I’m at the Merewether Ocean Baths. It is about 2 hours north of Sydney in the city of Newcastle.

I’ve bragged about this pools accessibility before in a previous post on ocean pools. After visiting again this week I need to do a backtrack. It’s accessible yes but you need a mobility scooter or an electric wheelchair to even have a chance of navigating the space. It’s just too far big for someone with mobility issues.

Disabled toilets

One set of disabled toilets is at the top of the club house on street level. You’ll need your MLAK key though. The lifesavers have a key you can use if you don’t have one. It is a bolted door so I needed someone to help me open it. It has a shower in there too.

Ramps

There are 2 large pools and both have wide concrete ramps with handrails. There are water wheelchairs that you can borrow from the surf lifesavers here too.

Here’s a closeup of the ramps. But then let me pan back as there is no way you would get here on a walking frame to enjoy the water.

3 disabled parking spots

So you can see in the photo below there are disabled parking spots at street level just before the street ends. There are 3 spots but it is a one way street and you can’t do a U turn to get out. You need to reverse and be careful as there are cars on both sides.

To get down to the pool you get on your mobility scooter. There is a long path that heads down to the concourse. You can see the ramp here on the left that will take you down the hill.

Dezzie 2025