Fairy Bower Rock Pool Manly: Visiting With The Family

Fairy Bower Pool Manly is an absolutely charming and delightful little rock pool on Manly’s ocean side.  Sydney’s rock pools are a pretty unique feature of our city’s coastline and they don’t come cuter and more appealing than this one,  the baby of them all.

Fairy Bower Manly rock pool
Kids playing at Fairy Bower pool
Fairy Bower Manly- rock pools
Dedicated sun-worshippers adorn the sides

Fairy Bower is the smallest of Sydney’s rock pools, excepting a couple of the children’s pools.

You’ll find Fairy Bower half way along the walkway between Manly Beach and Shelly Beach.

The pool was built by locals in 1929 in what was known then as Cabbage Tree Bay.  The promenade itself had been built in 1898.

NB If you’ve been told there’s a ‘Manly rock pool’ or a ‘Manly beach pool’ then this is the one that is meant. 

Manly to Shelly walkway with Fairy Bower midway
Here’s the walkway, you can see Shelly Beach in the distance. Fairy Bower is tucked half way along.

Fairy Bower Rock Pool For Kids

We tend to stop at Fairy Bower for a short time on the way to Shelly Beach. Sometimes we snorkel along from Shelly and pull up at Fairy Bower for a rest and a splash.

There’s absolutely no shade at all at Fairy Bower, so it’s not somewhere to stay for a long time.

There are toilets and a change room right by the rock pool, very handy.

There’s a cafe/restauarant close by too. a lovely place to sit and enjoy the view, if your children allow you.  The cafe and kiosk at Shelly Beach is only a few minutes walk away too and very child-friendly.

Snorkelling: The waters just outside Fairy Bower ocean pool are marvellous for snorkelling with teeming fish life.

Parking:  Tricky!  Best to walk along from Manly or from Shelly Beach car park – the roads around Fairy Bower are often very busy.

manly beach rock pool is fairy bower
One of my favourite photos of Fairy Bower pool and the area around it, wonderful for snorkelling
manly beach looking towards Shelly
A wide view of Manly Beach looking towards Shelly Beach

Fairy Bower Facts

Did you know that Fairy Bower is really quite a new suburb. Imagine that, in 1908, Fairy Bower Road still had only two houses, but by 1914 there were 13, and 21 in 1918.

And look at it now, pretty jam packed with amazing houses. 

Read more about the history of Fairy Bower here.

You can read all about the history of NSW ocean pools here.

Are you a rock pool tragic like me?

Where’s your favourite rock pool of them all?

Hope you enjoyed this virtual visit to Fairy Bower sea pool!

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6 Comments

  1. says: Robyn Mayne

    Hi Seana

    I love this pool. Thanks for reminding me about it. I forget about it because it’s so tucked away. But that’s one of the attractions!

  2. says: budget jan

    Well this is a cutie for sure. I will have to claim the rock pool at Townsville as my favourite though. Fresh sea water is continuously pumped in and marine stingers are filtered out. It is large with different depths and a concrete bottom which is cleaned weekly. The thing I like about the fairy pool is how clear the water is and it’s cute size. I’ve only seen it in your photo!

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