Curls and Cuddles at Brighton Bathing Boxes

girl with arms crossed at bathing boxes Brighton, And So I Don't Forget Photography

The Bathing Boxes at Brighton beach are a Melbourne icon and make the perfect backdrop for a photo session that is bright, colourful and full of energy.

Apart from the bright colours painted on the weatherboard cladding, the Brighton Bathing Boxes are quite consistent in appearance with classic Victoria architectural features, timber framing and a corrugated iron roof. They typically measure 2.4 metres long by 2 metres wide, which is smaller than a standard carpark. The boxes have no electricity or plumbing and are mainly used to store beach equipment and accessories. It is not permitted to sleep overnight in the boxes, rent them out or use them for advertising.

History of the Brighton Bathing Boxes

Bathing Boxes were first built in Brighton in the early 1860s, providing a private location for people to get changed into swimwear and discretely enter the water. In the early 1930s, when the state government began building the bluestone foreshore promendade that stretches out from Port Melbourne, the City of Brighton planned for there to be a break in the promenade at Dendy Street Beach. At council’s expense, they relocated or removed the bathing boxes from around Brighton to their current location. Well, apart from realigning them at the back of the beach, away from the high water mark, in the mid-1930s.

The Brighton beach bathing boxes have not been without controversy, dating right back to disputes over the land rights in 1862. The Brighton Bathing Box Association was founded around 1935, likely a significant reason why these bathing boxes remain while many others around the bay have been destroyed. Storms, owner neglect, deterioration of the beach, concerns about public access to Crown Land and questions about their environmental impact have all threatened the Brighton Bathing Boxes over the years. However, in 1998 their ‘historical, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria’ was recognised by the Heritage Council and the Brighton Bathing Boxes and Dendy Street Beach were officially listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Owning a Brighton Beach Bathing Box

There are 96 Brighton Bathing Boxes, with council building 14 additional boxes in recent years. Estimated to cost council $15,000-$20,000 to build, a new sale record was set in November 2019 when a box sold for $340,000. There is rumour of a sale in late 2023 for $450,000, making this some of the most expensive real estate in Melbourne based on size. Ownership of the bathing boxes is actually restricted to local Bayside residents, who purchase a perpetual lease, and they pay council rates of about $1000 per year for the box. The bathing boxes rarely come up for sale (the council has no plans to build any more bathing boxes) as they are often held by the same family for generations.

Brighton Bathing Boxes Photo Sessions

Consider an early morning session if you want to use the Brighton beach bathing boxes as a location. This beach can get BUSY. I’ve shot there both sunrise, like this session where we had large sections of the beach to ourselves, and sunset when there can be people everywhere. Early morning, without the crowds, would be my suggestion for a relaxed and enjoyable family photo session.

And Melbourne being Melbourne, don’t forget to bring warm layers. This session was held late in November, the middle of summer, but it was still a brisk, windy morning. Mum had chosen lovely coordinating outfits but the kids were freezing so we bundled them into whatever warm layers were found in their car. Happy, smiling kids win out over coordinating outfits!

Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss a photo session with Melbourne’s colourful and iconic Brighton Bathing Boxes.

Location and How to Get There

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are located on Dendy Street Beach in Brighton, near the intersection of Dendy Street and The Esplanade. TheBathing Boxes extended from the Brighton Lifesaving Club to Gould Point, opposite Gould Street, at the south end.

From the Melbourne CBD, it is approximately a 30 minute, 14km drive. There is a council user-pays carpark nearby, at the Brighton Lifesaving Club. Brighton Beach Station is a 29 minute train ride from Flinders Street Station, on the Sandringham Line. From the train station, it is a 10-15 minute walk along the Esplanade to the Brighton Bathing Boxes. There are also bus routes with stops nearby, including the 600, 922 and 923 routes, serving Southland and St Kilda.