For the uninitiated, there’s a reason why Australia has a reputation as a “sunburnt country”.

It’s true that along the East Coast, wide swaths of sandy beach and warm ocean waves are never far away – if freshwater is more your flavour, you’ll have to work a little harder to find it.

Compared to other nations, inland waterways are few and far between, and many are brackish and tannin-stained, hiding creatures that may lurk below. Worst of all, they may be ephemeral – a lake might exist on a map, but not necessarily on the ground.

Understanding this provides context for why the Sunshine Coast’s Booloumba Creek is spoken about with such hushed reverence. It’s not the warmest swimming hole nor the biggest, and it’s definitely not the easiest to access. What it is, however, is one of the clearest swimming spots you’ll find in south-east Queensland.

Queensland: An aquamarine oasis

Booloumba Creek’s turquoise waters have a crystalline quality that allows you to see straight to the bottom. Its shores are lined with rainbow-hued pebbles, which kids and adults alike will love to collect – when they’re not using the rope swing to fall into the cool waters, or exploring the creek further upstream.

But part of the appeal of an afternoon at Booloumba Creek is that while it’s not particularly remote – Noosa is just an hour’s drive away – it still has all the makings of a true Aussie Outback adventure.

You’ll first encounter it as you enter Conondale National Park, just outside of the cute country town of Kenilworth. But you’re not at the swimming spot – not yet. You’ll need to cross over the creek several times on the way to your destination. This can only be done in a high-clearance 4WD or, if the water’s not flowing too high or fast, on foot. Only then will you arrive at the day-use area, and find the swimming hole hidden beyond in the native bush.

Work up a sweat with a stroll to Booloumba Creek. Photo: Lonely Planet

Endless adventures

Once you’re in the water, you could easily spend a day drifting idly across its surface, gazing at the trees high above. But the best part about Booloumba Creek is that the swimming doesn’t end at the day-use area, which can get crowded on hot summer days. Keen bushwalkers can spend four days navigating their way along the park’s 56-kilometre track – one of Queensland’s Great Walks – stopping to cool off in the water along the way.

If you’ve only got a day to spare, you can also hike the three-kilometre Booloumba Falls Walk, which will take you along the scenic creek to even more secluded rock pools, waterfalls and cascades. Throw in shady shores and its off-grid nature, and you’ve got yourself the textbook definition of swimming oasis.

Other Queensland swims

Kondalilla Falls Situated in the rainforest of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland is Kondalilla National Park. Just 20 minutes from the car park, you’ll find an almost perfect circular rock pool, complete with its own waterfall. The swimming hole sits at the top of the massive Kondalilla Falls and it’s signifigantly colder than you might expect – it’s a refreshing treat on hot days.

Don’t miss Walking to the lookout to admire Kondalilla Falls’ 90-metre drop

Mary River With its lovely pastural surroundings, the Mary River near the town of Kenilworth is a popular camping destination for locals. Swimming in the river varies from deep waterholes to shallow, pebbly rapids. Bring a tube and you can even float down part of the Mary River’s length.

Don’t miss Keeping an eye out for platypus, which are known to inhabit the area

The serene Lake William, in Western Australia. Photo: Lonely Planet

WA: Float centre-stage in a granite amphitheatre

Lake Williams absorbs all the attention you give it. On the first sight, its stillness is contagious, inviting a slow, contemplative walk to the shoreline. As the shady access track gives way to an open expanse of lake, with eucalyptus residue lingering in the humidity, the air smells and even tastes different somehow.

Stillness doesn’t mean silence, though: Listen attentively and you’ll hear faint sounds of ripples from waterbirds on the lake’s surface; the calling of raptors overhead, and songbirds in the bush; the breeze coming and going across land and water and rock.

The feel of smooth granite and the soft silty shoreline is a blessing to bare feet, and has been for generations – the traditional Aboriginal Australian owners of the area are the Minang people and pieces of their ancient stone tools have been found at nearby Lights Beach.

It’s easy to imagine this place being used as the perfect spot to camp, hunt and gather long before colonisation – it wasn’t until the 1830s that William Bay and the lake were named after the British Arctic explorer William Edward Parry.

Swimming in silk

Those first tentative footsteps into the lake are bracing. Its water – chill in winter, cool even in summer is filtered through the soil of paddocks and the roots of karri, marri, sheoak and peppermint trees. Depending on seasonal rainfall, it flows or trickles or seeps into the lake like caramel-coloured silk. Softened by the vegetable tannins it gathers on the way, it feels great on the skin.

