Cronulla Beach Community Guide and Business Directory

Cronulla Beach

sometimes referred to as South Cronulla Beach, is a patrolled beach on Bate Bay, in Cronulla, South of Sydney. The Cronulla Pavilion and the Cronulla Lifesaving Club are two prominent buildings located close to the sand. Cronulla Park sits behind the beach. The Cronulla Rock Pools are between Cronulla Beach and North Cronulla beach. The Alley is the local name given to the area between Cronulla Beach and North Cronulla Beach. Shark Island is a dangerous reef break, located off Cronulla Beach.

Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club

The Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club was one of the first surf clubs established in Australia in 1907. The club had very humble beginnings in a tram carriage and today the clubhouse is housed in a magnificent art deco building on the beachfront, that was built in 1940.

Cronulla is one of the largest and strongest clubs in the surf life saving movement with 1,200 members, including 620 in its nipper ranks. Many lifesavers volunteer their time to patrol the beaches during the season from late September to late April. Cronulla has won three World Championships encompassing all rescue and Surf Life Saving competition and has consistently placed in the top 10 clubs at the Australian championships over the past 20 years.

History

Cronulla is derived from an Aboriginal word kurranulla, meaning 'place of pink seashells'.

North Cronulla Beach

North Cronulla is a patrolled beach on Bate Bay, in Cronulla. The Wall is the local name given to the area between North Cronulla Beach and Eleoura.

North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club

The North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club was established by a group of local residents who were concerned about the safety of visitors to the beach. The first patrol of the beach was in 1925, using the reel, line and belt as their only form of rescue equipment. The first clubhouse, which opened in 1926, was a small weatherboard building on the beach, at the end of The Kingsway.

Wave action forced club members to move the clubhouse from the beach into Dunningham Park in 1932. The rock pools between Cronulla and North Cronulla were built and opened the same year. A new, three storey cement rendered clubhouse was opened in 1937, said to be the finest in Australia. The Army’s beach fortifications during World War II affected the seawall foundations and the clubhouse had to be demolished after heavy seas in 1946.

In 1950, North Cronulla lost one of its greatest swimming champions, Club Captain Major James 'Jim' Peryman who was attempting to rescue a 16 year old woman from the surf when he was pulled under by the weight of seaweed on his rescue line. The woman was pulled the safety by another club member but Peryman, who was reeled to shore, could not be revived. A new clubhouse opened later that year and a pool later added to the surf club complex was named after Peryman.

In 75 years, North Cronulla members conducted more than 11,000 rescues. Today, North Cronulla has approximately 500 senior and 250 junior members.

Wanda Beach

Wanda is the northernmost patrolled beach on Bate Bay in Cronulla. Green Hills or Green Hills Ridge is the name given to the sand hills, just north of Wanda.

History

Wanda is an Aboriginal word for beach or sand hills. The beach became notorious in 1965 after the Wanda Beach Murders

Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club

The Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club was established in 1946 after World War II by a group of men who banded together, as they did in warfare, to patrol the beaches. The colours of Army red, Air Force blue, and Navy blue were adopted as the club colours. The club, located on Marine Esplanade, has grown in size to its current membership of over 900 male and female members, ranging in age from five year old Nippers to the original Founding Members.

The primary objective of the club is to patrol the beach in an effort to ensure the safety of the surfing public but it is also actively involved in the competition arena, with excellent performances at State and National Competitions. A number of social activities are organised throughout the year to bring together members from all sections of the club.

Elouera Beach

Elouera is a patrolled beach on Bate Bay, in Cronulla. The Wall is the local name given to the area between North Cronulla Beach & Eleoura.

Elouera Surf Lifesaving Club

The Elouera Surf Lifesaving Club was established in 1966. On the official opening of the clubhouse, on 8th June 1967, the club's first surf boat 'Charlotte Breen' which was donated by local businessman Tom Breen, was christened and launched. The Elouera 'Sharks' had 375 members in the initial season.

History

Elouera is an Aboriginal word meaning a pleasant place.

Shelly Beach

Is the southern most beach in Cronulla. Shelly Park sits behind the beach. Shelly Pavilion is located between the beach and the park. There is also a Shelly Beach in the Manly area, near North Head.

