Wild swimming: the travel trend making a splash in Australia

Aquatic escapes are one of 2024’s coolest trends. Test the waters with a wild swim safari.

It turns out the lyrics of the 1980s hip-hop anthem Push It hold the key to unlocking my freestyle stroke. Who knew? Yet here I am on a beach in Margaret River, beat-bopping along to Salt-N-Pepa and pushing it good with bent elbows.

Coach and self-titled ‘chief mermaid’ Charlotte O’Beirne is at the lead, demonstrating how to carve our palms through the water, from bellybutton to thigh, in a setting she describes as “Mother Nature’s VIP section”. I emulate her instructions in the water (singing silently, of course) and it works. Surprise ends up being the theme of the WA winemaking region’s new swim safari.

There are hiking holidays, culinary tours and photography adventures. Now, the trends of reconnecting with nature, acting sustainably and embracing a mental – as well as physical – refresh have converged to spit out a new niche. Wild swimming is the hottest new thing in the realm of special-interest holidays.

The new travel trend

Swimming Women, which launched in January 2024, is one of only a handful that operates in Australia. The basic concept is you sign up to explore a dreamy destination with like-minded others, only you do it in the water, wearing goggles and a swimming cap – and possibly chasing it with a wine tasting. You get to see a place from a completely different perspective – above and below the waterline – do things you probably wouldn’t do alone, learn skills from a pro, bask in the encouragement of others and almost accidentally blend in exercise.

It’s been ‘a thing’ in Europe for a bit. UK travellers have understandably embraced jetting to balmier locales to splash about. Trips thread through Croatia’s Dalmatian Islands, along the chiselled cliffs of Portugal’s Algarve region and to the turquoise waters of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Some test endurance or are tied to events, but most are about the joy of immersing yourself in water – whether it be an endorphin-boosting cold plunge or a sedate tropical float.

In Australia, the travel trend is gaining momentum, not least for the fun of a communal dip followed by good coffee. Experiences extend beyond the Aussie habit of chucking on bathers and jumping in the big blue.

You can join escorted group swims around Heron Island glimpsing the Great Barrier Reef; sign up for swim weeks led by an ex-Ironman Champion off Lord Howe Island; gorge-hop through NT’s Nitmiluk National Park; take a multi-day tour of Sydney sea pools; or try a cold-water camp in Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula, which includes a dip at night and optional qualifying swim for the English Channel.

The Swimming Women experience

Margaret River’s new Swimming Women experience is a holiday jammed into a day. It finds me running underwater while weighted down with a rock like a surfer on Blue Crush, ducking through a coral cathedral like a mermaid and diving to the floor of a river for astonishing, glass-like clarity. But first, we get in the zone.

Under Charlotte’s bubbly leadership, our group hikes through fragrant coastal scrub to Gnarabup Beach, a short drive from iconic wineries Cape Mentelle, Xanadu Wines and Voyager Estate.

Towels are unfurled in the mid-morning sun, its toasty rays dispersed by the maritime breeze. Breaths deepen as our leader guides us through meditative stretches and engages our sensory awareness, luring us into a headspace away from work worries.

“It’s about being in the elements,” she says. “We’re so safe in our clothes. It’s exhilarating to be fully in nature.” As we shed layers, her humour puts us all at ease. “We’re all hairy, furry, lumpy and bumpy and it doesn’t matter, because the water treats us all the same,” she says. Before our toes enter the Indian Ocean, Charlotte shares a cultural acknowledgement respectful of the local Wadandi saltwater people, the Traditional Owners.

I’m what you could call late to the swimming party. Hopeless at school carnivals – unless inhaling water is a sport – I’ve never been one for laps. In the ocean, I tend to stick to somersaults in the shallows. But on this day, adrenaline rising, I follow a support coach beyond the navy waterline. She clutches a hot-pink floatie as we wade over seaweed that swirls like long, tangly hair to reach a shallow reef invisible from the beach.

This is where the swim-throughs happen, something I find unexpected courage for, cheered on by the whoops and claps of the joyful group. We freestyle to a buoy marking where surfers place rocks for underwater endurance training. I clumsily give it a shot – cue more cheers – and find myself relaxing into this aquatic frolic. Still, churning through the wavy ocean isn’t my forte; gulping splatters ensue.

A safe and judgement-free space

Having trained some 1500 local women through her swim school, Charlotte shows me how to breathe to the side and raise my head away from the swell. “Swimming is the most magical thing for your body and your soul,” she says. “There’s no pressure to be fast. Many women just love doing handstands.”

Back on the sand, coffee is served in mismatched mugs at local favourite ‘the Prev’, the shop that services Prevelly Caravan Park. A patterned throw and basket of freshly baked French pastries awaits in the shade of melaleuca trees.

Restored, we amble to Surfers Point, a famed spot that in April hosted Kelly Slater and Jack Robinson at World Surf League’s Margaret River Pro. A group of wetsuit-clad surfers cluster behind the break.

“They call it corduroy to the horizon when the rows of swell come in,” says Charlotte. But we’re not here to spectate. Down steps edged with plaques naming champion surfers, Charlotte points to a crystalline channel and we drift playfully on the current.

Floating in Margaret River

Another hike leads us to the eponymous Margaret River. The waterway lies silent, with glints of sunlight sparkling like glitter on its surface. Unaccustomed to freshwater, I’m unsure about wading into the brown.

Charlotte offers another perspective. “The tannins seep into the water from the melaleuca trees,” she says. “When you look down it’s golden amber and it’s special to notice.”

After breast stroking to a riverbend, some women dive to the bottom, floating to the surface with arms swept wide. Their glee at passing through the haze to a clarified river floor sees us all try it out. Not for the first time, my fears are met, surpassed, and replaced with joy.

Picnic blankets, cushions and lunch platters greet us on the riverbank. Grilled haloumi and smoked chicken with a green goddess salad, Moroccan cauliflower and pearl couscous.

Hiking back to our cars, we swap bathers for coastal-chic garb and convoy to cellar door Walsh and Sons, fringed by forest. As a former organiser of the Margaret River Wine Show, Charlotte doubles as sommelier, taking us through a sip and swill of her favourite biodynamic drops.

By day’s end, I am officially converted to the concept of an aquatic escape. The sweetness of being physically spent after a series of destination paddles, finished with an iconic Margaret River experience, leaves me certain this is a trend worth travelling for. With Salt-N-Pepa playing in my head, I can’t wait to next dive in.

Swimming Women runs day tours of Margaret River once a month, all year round. Private tours can be arranged. It also offers extended swimming holidays on Rottnest Island and in Sydney.

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