My Top 13 Swimming Spots and Experiences

When writing My Top 10 Backpacking Experiences list, I found out that the majority were swimming related, so I’ve had to create this list separately. I even had to add a bonus 3 to this list because I have had so much fun swimming, in so many different places.

13. In Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Koh Phi Phi was one of the reasons I had to include the additional 3. The limestone cliffs create hidden lagoons of warm turquoise waters that are the perfect picture of paradise – I just couldn’t leave it out of my list.

The islands are surrounded by some great reef for snorkelling and diving too.

12. In Litchfield National Park, Australia

Litchfield provides some of the best swimming holes in Australia.

Buley Rockhole, Florence Falls, Wangi Falls, Tjaynera Falls and Surprise Creek Falls are all fantastic swimming holes and a great way to refresh and cool down from the Top End heat.

The rugged landscape provides a perfect backdrop, just look out for crocodile warning signs before entering the water.

11. In Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

Abel Tasman has some fantastic beaches with fresh and clear waters for swimming.

However the reason it made my list is Cleopatra’s Pool, 45mins walk inland from the beach at Anchorage Bay. There you will find a naturally and perfectly sculpted waterslide.

10. In Karijini National Park, Australia

Karijini is absolutely stunning and forces you to get stuck in and clamber over gorges, wade through gullies and swim in beautiful natural pools.

The pools in the gorges are pretty cold because of the lack of sunlight, although that can be a nice relief on a 35 degree day. The best place to swim is definitely Fern Pool; it is beautiful, warm, full of fish and has two waterfalls flowing into it that provide a great free massage.

9. In Halong Bay, Vietnam

After cruising around this magnicent natural wonder for a while, we anchored at one particular beauty spot and were allowed to jump off the boat into the emerald waters for a swim.

Whilst swimming in the middle of this maze of limestone islands, I had one of those moments when you think to yourself, “I am actually here doing this?”.

8. On Fraser Island, Australia

The Champagne Pools at the top of the island are a great place to swim in the ocean in a protected pool.

However the reason Fraser Island is so special for swimming is the amount of crystal clear freshwater creeks and lakes it has. Eli Creek, Lake Wabby and Mackenzie are my personal favourites.

7. Snorkelling In The Whitsundays, Australia

These stunning tropical islands, placed in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, are surely the definition of paradise. Snorkelling in the seas here I saw a huge variety of different marine creatures, including turtles and stingrays.

There is famous and friendly Napoleon Wrasse fish, known to the locals as Elvis, he came over to see me and even let me stroke him – that’s us above. Don’t think I was lucky though, they’re very curious fish and most people get up close and personal with Napoleon Wrasse in these waters.

6. At Kuang Si Waterfall, Laos

Kuang Si waterfall is probably the best waterfall I have ever seen and the many pools it descends into are some of the best swimming holes I have ever swam in.

The water here is an incredible colour of blue. There is a rope swing and plenty of high places to jump in from. I spent the whole day here and had some great fun.

5. In The Northern Queensland Rainforests, Australia

There are so many freshwater swimming holes in Northern Queensland (around the Cairns area, particular Atherton Tablelands) I can’t remember the names of half of them.

There are natural slides, rock pools, waterfalls, volcanic craters, many things to jump off from – I even saw a rare duckbilled platypus in a creek near Yungaburra. I would recommend spending a day or two to visit them all.

My favourite locations were Lake Eacham, Babinda Boulders, Mossman Gorge, Millaa Millaa Falls (where Peter Andre filmed a music video and Herbal Essences shot a TV advert) and Josephine Falls.

4. With Wild Dolphins, New Zealand

It would be number one on many people’s list, but not mine. It was a fantastic experience, don’t get me wrong, but to me it was a bit of an anti-climax because so many people dream of doing it and those that have done it say its brilliant – I thought it was a bit overrated.

Still I must reiterate it is my number 4 and was still absolutely amazing – you don’t realise how big they are until you get in the water with them. They were curious, but cautious and not as playful as I’d imagined, but then again they were wild. I do much prefer seeing animals in their natural habitat – if you want a cuddle from one then you should go to SeaWorld instead.

