you all the way to the rock platform, at which point they run out, and this is where locating the infinity pool becomes more tricky.
You’re just 100m away, but the only obvious trail doesn’t take you to the pools.
The beaten down trail is to the south of the platform, but this leads to the cascades. It’s a nice spot to check out, but you can’t get down river to the infinity pool from here (well, it looked pretty dodgy when we went, so we wouldn’t advise it).
To the infinity pool
The infinity pool is just 100m away from the rock platform, but it’s surprisingly hard to find - unless someone comes in and adds a few more tags!
From the rock platform head west towards the creek, but rather than taking the path towards the cascades, head in a more north westerly direction, staying on the rock platform.
It will feel like you’re walking to the edge of the rocks and you will get those incredible views of Cowan Creek below.
At this point you will see the bush below you and you will begin a gentle descent (if it looks like a sheer drop, you’ve gone wrong and need to turn back).
Look for the rock formations you can see in the photo below to show you’re on the right track.
You will descend into the bush and within a minute you’ll be at the creek. Follow this downstream.
You’ll then arrive at a rocky area where you can see the two little pools and huge view ahead of you. You can then skirt around the rocks to reach the pools - small sections are very slippery so take care here, especially on the mossy bits.
Reaching the infinity pools
The pools are tiny and so much smaller than I imagined they would be, but no less spectacular. The view is simply sensational.
From the cliffs you can see down to the beach and from the pool you can see out across the bay. We lucked out with beautiful soft light and virtually no wind, so the water was glassy which made it even more stunning.
In terms of the pools, one is tiny and very deep - which was too close to the edge for my liking, but the slightly bigger one is set back a bit. It’s still deep (assuming the creek is running well) but much less so.
My only regret with visiting this magical spot is that it took us so long to find both the waterfall and the pools that we had very little time here.
It’s top of my list of places to return to though and I’d highly recommend allowing yourself plenty of time to soak it all in.
It would be a magical sunset spot, but unfortunately we couldn’t stay to watch the full sunset as we had to head back while there was still light.
We were lucky we saw part of the sunset, but we would have loved to have seen the sky go off.
Be very careful here as the drop over the infinity pool is big, so make sure not to go too close to the edge! Whilst the rock was grippy when we were there, you wouldn’t want to risk it.
It’s a really special spot and still well worth visiting despite the fact it’s now a bit more of an endeavour!
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