History

The name Shelly Beach is derived from the sea shells that proliferate the area

Contact the CBD

Cronulla Beach CBD Management Office

Office hours: Monday-Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm—Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm—Sunday and public holidays - closed.

Location: The Pavilion, Cronulla Street, Cronulla NSW 2230, Australia—Postal: PO Box 854, Cronulla NSW 2230

Tel: (02) 9527 2100—Fax: (02) 9544 4026

Email: cronullabeachcbd@ssc.nsw.gov.au

For information and forms

For schools' surf education: download schools' booking form (42 Kb PDF)

For other events: Events on Shire beaches - application (385 Kb PDF) Filming on Shire beaches - application (90 Kb PDF)

Product sampling on Shire beaches - application (42 Kb PDF)

Weddings on Shire beaches application form (21 Kb PDF)

The Cronulla sand dunes

are part of the Wanda beach coastal landscape, located beside Captain Cook Drive, Cronulla in the local government area of Sutherland Shire. The Cronulla sand dunes are a protected area that became listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on the 26th of September 2003.

History

The Cronulla sand dune system located on the Kurnell Peninsula is the first landing place for Captain James Cook in Australia. It was also the site of first contact between the British and the Aborigines in NSW. On 29 April 1770 the HMS Endeavour landed in Botany Bay and Cook stepped ashore. (The area is now marked by a stone memorial (1890) and included within the Botany Bay National Park). Cook’s party stayed in Botany Bay for eight days, gathering botanical specimens, mapping the area and liaising with local Aborigines.

Between 1920 and 1930 the sand hills were acknowledged to be a deserted and desecrated landscape and their economic value was minimal. However, by the 1920s Cronulla had become notable for its beaches with over five kilometres of sand stretched along the coastline. The bare sand dunes became synonymous with Cronulla. Between the 1920s and the 1950s the large expanses of sand became a popular playground for generations of children for activities such as sandboarding.

European Settlement

The landscape of the Cronulla sand dune system bears little resemblance to that experienced by the local Aboriginal people and first seen by Captain Cook. The original vegetation was felled and cleared by early settlers for its wood and attempts at grazing. The land was not suitable for intensive grazing and after most of the trees were felled, herds of cattle removed the stabilising grass cover and exposed the sand dunes underneath. Large expanses of sand had been exposed along the coastline. These dunes measuring 40 metres above and 90 metres below ground level, then became unstable and began to move at a rate of 8 metres a year. The environmental impact of land clearing and cattle grazing resulted in a degraded landscape but they created what became the distinctive Cronulla sand dunes of today.

Aboriginal Culture

The site also posses historical and cultural significance to the Aboriginal community. The dune landscape possesses historic, scientific, cultural and natural significance as a site of early European contact with Aborigines.

Sand mining

In 1933 the Sutherland Shire Council refused an offer to set aside 2000 acres between the Cronulla Golf Club and Kurnell as a reserve. In 1937 it refused another offer to purchase up to 720 acres of sand dunes. In the 1930s the Holt family began its sand mining operations to supply the expanding Sydney building market and continued until 1990 with an estimate of over 70 million tonnes of sand having been removed.

Amateur and professional athletic training

Amateur and professional athletes on a daily basis push themselves to exhaustion in unforgiving soft-sand conditioning sessions at the Cronulla sandhills. This is to either keep fit, stay in shape or prepare for amateur and, or professional sporting events, events like Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, Soccer and Boxing.

At one stage professional cricketers Glenn McGrath, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Brad Haddin trained at the sand dunes on daily basis in preparation for international test cricket. Anthony Mundine held a one-hour workout in the sandhills to prepare for his bout with WBA super-middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler.

Amateur and professional Rugby league teams, especially those of the NRL also use the sandhills.

At inclines of 45 degrees or more, these sandhills rise upwards and all but collapse downwards in hour-long sprint sessions. According to the conditioning coach of the Australian Cricket team Jock Campbell, these sandhills, along with gym programs is the best way to train athletes for endurance work. "Working in the sandhills is hard aerobic interval training, and good specific leg training without the shock on knees and ankles.