Family Escape

TWO DAY FAMILY-FRIENDLY ITINERARY

Duration: Two days (or three days if you want to do every single activity we have mentioned!)
Transport: Public and private
Highlights: Ferry ride, surf lesson, bike ride, kayak tour

Escape south of Sydney to the beautiful Sutherland Shire and enjoy nature with family activities to get your heart rate pumping. Just 40 minutes by train from Sydney’s Central Station, the Sutherland Shire is packed with family activities from surf lessons to BMX riding, bayside cycleways, rock climbing, hiking and golf for big kids and littles.

Join us for two days of family fun!

Before you visit:

• Book your surf lessons at Cronulla Surf Academy

• Pack your bikes and helmets

• Book your accommodation 

• Make a dinner reservation at one of the Shire’s top-rated restaurants

DAY 1: 

Rise early with the locals and stroll down to Cronulla Beach, one of the four beaches along Bate Bay, and take a dip in the ocean under the watchful eyes of local lifesavers, remembering to always swim between the flags. Enjoy breakfast at one of the many local cafes.

Meet up with the team from Cronulla Surfing Academy for your surf lesson at Cronulla Beach - yes surf lessons are just as awesome in Winter as in Summer, great conditions with less people and wetsuits are provided to keep you warm. You can choose a private lesson or join one of the group classes.

After your surf, sit down for lunch at one of the restaurants in Cronulla overlooking the beach.

Little kids will love a play in the Park, before you start your walk along the Esplanade, the total distance is four kilometres one-way of easy coastal pathway from Wanda Beach to Bass and Finders Point. You can start & and stop wherever you like, exploring the pristine ocean rock pools and beachside parks along your way. 

In the afternoon, grab your bikes (or hire them from Chain Reaction in Cronulla) and drive to the Woolooware Bay Shared Pathway, where you can ride the five-kilometre-long trail that follows the Botany Bay shoreline from Solander Fields - just next to the Cronulla Sharks home ground, pass Shorebird Reserve and ride along to Taren Point. The wetlands here have been remediated to protect the local environment and attract local and migratory shorebirds like the bar-tailed godwit that visits each year from the Arctic Circle. Stop at the viewing deck, walk out over the heritage-listed oyster processing jetty and enjoy the views across Botany Bay.

If you want it a bit more action packed, head 20 minutes west to Australia’s second biggest bike pump track at Bardon Ridge for some family BMX time. This track is a circuit of curves, dips and transitions and is suitable for all ages and skill levels. There’s parking, toilets and shaded rest areas.

Another option is to let Putt Planet in Miranda take you on an 18-hole indoor African adventure through old Mombasa. Putt your way through doorways, marketplaces, homes and back alleys – and a plane! – as you explore the gateway to Eastern Africa and try for that elusive hole in one.

If you will be in the Sutherland Shire between May and October make time to get up close with the whales who playfully breach and tail slap as they go by. The coastline becomes the Pacific Highway for more than 20,000 of these amazing marine mammals making their annual migration north to breed. Join Cronulla Whale Watching Cruises for a morning or afternoon cruise, both run for approx. 2hrs & 20 mins.

For dinner head to Westfield Miranda dining precinct and enjoy its global cuisine like xia long bao at Din Tai Fung, Mexican at El Camino or Bavarian classics at The Bavarian with views towards the Sydney skyline. If you have time, catch a movie at Event Cinemas Miranda.

DAY 2: 

After breakfast set off to Bundeena, a coastal village on the doorstep of the Royal National Park - a short ride across the pristine Port Hacking on one of NSW’s beautiful old wooden ferries, run by Cronulla Ferries, easily identifiable in distinctive yellow and green livery. (PLEASE NOTE DUE TO COVID RESTRICTIONS CRONULLA FERRIES ARE UNABLE TO MEET PASSENGER DEMANDS - PLEASE USE AN ALTERNATE MODE OF TRANSPORT TO ACCESS BUNDEENA I.E PRIVATE CAR).

In the warmer months swim at Horderns Beach just to the right of the Bundeena jetty or join one of the Bundeena Kayaks guided tours. You can also hire stand up paddle boards and kayaks and spend the day playing in the waves. In the cooler months take a beautiful 5km walk through the National Park on the Jibbon Loop Track. Jibbon is home to one of the best preserved Aboriginal rock art sites in Sydney, while still being easily accessible. Viewed from a steel walkway and viewing platform, the Aboriginal rock carvings on this site date back over a thousand years.

Cafes in the main street of Bundeena can help you with lunch, and you can pick up supplies from the IGA supermarket for a beachside picnic before catching the ferry back to Cronulla.

If you are keen to kayak in the winter months head to the Boatshed at Woronora where you can explore the natural beauty of the Woronora River by kayak or canoe  - available year round for hire - the Boatshed also puts on an amazing kid-friendly spread of food at their waterfront cafe, so no one will go hungry!

In the afternoon, head to Climb Fit at Kirrawee,  a huge fitness space filled with rock climbing walls, nets, rope climbs and ladders to challenge kids and adults. Staff will teach you how to work together and safely belay and then it’s over to you to climb together.

If you’re keen for more golf, burn off the last of your energy with the kids at X-Golf at Caringbah for a simulated golf experience. Practice your swing and play on world class courses.

It’s been a busy two days! If you have extra time to stay and enjoy the Sutherland Shire see to our See & Do page for plenty of other ideas on how to spend your days!

Thanks for joining us in the Sutherland Shire.