A tidal pool cut into the rocks south of Wick in 1931, whitewashed every year by the volunteers who look after it
Open accessfree and open all year; no lifeguards, so swim at your own risk and check the sea first
Past the old coastguard station on the coast south of Wick, the Trinkie is a swimming pool cut into the rocks, with a retaining wall built in 1931 to hold the sea in. The tide refills the pool, with a valve to control the level, and every year volunteers clean it out and paint it white. In 2023 The Times put the Trinkie third in a list of Britain’s seven best sea pools, and in late summer people sometimes see migrating orcas offshore. Storm Babet damaged the main wall, and the repairs, paid for by crowdfunding, local businesses and wind farm community funds at a cost of about £40,000, were finished in September 2025. Swimming is free and the pool is open all year, but there are no lifeguards and the water is unheated, so expect it cold. Wick station is about 2km north-west, and the Castle of Old Wick, a ruined tower on the cliffs, is a little under a kilometre south-west.
