Swimming in the Best Natural Pool – EVER

Never thought I would use this phrase, as Gorden Ramsey used it in almost all of his Hell’s Kitchen episodes and that got annoying pretty quickly. But now we have been to the best natural pool I have ever been to. The one in Iceland was pretty impressive, swimming in hot water in the snow, but I have to admit this Australian place truly is a little piece of paradise.

Imagine a slow streaming flow of 30 degrees Celsius,  with bright and crystal clear water in a natural surrounding. Yes, that is what we came across in Bitter Springs up in the top end of Australia, as the Northern Territory is called here.

It is like the tropical swimming pools at Center Parks*, but then it is the real thing and nothing is artificial. Well except for the stairs into the water and the walkways to get there, but they give that little bit of comfort.

There is no fee to enter the stream and if you get here early enough, it is not overflowing with tourists yet. Only around 11.30am, it started to get more crowded.

Bitter Springs was not even on our radar before we came to the Top End – we were told about this place by follow travelers that we met along the way. This is everything that a natural hot spring is supposed to be in my opinion.

It was well worth the over 100 km detour that we took for it!

* Center Parks is a popular Dutch family bungalow chain that is known for the large tropical swimming pools.