Southwest Arm Pool is one of the most magical swimming spots in all of Sydney. The first couple of times we visited were on really gloomy days and though it was still beautiful, the true magic happens on a sunny day. Under a bright blue sky the water is crystal clear and sparkles like diamonds.
A sliver of deep emerald water flows between the rugged cliff walls and the sand bar. When you tire of swimming, there’s room to bask on the sand, with just enough water flowing over it to keep you cool.
And that’s just the lagoon; there’s also the large deep swimming hole which is incredible too - in fact we came for the swimming hole, but stayed for the lagoon! I could wax lyrical about it all day, so I’ll stop now, but trust me, pick a bright sunny day and thank me later.
The walk to Southwest Arm Pool
The stats
Distance: 3.6km return
Elevation gain: 130m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: Warumbul Road, Royal National Park
Summary: The majority of the walk to Southwest Arm Pool is on a well maintained fire trail. There are a couple of short steep sections with some loose stones, but these sections are short. You’ll then arrive at Winifred Falls.
From here the walk to Southwest Arm Pool is off track, but it’s not too challenging if you pick the right route, as described below.
There’s a minor amount of rock hopping and one or two fallen trees to negotiate, but it doesn’t take long and the reward is great.
Starting the trail: to Winifred Falls
From the parking area (full details below) you need to head right, very briefly back along the road and you’ll see the locked gate in front of the Winifred Falls Fire Trail.
You will follow the fire trail for 1.5km to the top of Winifred Falls. The first 930m are flat, or such a gentle descent that you don’t really notice it.
The fire trail is wide and though there is bush on either side, it’s low, so there is no shade. At the 930m mark you reach the first of the short steep sections. This first one is the longest at 120m.
It does have some loose stones which can be a little skiddy, but it’s not terrible if you go carefully. There are two further steep sections before you reach the falls, but they are less than half the distance of the first one, so it’s not too bad. Inbetween, the gradient is much more gentle.
At the 1.45km mark you’ll reach a fork, turn left and you’ll see Winifred Falls 50m later. We’ve covered what to expect from Winifred Falls and nearby Anice Falls in this guide, so I won’t go over it again here, but it’s well worth factoring in some extra time to swim there too.
Going off track to Southwest Arm Pool
Southwest Arm Pool is downstream of Winifred Falls. To reach it, head to the left of the main path, towards the base of Winifred Falls and you’ll see a little rocky dirt track going downhill.
A path branches off to the lower rocks at Winifred Falls to the right, but to reach Southwest Arm Pool you continue down towards the base of the falls, but at the rocks just before you get there, head left.
The trick to having an easy ride when getting to Southwest Arm Pool is to hug the left rock wall where possible and using this route it’s only 300m away.
The first time we visited we rock hopped through the centre and whilst you can still do that, it’s more tedious.
The path to the left is much more straightforward. A large amount of debris at the very beginning of the route (after the turn off from Winifred Falls) covers the path, but climb over the tree and you’ll see it. It’s definitely not a maintained track, but it’s beaten down enough to follow easily.
A couple of times there is some debris that makes it easier to step on the rocks to the right before hugging the left side again.
There are a couple of rocks to climb over just before you hit a small pool and this is the only point where you are now better off in the middle as it will take you directly to the rock platform where Southwest Arm Pool is located without getting wet feet.
The last section to the pool is across a pock marked rock platform, which is grippy when dry, but watch for the holes and the wet bits, which can be slippery.
Tides at Southwest Arm Pool
You’ll probably realise as soon as you get into the water that it’s a mix of freshwater and sea water, but as it’s a mix it’s far less salty than the sea.
The pool is tidal, but we’ve seen it at all tides and it’s swimmable at any time (this refers to the main pool not the lagoon). There are however, some things to consider with regards to an ideal visit.
If you’re coming during the school summer holidays as we did recently, you might want to avoid high tide and that’s because people come in from the Hacking River on boats and jet skis. However, as soon as the tide starts to change they have to leave or they would get stuck.
Just one hour after high tide all boats had gone and we got this whole paradise to ourselves!
I would say 1-2 hours after high tide is perfect because a huge portion of the sand bar is revealed, yet there’s still a water channel to swim in beside the sand and some water on the sand itself to keep you cool if you’re going to stay for hours like we did!
To be honest, if it’s not the school hols, you probably don’t really need to worry about boats as we’ve never seen them here before, but as there were four on our most recent visit, I thought it worth mentioning.
Swimming at Southwest Arm Pool
Swimming at Southwest Arm is an absolute delight. The main pool is large enough for a proper swim and it’s very deep almost as soon as you leave the rock shelf.
The rock shelf you need to walk over to get into the pool is grippy until you get to the wet rock, which is slippery, but it’s just a few steps and once inside the water I didn’t encounter any rocks or debris - though this could change over time.
There’s a rope swing by the big tree on the far side of the pool, which I am sure normally gets a lot of action, though we didn’t use it ourselves!
The area to the right of the main pool is more like a lagoon and swimming over to the sand bar was, at a guess, a distance of 50-70m. To walk there was 135m. Joe did this by crossing the creek behind the cascades - this is very slippery - and then making his way along the bushy cliff wall (there’s no path).
When you reach the emerald lagoon beside the sand bar, it feels like a completely different place! The main swimming hole is amazing in its own right, but the lagoon has narrower rock walls and clearer water due to the shallow sand bar. It‘s like a little tropical paradise!
The sand is perfect to laze around on and then you can swim up and down the deep channel of emerald water beside the rock wall (presumably this would not be swimmable at low tide, but I didn’t go out to the sand bar on our previous low tide visit).
I fell in love with this spot and still can’t fathom that we sat there alone for several hours in the school summer holidays! What a dream!
When you’re ready to leave the pool you retrace your steps back to the car park. The first 500m back up the Winifred Fire Trail are somewhat steep, but then it all but flattens for the final kilometre.
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 national park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Royal National Park entrance fee
As this trail isn’t in Bundeena or Otford, you will need to pay the $12 vehicle entry fee. There are various pay stations where you can pay the fee as the booth is not usually manned.
If you are planning to visit several parks in a year it may be better value to buy the $65 NSW parks pass which includes all parks except Kosciuszko.
Getting to the trailhead for Southwest Arm Pool
The trail to Southwest Arm Pool begins close to the Winifred Fire Trail which you can see on Google maps here. There aren’t many spaces and some of the lay-bys are restricted with no parking, tow zone signs, though we have always managed to get a space even in the summer holidays.
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