Coogee Beach

Skip the sand and walk up to the north end. There is a natural pool cut into the rock shelf - Giles Baths - where the swell comes straight over the edge and fills it, so you are swimming in flat water with the surf going off a couple of metres away. Brilliant thing to find at the end of a beach.

It was grey and blowing the afternoon we went and it was still full of people. No lifeguard, so have a look at the swell before you get in. Best near high tide, when the waves are washing over the rim.