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The pools on Hamilton Island (see on hotel website) are all beautiful and lush! Below is a bit of summary of the pools from my visit in September 2022, what is great about them and why you might choose to spend more time at one pool or another. You will be sure to have a favourite, but you will need to try them all out to be sure ;).
The Hamilton Island Main Pool
The star of the show, the Hamilton Island Main pool is a massive lagoon pool with a swim up and non swim up bar and plenty of lounges and grassy areas to lounge around with your drink in the sunshine. This pool is popular with everyone including families but given it has very easy access to the bar it is a popular place to hang out for adults, groups of friends and adult families to enjoy a drink or several.
On warmer and busier days this is the place to be, with live music some days (see the whats on guide for which days when you visit), easy access to the beach area and nearby restaurant for lunch and access to facilities like toilets.
It doesnt get much more holiday feels than the Hamilton Island main pool on a warm day, with live music floating around with your sunglasses on and cocktail in hand!
I have also visited in summer on a day trip and it was a great place to spend a few hours living the high life at the swim up bar before your trip back to the mainland and reality.
The main pools only letdown is in winter its not heated. On my first day it was pretty cold and miserable weather (it turned stella some other days) but I was determined I was going to have a drink at the swim up bar but I drank that drink FAST and moved to the reef view pool. Hopefully maybe in the future they can find a way to at least take the chill off with solar.
Hamilton Island Bougainvillea Pool
The Bougainvillea Pool is surrounded by lush tropical vegetation with gorgeous views over Catseye beach. Its popular with families as it has a small shallow section as well as a handy wide shallow ledge the full way around the pool which kids loved and was a good spot to practise swimming.
The Bougainvillea Pool is also heated in the colder months so its more comfortable to swim in for adults and kids although it felt like the reefview pool was a touch a warmer. A few degrees warmer would be nice in the coldest days of winter.
It can be quite busy at some times of the day so as a child free person I tended to visit towards dusk when it was a bit more mellow noise wise as families went for early dinner. This also mean there was free banana lounges and there are some great chilled out, sheltered lounge spots surrounded by plants on the opposite side of the pool to the beach.
There are toilets a short walk walk away from the pool past the kiosk.
Hamilton Island Reefview Pool
While popular with all the guests the deeper reef view hotel pool was a more adult friendly space much of the time and has poolside food and drinks service during the day. I visited at the end of winter, and they said the pool was still been heated because it was unseasonably cooler. It felt like the warmest of the two heated pools and was very comfortable tempearture although by the end of the day a few degrees warmer would probably still be nice.
While I was a bit chilly after an extended time in the waer, it was mostly warm enough to stay in the pool to dusk even in cooler weather (although my skinnier friend was definately colder than me). This will obviously not be an issue in summer when you will be keen to cool down instead!
Sadly drinks service finishes around 4pm, making end of day pool drinks after activities not an option (and in winter the main pool is waaaaay to cold for that) – a bit of a fail in my opinion, one of the best parts about a resort in queensland is lazing round the pool as long as possible. It would be great if they put in a serving window at the grass end of the bar and served drinks for as long the pool is open without the need to enter the restaurant in a towel and to still be able to get drinks for sunset round the pool. (PS this is just mentioning the cons, I had the best holiday ever and will 100% go back to Hammo again when I can afford to)!
Frequently Asked Questions
What time are the pools open on Hamilton island?
All pools on Hamilton Island are open from dusk to dawn with a disclaimer that swimming after dark is not recommended. It didnt really seem to be enforced but for someone like me who likes to follow the rules and hates getting in trouble I would have loved at least one pool option open later.
For me personally, i found it disapointing there was nowhere open later in the evening to swim, it’s one of the best parts about holidays having a pool to swim in when you don’t have one at home. This is particulary relevent now the restaurants are so busy and you often can’t get a booking to late when its dark – way more fun to be in the pool than something boring like watching tv 😉 But again, this is personal choice and for many people this wont matter.
Are Hamilton Island Pools Heated
Yes some of the Hamilton Island Pools are heated in cooler months only*
The Bougainvillea Pool which is open to all island visitors is heated in cooler months. The Reef View Hotel Pool (for Reef View and Palm Bungalow guests), and the Beach Club Pool (for beach Club guests) are also both heated to a nice warm temperature in cooler months. Unfortunately the main pool isn’t heated which means the swim up bar is not a comfortable temperature on colder winter days.
*Generally winter but it’s at the discretion of the resort on when its heated based on the weather and is sometimes extended or shortened if it’s unseasonably cold or warm. These Pools are also cooled in the warmer months.