WorldAustralia › New South Wales › Cronulla Pools

Cronulla Pools 60.6

#3117 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · New South Wales · near Sydney

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Cronulla Pools, Australia
Photo: Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score60.6 /100
Surfable days99% of the year
Clean days10% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell15% period 11 s+
Typical size1.6 m 5.1 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Cronulla Pools

The best time to surf Cronulla Pools is April, July, August. It rarely works. In April the water sits around 22°C, so pack a rash vest or 2 mm, and the typical wave is 1.4 m. The nearest airport is SYD (13 km) and the nearest town is Sydney (21 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%6%1.5 m22°Cvest
Feb99%7%1.7 m24°Cvest
Mar98%5%1.7 m24°Cvest
Apr99%19%1.4 m22°Cvest
May96%15%1.5 m21°C2mm
Jun97%14%1.6 m19°C2mm
Jul99%17%1.7 m18°C3/2
Aug97%16%1.6 m18°C3/2
Sep99%8%1.6 m20°C2mm
Oct100%10%1.6 m20°C2mm
Nov100%4%1.5 m20°C2mm
Dec100%4%1.4 m22°C2mm

What is under Cronulla Pools

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 20 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 30 m against 20 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out20 m
Depth 4 km out5 m
Channel beside it30 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 60.6

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
13.3
Best days 22.4%
13.1
Clean days 18.4%
4.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.5
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 133° with 44% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 66% of days. Mean peak period 9.1 s. Days over 3 m: 5%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.5 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 18%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -34.053, 151.156 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,990/ month
typically €1,750 – €2,230
Rent, one bedroom€1,050
Groceries€416
Eating out€238
Getting around€140
Phone + internet€151
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,890/ month
typically €3,420 – €4,360
Somewhere to stay€2,290
Eating out€815
Car, transfers, fuel€529
Data + extras€248
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Australia (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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