Townsville Lagoons: Free Swimming All Year Round!

The Strand in Townsville boasts a waterpark at one end and a seawater lagoon at the other.  We visited the waterpark first (no pictures) and the kids loved it because it had one of those huge buckets that dump freezing cold lovely refreshing water on you every couple of minutes.  We also made a visit to the Rock Pool, an enclosed lagoon of ocean water that is filtered continually.  This means you can swim in the salty ocean water without worrying about crocs or stingers.  There were signs saying the stingers can still get in but since we were there in the winter we didn’t have to worry too much. The lagoon has a beach entrance, but the floor is concrete.  TurboBug loved it.  The other end was a couple of metres deep which made it safe for jumping into.  Which the others did and enjoyed.  I believe the beach next door has nets to keep out crocs so there’s a safe place to enjoy the beach as well. Here they are, all lined up.  I’m a wimp when it comes to cold water so I barely got my feet wet.  There were not a while lot of people swimming when we were there. Splash, splash! After a swim and a play at the nearby playground the kids enjoyed warming up in the sun.  Two kids… Three kids…number four in the background is noticing them all lined up and me with the camera. So he ran over to join them. We also visited (on yet another day) the Riverway Lagoons while we were in Townsville.  Totally free outdoor swimming pools.  There are three different pools though only one was open while we were there due to maintenance.  The one we swam in was huge and even had a section reserved for lap swimming.  The other pools were more casual with a beach entrance and sand.  What an amazing attraction for Townsville residents!  I imagine they are crowded in the summer months when the stingers make it hard to enjoy the ocean.  We were able to ride our bikes to the lagoons on bike paths from the convention centre we stayed at.  The paths were good and allowed us to see a bit more of Townsville.  We were told they have the best pools anywhere in Australia, definitely worth visiting!