The Ballito tidal pool is being cleaned out in preparation for a busy Christmas season.

Tinley Manor pool’s clean up was completed on Sunday and work began on cleaning out a sand-filled Ballito tidal pool this morning.

Steve Honneysett, beach manager for KwaDukuza, was overseeing the operation at the beach.

He said both Tinley Manor’s tidal pool and the Ballito pool required the most regular cleaning as sea sand continually built up inside them.

A backhoe digger worked away inside the pool, pushing and moving sand over the wall of the tidal pool. The work usually takes one to two days to complete.

“We cannot take out as much sand as we would like to, but we will get as much out as we can so people can swim inside it,” he said.

The tidal pools are usually cleaned out twice a year.

“We wait for a spring tide so we can get in and clean out the sand, it gives you a longer period to work before the water comes over the walls,” he explained.

The workers usually open the release valve a few days before they start work so that some of the sand build-up is flushed out.