Cronulla is a beachy surf suburb south of Botany Bay, its long surf beach (Sydney's only one reachable by train) stretching beyond the dunes to the Botany Bay refineries. It can be an edgy place (captured brilliantly in the 1970s cult teen novel Puberty Blues and reinforced by 2005 race riots) but the beach is beautiful, with a pleasant promenade. The beach is divided into a long northern and shorter southern zone by a narrow strip of sand known as the Alley.

In 2008 Cronulla became the second Sydney beach to be declared a National Surfing Reserve. It's one of Sydney's most reliably good beaches for surfing; the southern end of the northern section is usually good for beginners.

Transportation

  • train: Cronulla

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sydney attractions

1. Bundeena

2.02 MILES

The town of Bundeena, on the southern shore of Port Hacking opposite Sydney’s southern suburb of Cronulla, is surrounded by the Royal National Park and…

2. Kamay Botany Bay National Park

5.26 MILES

This national park straddles both heads of Botany Bay, 15km south of Sydney Harbour, enclosing 458 hectares of coastal bushland. Visitors come here to…

3. Wattamolla Beach

6.11 MILES

About halfway along the coast, Wattamolla Beach is one of the favourite picnic spots in the park and gets pretty busy in summer. It has the great…

4. Bare Island

6.19 MILES

About 50m offshore at La Perouse is the strange Bare Island, a decaying, grass-tussocked concrete fort built in 1885 to discourage a feared Russian…

5. La Perouse Museum

6.37 MILES

Housed inside the old cable station (1882), this museum has numerous relics from French explorer La Pérouse’s many expeditions, an interesting Aboriginal…

6. Royal National Park

6.39 MILES

The 15,091-hectare Royal National Park was established in 1879, making it the oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone in the USA. Stretching…

7. Congwong Beach

6.48 MILES

Arguably the most beautiful beach in Kamay Botany Bay National Park, serene Congwong faces the bay rather than the open ocean, making it great for…

8. Little Congwong Beach

6.48 MILES

A short walk (or swim) from Congwong Beach will land you at Little Congwong, a secluded, unofficially clothing-optional beach.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
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      "destination": "Sydney",
      "continent": "Australia-&-Pacific",
      "country": "Australia",
      "region": "New-South-Wales",
      "city": "Sydney",
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