Your guide to the best things to do in Sutherland Shire

The Sutherland Shire has much to dazzle day and night, from splurge-worthy restaurants and buzzy bars to nature walks and places designed for a wellness weekend.

Punch ‘Cronulla’ into Google Earth and you’ll get an aerial image of sapphire-blue beaches and bays so perfect they look like they’ve been designed by regenerative AI. Come summertime, the beachside suburb in the Sutherland Shire beckons for a beach getaway or Sydney staycay.

Sure, you could nose the car out of the driveway for the 45-minute commute from the city’s CBD. But whether you’re a Sydney local or visitor, Cronulla’s proximity to the train station makes commuting here a cinch. While the region’s beautiful beaches beckon, there’s a lot more to Sydney’s Sutherland Shire than meets the eye.

Here are some of the best places to stay, eat, chill and play.

Discover the best of Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

Where to stay

Getting away from it all can benefit the mind, body and spirit. A staycay at either Quest Cronulla Beach or Rydges Cronulla Beachside will help nudge you into holiday mode, and they make great bases from which to explore the beaches and beyond. Both are opposite The Alley surf break and are just a short stroll away from some of the region’s best bars, cafes and restaurants.

The first order of business on a Cronulla seaside staycay is to fling open the doors to your balcony and fall into rhythm with the gentle sway of the sea. It will be impossible to resist the lure of a morning swim the next day. Choose between slipping into the pool at Quest or Rydges or the sea pool at Oak Park – BYO fins, goggles and inflatable flamingo.

While Quest Cronulla Beach offers studio apartments with fully equipped kitchenettes, Rydges Cronulla Beachside has The Alley dining spot onsite, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Stay the night at Rydges Beachside Cronulla.

Where to eat

Foodie visitors will find much to enjoy when visiting Cronulla – there are so many opportunities for spontaneous discoveries, you’ll need to schedule a return visit. Head to The Pines or Next Door post-dawn to enjoy elevated breakfast options such as the ever-ubiquitous avocado on toast while watching the sun pour honey over the sea. Find Blackwood Pantry a few blocks back, the dreamy Luchetti-Krelle designed eatery that offers great insights into Cronulla’s vibrant cafe culture. Opt for eggs your way or the summer granola bowl.

Enjoy breakfast at the Luchetti Krelle-designed eatery, Blackwood.

For a long lunch, head west to Hazel, the hot new Gymea restaurant within Hazelhurst Art Centre, helmed by Michelin-trained Belgium-born chef Nils Herold. Make reservations at Pino’s Vino e Cucina al Mare for maccheroncini drenched in a creamy vodka-spiked sauce. It’s sublime. Visiting with your gal pals? Head to Bobby’s or Benny’s, which bookend the peninsula and are top spots for cocktails and share plates. Alphabet Street is known equally for its Asian-influenced fare and apple martinis. The best places for a nightcap include Papa J’s, Blind Bear, Sista Gin and Johnny Hu.

Or take it to the seas on a boat ride with Mintaka Charters. Spend the day sailing through Port Hacking with food and beverage packages (or BYO).

a tour group on Mintaka Charters sutherland shire sydney

Take lunch to the seas with Mintaka Charters.

Where to get your nature fix

Nothing quickens the pulse more than a morning walk along the Esplanade, where you can wander around the peninsula all the way to pretty Darook Park. You can also flaunt your outdoorsy side by forest-bathing in the Royal National Park (it’s a little-known fact that it’s the world’s second-oldest national park beside Yellowstone National Park).

The darling green and gold Curranulla is the oldest commuter ferry in Australia working to a regular timetable. Head down to Gunnamatta Bay to catch the hourly ferry between Cronulla and Bundeena for your big active day out. From here, you can go for a jaunt along the Jibbon Loop Track or for a paddle into Cabbage Tree Bay with Bundeena Kayaks. Visit on the first Sunday of the month to enjoy the Bundeena Maianbar Art Trail, when local artists open the doors to their studios on the fringes of the national park.

While Cronulla is best known for its surfing, there are also crystal-clear sea pools that are popular with swimmers. Get the sand out of your cossie with a swim at Shelly Park pool, then complete your daily step goal along the clifftops of Cape Baily walking track in Kamay Botany Bay National Park.

bundeena kayaks group exploring sutherland shire

Explore Sutherland Shire by the water with Bundeena Kayaks.

On the way to wellness

Wellness travel is on trend and it’s booming in Cronulla, where visitors are wooed with everything from day spas to pottery classes. Delete your dating apps and sign up for a pasta and cannoli-making class at Salt Meats Cheese, which is a convivial way to spend an afternoon while making new friends. Part Time Ceramics also offers fun ‘Pottery & Prosecco’ classes.

