On our last day in Australia, we woke up to eighty degrees and a beautiful sunny day after a couple days of cool, drizzly weather. It was the perfect weather for visiting Royal National Park, just south of Cronulla, for a morning at Wattamolla Beach.
Originally, I had wanted to visit the Blue Mountains while in Sydney. But with four little kids and the mountains being over an hour drive from both of our lodgings, we decided instead to keep it simple and visit a closer park. I’d love to see the Blue Mountains someday, but keeping our drive time short was the right move (Eric wasn’t particularly enjoying the “wrong” side of the road :P)
Getting to Royal National Park
Getting to the park couldn’t be easier from Cronulla, as the park border is just a fifteen minute drive from the heart of town. The roads to and through the park weren’t busy, although the road in the park is rather hilly and winding. Seeing “the bush” up close was fun, since it’s a very different landscape from our forests and prairies in Minnesota.
We did get stuck behind a biker on the way out which slowed us down quite a bit (it wasn’t safe to pass on the mountain roads). But that just meant more time to enjoy the scenery!
It takes about 15-20 minutes to drive from the northern entrance of the park down to the parking lot near Wattamolla Beach. Entering the park is free, and parking in the beach lot is $12.
Getting to Wattamolla Beach
Wattamolla Beach is just a short walk from the parking lot, down some stairs and across a dock that crosses the lagoon. (Is it a lagoon? I’m not sure. It’s a protected area of water with almost no current that ultimately flows into the ocean.) You do have to wade a bit from the end of the dock to shore, but the water is shallow and clear.
The beach was pristine and the water in the lagoon was calm, shallow and warm(ish). There was only one other family and a group of men swimming for most of the time we were there. The waterfall that feeds into the lagoon was rushing and beautiful. With little kids, I liked that the depth of the water increased very slowly. So it’s possible for non-swimmers to enjoy it near the shore without fear of suddenly walking in too far.
We brought snacks and water. By midday the sun was getting hot and many people started to arrive. Near the parking lot, there are grills and picnic tables. Several families were setting up for lunch picnics and bringing sun shelters down to the beach. We were glad we had enjoyed our time early on, and we cleared out to get back to our apartment for lunch!
Would We Recommend Visiting Royal National Park?
Yes! It’s an inexpensive way to see more of the natural landscape without going too far from the city. There are also many more sites to see in the park besides the beach, especially if you have older kids or are visiting without children. There’s Wedding Cake Rock, the Figure Eight Pools, coastal walks, aboriginal engravings and more.
During the summer, we would recommend visiting the beach early. Not only is there no natural shade on the beach, but on weekends, the picnic area gets busy by lunchtime.
And I think that’s a wrap on our Sydney trip blog posts. In addition to visiting the zoo, national park and nearby beaches, we enjoyed time with friends and just soaking in a new country for a week. What a good vacation should be about, I think!
xx Claire