There are many places in the world to swim with wild dolphins, I did it in The Bay Of Islands, New Zealand.

3. With Seals, Rottnest Island, Australia

Most of the swimming on this list has been part of an organised tour, with experienced guides or lifeguards – what made this experience so special was it was completely spur of the moment and I was on my own.

Someone told me there was a seal colony on a small rock just off the main island. To see it you had to go down a dirt track that not too many people knew about or ventured down. Sure enough the rock and seal colony were there, but there was also a large group of seals swimming in the water between the main island and the rock.

I had a snorkel in my bag and thought why not, so clambered down the cliff and jumped in with them. As soon as I got in I had a huge rush of adrenalin as I realised this may not have been a good idea; I was on my own and no one knew I was there; I was in the water with wild seals that probably were not used to interactions with humans and so may have been aggressive.

I couldn’t resist though and swam closer. It then dawned on me that I had failed to see the biggest danger; I was swimming in one of the most shark attack prone areas in the world, alongside Great White Shark prey.

At that moment one very curious seal swam right from the bottom vertically up and ‘stood’ eye to eye with me; checked me out, then swam off. One of those special moments I will never forget.

Shortly after there was a huge splash on the surface, I immediately thought ‘shark’ and got out of there, but I think it was just two seals fighting or playing.

The danger and primeval fear was the reason why I enjoyed this experience so much – such a rush.

2. Scuba Diving

After having a taster in the Great Barrier Reef I was hooked and completed my open water diving license in Koh Tao, Thailand a couple of months later.

Scuba diving itself is absolutely amazing. I would describe it as being like an astronaut in outer space; you are breathing normally in a place you shouldn’t be; you are completely weightless; you are in terrain that is complete foreign to a human beings and finally there is complete and utter silence – the only sound you can hear is your breathing through the regulator – it makes you sound like Darth Vader too.

It is surreal, yet beautiful. Probably the most relaxing thing I have ever done, but still completely exhilarating.

1. With Whale Sharks, Ningaloo Reef, Australia

Swimming with the biggest fish in the sea, how can anything top that? Well I do intend on swimming with whales one day, but can’t count that yet.

There are many places to swim with whale sharks and certainly much cheaper places than Australia, but Ningaloo reef near Exmouth (WA) is the only place where they congregate in such numbers (in season) and where you can be guaranteed to swim with them because tour companies send up spotter planes to find them.

The whole day was brilliant, firstly unlike the Great Barrier Reef you don’t have to spend 3 hours on a boat to get to the reef, it is literally just off the shore. By 10am we had already swam with 2 juvenile, yet still 3m long whale sharks. The youngsters were much more curious and more beautiful than the adults. One was so curious it turn towards me with it massive mouth wide open, luckily I was pulled away by one of the tour staff before it swallowed me.

Suddenly the whale sharks seemed to disappear, we were told by the spotter plane the reason was because a large pod of killer whales were in the area. This was completely unexpected, the crew said they see orca about once a year. As everyone was so excited by this we spent about hour having a private orca watching tour, which was an unbelievable bonus to the day.

After lunch the orca pod had gone and whale sharks were being sighted again. We had a lot of cases of jumping in the water and the whale sharks diving down deep – probably because they were still spooked by the orca. It had become a bit frustrating jumping in and only catching a glimpse, until the final swim of the day.

I jumped in and directly underneath me was this huge shadow, which then swam up to the surface right in front of me – a massive 8m whale shark, about the size of a single deck bus.

I swam as fast I could to get alongside this magnicent creature – I was one of a few people to catch up with it as it moved effortlessly through the water. I saw it move its eye towards me and we shared a moment for about 10 seconds – mutual respect, we both knew neither wanted to harm one another – we than swam together side by side for at least two minutes before I was called back – an experience I will never, ever forget.

The day was capped off with champagne as we returned to shore – one of the best days of my life.