Make the most of your long weekend in Cronulla by booking a treatment with one of the talented skin coaches at Beauty & Balance, which is tucked away upstairs on the main street of Cronulla Plaza. Endota Spa is also an urban oasis where you can while away an entire afternoon in complete serenity. Those wanting to recharge and recover can also go for a cold plunge at RCVRI, in the pedestrianised part of Cronulla. The health and wellness centre has a ZeroGravity flotation bed designed to help you shrug off the stresses of the everyday.

If it’s live music you’re after, catch a gig at Brass Monkey Cronulla. Or book tickets to the SummerSalt Cronulla festival in April, featuring headline acts such as Missy Higgins, John Butler, Fanning Dempsey National Park and Josh Pyke.

people making pottery at part time ceramics in sutherland shire sydney

Create something new with a class at Part Time Ceramics.

Start planning your Cronulla getaway at visitsutherlandshire.com.au.

Welcome to the first instalment of Hotel Addict, a monthly column where I check into Australia’s best hotels, exploring not just the rooms, but the stories, service and settings that make each stay unforgettable and worth adding to your wishlist.

Hotel stays have quietly become my thing. Long before I became a travel journalist, I was booking staycations just for a change of scenery. Some had charm, some had character, some had neither. Once, I even stayed in a hotel directly opposite my own apartment – partly for the novelty, partly because I wanted to see my life from a different angle.

For me, hotels represent a kind of mystery – I find myself wanting to know what these buildings contain. Many of them are designed with intention: lighting, materials, scent and sounds that often reflect the city they sit in. Time seems to gently pause in these spaces, which have increasingly become the destination itself for modern travellers.

It only felt fitting for the first hotel in this series to be in my home city and at the hotel that’s been at the top of my list: Capella Sydney.

A sandstone heritage building and palm trees

Capella sits within an Edwardian Baroque‑style sandstone building.

An email with a hotel program from the “Culturist Team” lets me know this will be a luxurious stay. There’s a guided walk around the Botanic Gardens, a weaving workshop and a Sydney contemporary art tour – the kind of addition that signals a hotel that’s tuned into the finer details, and one that’s not surprising given that Capella’s ethos centres on delivering personalised, immersive experiences.

Capella opened in 2023 within a transformed Edwardian Baroque‑style sandstone building in Sydney’s CBD that was originally designed by renowned Scottish-Australian architect George McRae. I often walk past this building and once attended an event inside – I distinctly remember being surprised by how beautiful it was. Bar Studio, Make Architects, and stylist Simone Haag were engaged to sensitively adapt the building for contemporary luxury while honouring its past, in collaboration with Heritage NSW and the City of Sydney.

When I arrive, I’m greeted by three different staff members along the way to reception. There’s a lovely subtle scent, which I later learn combines notes of bergamot, green tea leaves, peony, freesia, vetiver and cedarwood. This hotel strikes such a beautiful balance between grandness and intimacy, with large floral bouquets, contemporary artworks, impressively high ceilings that give it an international feel and quieter nooks to unwind in. Each space is unique, but they’re all unified by a warm, textural and layered design.

Sydney has been deserving of a hotel of this calibre for quite some time, with many of the accommodations in the city looking and feeling dated.

A modern hotel reception with high ceilings

The design strikes the perfect balance between grandness and intimacy.

I have a treatment booked at the hotel’s Auriga Spa prior to check-in. The space is ultra-luxe, moodily lit and intimate, featuring timber joinery, green walls and a sleek design that’s so perfect it almost transports me to Japan. I opt for the Replenish Beauty and LED Facial – a strategic choice with a TV segment on the horizon, and a hopeful bid to look extra fresh for the camera.

The treatment begins with me sitting in the softest robe of my life, wearing slippers and sipping chamomile tea. I’m then whisked away to my private treatment room, which has its own bathroom, a large skylight and a small Japanese-style garden. The treatment is extremely relaxing and moves through cleansing, exfoliating, massaging (arm, head, neck and face) and LED Light Therapy. There’s so much attention to detail – even at the end, the facialist puts my slippers back on me, while I’m still lying down.

Spa treatment room with a massage bed, featuring timber walls and a serene Japanese-style garden visible through a window.

A treatment at Auriga Spa might be the best way I’ve ever started a hotel stay. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

While this treatment certainly hasn’t had a Benjamin Button effect, my sister seems to think I’m glowing, so I walk away happy, or at the very least, zen.

Auriga Spa has a sauna, steam room, ice fountain and a beautiful indoor heated swimming pool. There’s also “experiential showers” – new to me, but essentially it combines water flowing from different places, changing temperatures, mood lighting, gentle sounds, and a subtle lemongrass scent.

