About Us

Anyone who swims in the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool is a Walpole Bay Swimmer.

The WBS are a collective of people who share the love of using the majestic Walpole Bay Tidal Pool in Cliftonville.

Constructed in 1937 the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool has a long history of sea bathing and the Walpole Bay Swimmers are continuing this tradition. We are a community who enjoy, admire, support, and swim in the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool and in outdoor pools around the UK. This is a place where there are no instructions, no lifeguards, no facilities. Everyone is responsible for themselves when they chose to swim here as it is a place where you decide, for many reasons, to immerse yourself in saltwater, epic skies and chalk cliffs.

It’s wild, free and filled by the sea.

Perhaps you want to go swimming with a group of people rather than alone? See our Events or our weekly social swim blog post if you fancy joining us for one of our regular social swims or joining in with an event. It’s a free natural pool and everyone is always welcome!

The Pool

The Walpole Bay Tidal Pool is the largest tidal pool in the UK.

It is four acres (16187 sqm) in extent and contains seven million gallons of seawater. It is larger than the two largest listed seawater lidos, Penzance and Lymington. It is 137m long. It is 2.13m deep at the seaward end. It is 92m wide at the seaward end and 167m at the landward end. The pool is accessible from beach end as this end is not contained by a wall. Swimming a width of the pool from the center steps is roughly equivalent to swimming 6 lengths of a 25m pool! At high tide the pool is completely covered by the sea. The pool is drained every six months for general maintenance by the coastal engineering team.

Please note that the tidal pool is wild, free and filled by the sea.

The pool does not have changing rooms, toilets or showers and it does NOT have a lifeguard.