OCEAN SWIMMING | BONDI

Salty Fit’s ongoing ocean swim training community.
Face The Waves is Salty Fit’s regular ocean swim training program for swimmers who are ready to take their ocean skills, fitness and confidence to the next level.
These sessions combine coached swim training with the unique challenges of the ocean environment — helping swimmers become stronger, smarter and more capable in the surf.
Swimming in the ocean challenges you in ways the pool can’t.
The conditions change.
The water moves.
Every session teaches you how to adapt.
Whether your goal is to prepare for an ocean swim event, improve your open-water skills, build your fitness, support surf lifesaving or triathlon goals, or simply become a more confident and capable ocean swimmer — Face The Waves provides the coaching, challenge and community to help you progress.
Each session may include:
🌊 Surf entry and exit skills
🌊 Reading waves, swell, rips and sandbanks
🌊 Ocean navigation and sighting
🌊 Endurance and fitness-based swim training
🌊 Developing confidence in changing conditions
🌊 Learning how to adapt your technique to the ocean environment
With consistent attendance, you’ll build the experience, fitness and confidence to negotiate different surf conditions and become a more capable ocean swimmer.
More than just a swim session…
Face The Waves is a community of ocean swimmers, triathletes, surf lifesavers and ocean lovers who come together to train, learn and enjoy the experience of swimming at Bondi Beach.

Expect coaching, challenge, encouragement — and usually a coffee and chinwag afterwards ☕🌊
Is Face The Waves right for you?
Face The Waves is designed for swimmers who:
✓ Have experience swimming in the ocean
✓ Can swim a minimum of 1km continuous freestyle
✓ Are comfortable swimming in a group environment
✓ Want regular coached ocean training
Recommended swimming benchmark:
Able to swim 1km continuous freestyle comfortably at approximately 22 minutes per kilometre pace.
This benchmark helps ensure swimmers have the physical capacity to participate safely within the group training environment and allows coaches to deliver the best possible experience for everyone.
Every swimmer’s ocean readiness is different. If you’re unsure whether Face The Waves is the right starting point, contact us and we’ll help guide you towards the most suitable program.
Session Details
📍 Bondi Beach
Meet in front of North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club
Sessions:
Monday | 6:00am–7:00am
Tuesday | 6:00pm–7:00pm*
Friday | 6:00am–7:00am
Saturday | 7:00am–8:00am
*Evening sessions operate during daylight savings.
Pricing
Casual session: $20
13 session pass: $210
Membership: $150/month
Includes:
✓ Face The Waves
✓ Lap Time
✓ Advance Your Style

Not sure where to start?
Complete our New Swimmer Questionnaire and we’ll help guide you.

Your bridge from pool swimming to ocean training.
Intro Face The Waves is Salty Fit’s 5-week ocean swimming progression program designed for swimmers who are ready to take their pool fitness into the ocean.
Perhaps you’ve recently completed an Ocean Swimming Confidence Course.
Or maybe you’ve been building your freestyle endurance in the pool and are ready to learn how to apply those skills in real ocean conditions.

If you can swim 1km continuous freestyle, this program helps you develop the skills, fitness and confidence needed to move from swimming in the ocean… to training in the ocean.

Over 5 weeks you’ll:
🌊 Build ocean awareness
Learn how to read tides, swell, rips, sandbanks and changing surf conditions.

🌊 Develop surf skills
Practise entries, exits, navigation and swimming confidently in different conditions.

🌊 Build ocean-specific fitness
Develop endurance and confidence swimming longer distances in moving water.

🌊 Prepare for your next goal
Whether that’s an ocean swim event, triathlon, surf lifesaving season, Bronze Medallion preparation or joining regular Face The Waves sessions.

This program is the stepping stone between recreational ocean swimming and structured ocean swim training.
By the end of the program, you’ll have a stronger understanding of the ocean environment, greater confidence in changing conditions and the skills required to join our regular Face The Waves sessions.