You could easily spend the better part of a day at the spa and pool, even if you’re not a guest.

The indoor heated swimming pool with glass ceiling at Capella Sydney.

Guests outside the hotel can use the spa and swimming pool. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

I’m escorted to my room, drunk on relaxation, but I make sure to take note of how noisy the hallways are – answer: dead quiet. My room is 50 square metres, which is huge by hotel standards, but particularly for one in the CBD. It feels like a high-end apartment with floorboards, a freestanding bath and a seating/dining area. My eyes are immediately drawn to the line-up of macarons waiting for me on the dining table.

I’m thrilled to see the mini bar armoire includes a small wine fridge stocked with Minuty Prestige Côtes de Provence, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Handpicked Wines Pinot Noir, and Moët Grand Vintage. Not that I plan on using it (I simply could not justify the prices) – but it’s a nice extra that makes the room feel that much more luxurious. The drinks lineup reads like a who’s-who of local favourites – Young Henrys, Maybe Sammy cocktails, Four Pillars gin and Archie Rose gin. Snacks include Tyrell’s chips, Pringles, Natural Confectionery lollies, and a Carman’s oat bar.

Some small touches I appreciate that some hotels don’t offer: the option to choose your housekeeping time, an iron that actually works well, a Bluetooth speaker, the beloved wine fridge, aluminium water bottles and a bathroom without a glass door or screen that awkwardly exposes you. The one downside is that some of these rooms don’t offer much in the way of a view.

A modern hotel room with a monochrome paletter.

I stayed in a Premier Room which was elegant and relaxing. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

4:30pm is Swill Hour – a daily tradition that nods to the historical “six o’clock swill” in Australia. This one-hour event takes place in the Living Room and invites guests to gather and enjoy each other’s company with a signature cocktail in hand. This afternoon’s tipple is a Eucalyptus Gimlet, a clever, herbaceous little cocktail, by the multi-award-winning Maybe Sammy Team, served on coasters depicting drawings of the historic building. The canapé of the day is a tomato and stracciatella tart. I noticed several staff members chatting with guests like old friends, asking how their adventures earlier in the day went – clearly remembering previous conversations from earlier visits.

Dinner is booked for 6:30pm in Aperture – arguably the most beautiful area of the accommodation. It’s decorated with Australian flora and features a kinetic sculpture hanging from the roof that opens like flowers, with softly changing lights. Tyler, who is serving us, clearly admires the Capella brand, speaking enthusiastically about the other international properties he’s been to and sharing how he sometimes brings his five-year-old daughter here to use the pool.

Interior of Aperture at Capella Sydney, featuring lush greenery and a striking ceiling-mounted sculpture.

The scale of Aperture gives it an international feel.

I kick things off with a basil melon margarita – a winning recommendation – before tucking into the best prawn toast I’ve ever had. For mains it’s crispy Ōra King salmon and spaghetti with mud crab.

When I arrive back at my room, there’s a vegan leather journal on my bed with a note that says: “The ritual of journaling allows us to pause, reflect and focus.” This is part of the turndown service, and my slippers are neatly lined up next to my bed. Will I journal? No. Do I think it’s a nice touch? Yes.

Brasserie 1930 at Capella Sydney, where Art Deco elegance meets contemporary Australian cuisine.

Brasserie 1930 boasts Art Deco elegance.

The next morning, I make the predictable choice of smashed avo for breakfast at the on-site restaurant, Brasserie 1930. There’s also a buffet brimming with all the usual suspects.

Afterwards, I head to the pool to relax for a few hours before the 11am checkout. Despite my earlier resolve not to journal, I find myself reflecting nonetheless – an irony not lost on me – on my 21st hotel stay in Sydney. I write this with growing assurance that great hotels don’t just provide a place to stay; they create memorable moments, thanks in large part to fantastic staff. Kudos to the hiring manager.

Next stop: The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart!

Your 36-hour guide to the Sutherland Shire

The Sutherland Shire has much to dazzle day and night, from splurge-worthy restaurants and buzzy bars to nature walks and places designed for a wellness weekend.

Where to stay

Where to eat

Where to get your nature fix

On the way to wellness

Travellers get relief as Sydney Airport introduces flat-rate taxi fares

This iconic Bondi venue is about to land at Sydney Airport

Soft Forest: A free, immersive show is on in this historic Sydney garden

Be transported to an Italian summer at this new Sydney restaurant

I’ve stayed in 21 hotels in Sydney and this is my favourite

Welcome to the first instalment of Hotel Addict, a monthly column where I check into Australia’s best hotels, exploring not just the rooms, but the stories, service and settings that make each stay unforgettable and worth adding to your wishlist.