There’s zero visibility in the water, which makes it mysterious, slightly disconcerting. Feeling your way through the shallows, towards the centre, is a tactile experience.

You’ll feel the squishy silt underfoot, unless you wear rubber sandals, and there’s an occasional underwater branch or boulder to navigate.

As the water deepens and you become weightless, it’s as if the lake is bottomless. If vertigo sets in, roll over and float, outstretched, eyes wide open, taking in the natural palette of blue sky, green bush and rust-coloured granite.

On the lookout

Back on dry land, lolling on that granite, look up, down and around. In pools and puddles, especially in spring, frogs and tadpoles are everywhere. Two unmistakeable animals to listen out for are the aptly named motorbike frogs and their onomatopoeic cousin, the pobblebonk. A scratchy sound of reptilian claws reveals the presence of King’s skinks – lizards that can grow as long as a person’s forearm – emerging to sunbathe on the rock.

The translucent wings of dragonflies dip down on the water. Square, grassy pellets of poo in gullies on the rock, and along the tree line, indicate that western grey kangaroos come here to drink at dawn and dusk. It’s rare to be absolutely alone in the bush.

Fortescue Falls is the only permanent waterfall in Karijini National Park. Photo: AAP

Other WA swims

Little Beach Soft white sand and cool blue sea make perfect surrounds for a summer swim in the Southern Ocean at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. Clamber around the central rock outcrop on the shoreline to access a smaller secluded and sheltered bay. Little Beach is back-dropped by ancient landscape and endangered wildlife, including Gilbert’s potoroo and the noisy scrub-bird.

Don’t miss Watching out for winter whales in the bay

Karijini National Park At Karijini, in WA’s tropical north-west, Fortescue Falls and the neighbouring Fern Pool are classic waterholes at Dales Gorge, in the eastern side of the park. The falls are dramatic after good rain, and the pool’s clear turquoise water is surrounded by iron-red rock and lush green ferns. Each of these beauty spots is big enough for a decent swim or a relaxed cool-off after the steep hike in.

Don’t miss The tiny toe-nibbling fish at Fern Pool

 

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NSW: Jellybean Pool, Blue Mountains

A favourite place to dunk the kids over the long, hot summer holidays, Jellybean Pool is in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, just an hour’s drive from the centre of Sydney.

The water here can be brisk at any time of year, so it’s a good idea to work up a sweat before you swim by taking the nearby eight-kilometre loop walk to Red Hands Cave. The area is the traditional land of the Darug and Gundungurra peoples, and the track leads to one of the best Aboriginal stencil galleries in the Sydney region.

Suitably warmed up, head to Jellybean. You access the pool via a short, steep bush track from the car park. It’s easy to tote in lilos and picnic goodies – but once you reach the pool, it feels like you’re deep in the wilderness. The swimming hole is surrounded by gum-tree-clad sandstone cliffs- it’s almost like you’ve stumbled into a secret chamber in the bush. And though it’s on a freshwater river, the sandy bank gives the place a beachy feel; in fact, in 2022 it was listed among the country’s top 20 beaches by Tourism Australia.

There’s plenty of sand and plenty of shade, but there can be plenty of people too, if you catch it on a busy day. Avoid high-summer weekends and school holidays, unless you’re looking to meet some local playmates. Come on a weekday or anytime in winter, and you’ll likely have the place to yourself. And if Jellybean is too crowded, try nearby Blue Pool or Glenbrook Gorge, which are less popular but not as easy to access for kids.

Stunning sandstone

Some of the unique features of the environment around Sydney are the sandstone boulders, ridges and escarpments that form the bones of the bush. They’re scattered among the trees and carved into sculptural shapes by wind and rain. At Jellybean Pool, sandstone cliffs enclose the pool in a natural amphitheatre. There’s nothing better than floating (ideally on a lilo) in the clear water and looking up at a patch of blue sky encircled by grey-green vegetation.

Follow the tranquil river upstream to discover more rock-fringed swimming spots. You’ll easily find a sandstone boulder with your name on it for a little sunbaking. The water is tinted a natural tea-brown in the shallows, shading into darker tones as you get into the deeper sections.

Look out for grass-trees among the twisted trunks of the gums – their sprays of needles are a bright youthful green, though they may be 300 years old. Here and there, cockatoos and magpies sweep through the trees and, if you’re lucky, you may see a blue kingfisher zipping across the water.