Program Details

🗓 Saturdays

🕖 7:00am–8:15am (75 mins)

📍 Bondi Beach

💙 $220 – 5-week program

Casual drop-in sessions available while the program is running (conditions apply).

Prerequisite

Minimum 1km continuous freestyle.

Not sure if this is the right place to start?

👉 Complete our New Swimmer Questionnaire and we’ll help guide you towards the best Salty Fit pathway for your swimming journey.

Your first step to becoming an ocean swimmer 🌊
Have you ever looked out at the ocean and thought:
“I’d love to swim out there… but I’m not quite sure where to start?”
Swimming in the ocean is a completely different experience to swimming in the pool.
The waves.
The movement.
The changing conditions.
The feeling of not knowing exactly what is happening underneath you.
Whether you are a confident pool swimmer who has never experienced the ocean, or someone who needs more support building confidence in open water, this course introduces you to the skills, knowledge and awareness needed to enjoy ocean swimming safely.
Our 3-week Ocean Swimming Confidence Course is your introduction to the magical ocean environment at Bondi Beach.
You’ll learn how to understand the surf, move with the water, adapt your swimming and develop the confidence to enter the ocean with greater awareness and enjoyment.
This course is not about becoming a competitive ocean swimmer overnight.
It’s about building the foundations that allow you to feel comfortable, capable and excited to continue your ocean swimming journey.
Over the 3 weeks you’ll learn:
🌊 Ocean swimming technique
Learn how to adapt your freestyle stroke to moving water, waves and open-water conditions.
🌊 Reading the ocean
Understand waves, swell, tides, rips, sandbanks and how to identify safer swimming conditions.
🌊 Surf skills
Learn how to negotiate the surf break, confidently enter and exit the water, and move through waves.
🌊 Ocean awareness and safety
Develop the skills to make better decisions before and during your ocean swims.
🌊 The fun of the ocean
Experience the exhilaration of catching waves, body surfing and discovering why so many swimmers fall in love with ocean swimming.
Who is this course for?
The Ocean Swimming Confidence Course is perfect for:
✓ Confident pool swimmers wanting to transition into ocean swimming
✓ Swimmers who have always wanted to try the ocean but don’t know where to begin
✓ Ocean swimmers who want more knowledge and confidence in surf conditions
✓ Swimmers looking for a supportive introduction before progressing into regular ocean training
Join a small group of like-minded swimmers and learn in a supportive, encouraging and fun environment with Salty Fit Head Coach Jo Mermaid 🧜‍♀️🌊
What you’ll gain from this course:
By the end of the program, you’ll have a greater understanding of:
✓ How the ocean environment works
✓ How to approach surf conditions
✓ How to swim more confidently in open water
✓ What skills you need to continue progressing as an ocean swimmer
Course Details
📍 Bondi Beach
🗓 Saturdays
🕘 9:00am
3-week program
September–April only (summer season)
💙 $160
Prerequisite
Minimum 500m continuous freestyle/front crawl.
This requirement ensures you have the swimming foundation needed to safely learn and enjoy the ocean environment.
You don’t need to be fast — you simply need the ability to swim continuously and be comfortable putting your face in the water.
Every swimmer receives a complimentary Salty Fit swim cap — because looking like an ocean swimmer is the first step to feeling like one 😉🌊
Questions?
Not sure if this is the right starting point for your ocean journey?
Complete our New Swimmer Questionnaire and we’ll help guide you toward the program that best suits your current ability and goals.

These sessions are ideal for beginner ocean swimmers as they are held in less surf exposed locations and a favoured choice for swimmers wanting the challenge and fitness that moving water can offer (as opposed to flat water and pools). A great training ground for triathletes for building their navigation in open water environments for race practice.

A minimum of 500 metres of continuous freestyle is required to safely and confidently join these sessions.

We are currently unable to offer group lessons for our Eastern Suburbs location: register your interest here and we will let you know when these sessions can resume.