Another local thrill is to grab the barrier chains on the seaward side of the baths in a moderate swell and hang on tight when a wave breaks over you.

The pool was enlarged to seven times its original size and deepened, an iron safety rail was constructed along the access track and two bridges, stairs and ledges cut into the rock face.

By that time the chill was burned out of the water; crowds of young urchins ducked and ran screaming before the onslaught of each wave from the heart of the Pacific.

Great games were carried on among the breakers; certain daring boys climbed out along the sea-wall, hanging there by the chain-rail, and holding their breath as the crests of rollers passed over them in a smother of foam.

The hot sun streaming into the caves among the upper ledges make pleasant retreats for the exercise of confidence and speculation.

-- Lincoln Colcord in 1914, reflecting on his adventures at Bogie[sic] Hole in 1895 as a 12-year-old accompanying his parents around the world in a Maine (USA)-based freight sailing ship[7]Men and women swam on different days and new dressing sheds and showers to use water piped 150 yards from a natural spring were built in 1893.

[3][11] The Bogey Hole remains a popular spot, particularly for inner city dwellers who don't like getting sand in their shoes, and still becomes very crowded on warm summer days.

In 2004 the Newcastle Morning Herald reported that the Bogey Hole "had reopened following completion of stabilisation work above the popular swimming spot".

[3][10] The baths are currently managed by the New South Wales government who undertook a project in 2012 to restore safe access through the provision of a new platform and stairs.

[15]The Bogey Hole is a public baths hewn out of rock on a wave cut platform below the cliffs at Shepherd Hill.

There is a proposal to commission and install some piece of commemorative public art in the cliff top picnic area overlooking the pool.

[18] One of the two remaining constructed features from the days of the earliest European settlement in Newcastle, probably the earliest European-built work extant, it is a convict constructed baths hewn out of a rock face for Major James Morisset, a notable military figure from the early period of European settlement in Australia.

It forms a picturesque and interesting feature in the coastal landscape of King Edward Park and is of considerable social significance to the people of Newcastle.

[3] Bogey Hole was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 21 November 2003 having satisfied the following criteria.

The Bogey Hole is associated with Commander James Morisset who ordered it dug for his private use, and with the earliest period of convict labour at the settlement.

[3] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The Bogey Hole and its natural setting are distinctive and pleasing features of the King Edward Park foreshore and a popular subject for contemporary artists and photographers.

"[3] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

The Bogey Hole has the potential to demonstrate early convict excavation techniques as well as subsequent Council modifications.