Other bush swims near Sydney

Karloo Pool Sydney is spoiled for choice when it comes to natural swims, with an estimated 80 spots where you can dive into the wild. But Karloo Pool is something special: A large, crystal-clear pool surrounded by flat rocks. It’s in the thick bush of Royal National Park in Dharawal country just south of Sydney, accessed via a lovely five kilometre bushwalk from suburban Heathcote train station.

Don’t miss Sun-baking on the rocks after you’ve had your swim

Jerusalem Bay This tranquil spot, in Cowan Creek in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, is accessible only on foot or by boat. You can walk from Cowan train station, just north of Sydney, via a lovely section of the 250-kilometre Great North Walk to Newcastle. A nine-metre jump rock extends over the inlet, and sandstone engravings of the Guringai traditional owners dot the surrounding bush.

Don’t miss The temperate rainforest along the walk to Cowan Creek

Wade at a wildlife-rich, Indigenous-owned park

There aren’t too many spots where you can swim in the presence of wildlife that you won’t encounter anywhere else in the world. At Green Patch Beach, tucked within the Aboriginal-owned Booderee National Park, you can do just that. Before you even wet your feet, you may come face-to-face with kangaroos, wallabies, parrots and rosellas, which roam free in the bushland.

Rare flora and fauna

A vast range of habitats, from southern mahogany forests to seagrass meadows, is responsible for Booderee’s biodiversity. It’s home to more than 460 different native plants, 200+ bird species and at least 30 native mammals.

Avian aficionados should keep their eyes peeled for the hard-to-spot eastern bristlebird, threatened nationwide but thriving here thanks to efforts to reintroduce some of the country’s most at-risk endemic species. One of the rarest is the long-nosed potoroo. While it’s doubtful you’ll spot this shy nocturnal relative of the kangaroo, you can improve your chances of seeing animals active only at night – pitch up at Green Patch’s campsite and you can sleep for real among these curious creatures.

Swim in crystalline seas

The walk to the beach, through a forest of blackbutt trees, has been filled with the beautiful cacophony of foraging crimson rosellas, rainbow lorikeets and Australian king parrots – but as you cross the eucalypt-shaded wooden bridge to the crescent-shaped beach, it fades. All you’ll hear is the sea gently lapping onto shore, and the sound of frolicking kids. The smell of the salty breeze and sizzling barbecues vie for olfactory attention.

From here, take in all of Jervis Bay, the cliffs of Point Perpendicular and Bowen Island. Like a comforting embrace, the bay protects the beach from the ocean swell. Sink your your feet into the blindingly white, soft sand and immerse yourself in the sun-warmed aquamarine waters.

The East Australian Current, carrying warm water from the Coral Sea, mixes with cooler water from Bass Strait, delivering sparkling clarity. Swimming here is a deeply restorative experience. It feels like you’ve stumbled into one of Australia’s last great wildernesses; it’s incredible to think it’s within such easy reach of urbanity.

First Nations know-how

What really makes Green Patch special is the fact that Booderee lies in the hands of its traditional owners. The park was conferred onto the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council in 1995, who co-manage it with Parks Australia. The Yuin People, who have resided here for millennia, named it Booderee – ‘bay of plenty’ in the Dhurga language.

Today, Elders continue to pass on knowledge in nature’s classroom, maintaining their spiritual bond with the land and water. As you bathe in these glorious waters, take a moment to pay your respects to the First Australians, the saltwater people of past, current and future generations.

Other Booderee Swims

Murrays Beach Take the 5.4-kilometre Munyunga Waraga Dhugan loop to Murrays Beach, as beautiful as Green Patch but with fewer visitors. Forest fringes a narrow strip of sand washed by cerulean waters. Come at sunrise for views of Bowen Island, a seabird sanctuary host to a little penguin colony of around 3500 breeding pairs, glowing in the morning light.

Don’t miss Walking the trail to the Governor Head lookout

Cave Beach To the south, Cave Beach is good for new surfers thanks to gentle waves, though it’s not patrolled. A wooden stairway slopes through the dunes down to the beach. Kids will enjoy exploring caverns and looking for dolphins.

See swamp hens, egrets and ducks at Ryans Swamp and head to Bherwherre Beach for a romantic stroll.

Don’t miss Camping out among coastal tea trees and kangaroos, and cooking dinner on the barbecue

This is an extract from Lonely Planet‘s Joy of Wild Swimming. Reproduced with permission from Lonely Planet © 2024