Bronte Baths – Sydney’s Sentimental Favourite Pool!

When you think of iconic Sydney beaches, there are many great beaches that spring to mind. Beaches like Bondi, Coogee and Manly are just a few that people might think of. However, more than any other location I have photographed, people who see my photos of Bronte Baths seem to have a strong emotional connection to them. They are quick to share a story of how much they love Bronte Beach and why.

And, in a way, I can relate to this. For me, more than any other spot along Sydney’s Eastern Beaches, if I had to pick a favourite, it would have to be Bronte. And I don’t say this lightly, I love each location along Sydney’s Eastern Beaches, and they all have something spectacular to offer every landscape photographer.

But I love how Bronte Baths appear to have been sculpted from the sandstone cliffs that hug the beach’s southern end. This provides beautiful colours, textures and shapes to your images. Add all the other fantastic elements, like the white picket fence/stairs, various metal, rope and wooden railings, the swimming lines at the bottom of the rock pool, sandstone stairs, etc., and you have an incredible landscape photography location.

Bronte Baths really is a stunning quintessential Australian beach location! 🤩

What are the Bronte Baths

Bronte Baths is a stunning 30-meter rock pool embedded into the cliffs at one of the premier suburbs in Sydney.

Constructed back in 1887 by Waverly Council for a grand total of 150 pounds, the general public had to pay fourpence (adults) and tuppence (children) to use the ocean pool. It also had some pretty strict rules, or what we view these days as strict rules, regarding dress code and the times and days that men and women could use the pools.

Bronte Baths have also been known by several different names, including Bond’s Ocean Pool, Wylie’s Bronte Baths and Bronte Ocean Pool.

View this pdf from Waverley Council on Bronte Baths history for more information.

This photo was captured along the walkway to the left of Bronte Baths. The tide was high, and the surf was a little rough on this particular morning. But you might be able to make out another natural rock pool that can be included in your photos. It is also nice to move back and away from Bronte Baths so that you can capture the whole scene from a spot like this, atop the shower block or even around the corner on the sandstone ledge. (HDR Image, Nikon D300s, 18mm | September 2012 | Sunrise)

How best to photograph Bronte Baths

One of the great things about photographing Bronte Baths is that there are various spots where you can position yourself to get very different perspectives of the pool. Even now, in writing this and looking at other photos online, I see many great spots I hadn’t noticed when visiting Bronte before.

Approaching Bronte Baths

Handrails

One of the first things that will stand out as you approach Bronte Baths is the stainless steel handrails that assist swimmers in and out of the rock pool.

They can be photographed front on or off to one side using the rule of thirds. Either way, these steel railings create fantastic leading lines that move your viewer’s eyes along them and into the waters of Bronte Baths below.

Along the left-hand Edge

A popular place to capture some stunning photos of Bronte Baths, especially during sunrise, is along the lefthand side of the rock pool. Here, there is just enough room to squat down and capture a photo of the roped fence that defines the pool’s perimeter.

There is a curvature to the pool’s edge, which, again, helps with leading lines. You also have the cement edge’s fabulous textures beneath you, the rock pool’s turquoise waters to your right, the surf to your left, and the surrounding cliffs in the background.

I mentioned that this spot is especially good at sunrise, as depending on the time of year, you should be able to capture the sun rising in the top left of your images. This adds further intrigue to your photos and, hopefully, some nice colours. 🤞

Left of the rock pool

There is plenty happening on the outside of Bronte Baths, which can be captured from the sealed cement walkway just to the left or the beach a little further down.

You will find a large rock shelf next to Bronte Baths, which provides another more natural swimming area. Here, you can expect to see many large rocks of different shapes and sizes stacked on top of one another or breaking the water’s surface.

A few different stairs lead down from the rock pool into the open surf; one cement, one stainless steel, and the other sculpted out of sandstone. These staircases combine to add extra fun details to your images.

Right of the rock pool

White picket fence

A white picketed staircase leads down from the walkway that passes Bronte Baths and moves around the cliffs to the right. I have seen some lovely photos that include this staircase, so it is yet another photography opportunity to explore.

Bronte Baths viewpoint

If you were to follow the walkway around to the right and along the cliffs, you will find a large shelf in the sandstone. This allows you to include the stunning sandstone cliffs in your images with its containing texture and grit. The rock pool will then be positioned directly below, with the town of Bronte showing up in the distance.

This is not a photo that I have ‘yet’ taken. This is one of those areas I mentioned I have seen online. So it is certainly a spot I will explore more the next time I visit Bronte Beach.

On top of Bronte Shower Block

One fun place to photograph Bronte Baths is the top of the Shower Block at Bronte Beach. The roof is easily accessible and provides another perspective in which you capture the scene below.

Sitting down low on the thick cement wall of Bronte Baths would be my favourite spot to capture an image here. I love how the different elements combine to make a fascinating image. From this position, you get the textured cement below, surf on the left, and pool on the right and then in the background, you have the sandstone cliffs and, potentially, beautiful rising sun. Its got it all! (HDR Image, Nikon D300s, 10mm | December 2012 | Sunrise)

Best time to photograph Bronte Baths

For landscape photography, I believe that Bronte Beach is best visited at sunrise with the hope of capturing a great image.

This is for two reasons:

1. Two of the places I mentioned above as being good spots in which to photograph Bronte Baths, in front or just to the left of the pool, will have you facing towards the east. This means the sun will rise up in front of you and hopefully provide you with stunning colours and light. 🤞🏻
2. As you can imagine, Bronte Beach does get very busy during most times of the day and evening. However, as the sun rises, you might find fewer people enjoying this location early in the morning compared to other times of the day.

You might also like to try the cooler months of the year in Australia, from April to September. This is when the cold weather might scare some people from braving the chilli water first thing in the morning.

How to get to Bronte Beach

Bronte Baths are located on the right-hand side, or southern end of Bronte Beach in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.

The great thing about Bronte is there are many ways to travel there, depending on your needs and preferred modes of transport. There are plenty of public transport options, including buses, if you prefer to travel to Bronte that way.

If you want to jump into your car and drive to Bronte Baths, you can expect the following approximate travel times:

• Bondi to Bronte Beach: 5 minutes
• Sydney to Bronte Beach: 20 minutes
• Parramatta to Bronte Beach: 45 minutes
• Wollongong to Bronte Beach: 1 hour, 30 mintues
• Newcastle to Bronte Beach: 2 hours, 20 minutes

The bad thing about Bronte is, due to how popular it is, parking is a premium, both in the places available to you and the cost of it if you do find a location. There is some free parking to be found in the streets back from the beach if you are willing to make the trek down.

It’s hard not to love Bronte Baths

Out of 10, I would give Bronte Baths a rating of 9 as a landscape photography location.

Bronte Baths is a fantastic location, and you will see many photographers down there looking to capture a memorable Australian beach scene. However, more than this and as mentioned previously, what is a true testament to this location is the emotional response from people towards it.

Bronte Baths is a special place for a lot of people. 😊

It has been a while since I last visited Bronte Baths with my camera, and I am well overdue for a return. It is undoubtedly a place that I would love to visit the next time I am in Sydney.

Enjoy photographing Bronte Baths!

Thanks for reading,
Rob Potter