A free ballot decides who stays on Cockatoo Island this New Year’s Eve. It closes soon.
I spent Friday night on Cockatoo Island/Wareamah, in a two-bedroom Harbour View Apartment with a verandah pointed straight down the harbour, and I said the same thing roughly nine times before dinner: imagine this on New Year’s Eve.
Turns out you can. You just have to win a ballot, and it closes at 2pm AEST on Wednesday 16 September.
Access to the island on NYE is reserved for people with an accommodation booking. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is putting 11 of its holiday houses and apartments into a public ballot for the New Year’s Eve period. Entry is free; you can nominate up to three properties, and if your name comes out, you get a four-night minimum stay: check-in from 3pm on Tuesday 29 December, check-out on Saturday 2 January. Prices run from $3900 to $12,000 for the four nights. This year’s ballot also marks the debut of the Dockmaster’s Residence, an 1848 sandstone building put up by convicts using stone quarried on the island, restored and sleeping eight at $12,000.
Winners will be called by 5pm on Thursday 17 September and have to say yes on the call, with a 50 per cent deposit due at that moment. The full balance is payable by 20 November. No refunds or changes are permitted.
What’s the cost breakdown?
When you breakdown the costs per person, per night, they're not as bad as you think. (Credit: Ardent Soul Photography)
A two-bedroom apartment is $6500 for up to five guests, or $325 per person, per night. (Credit: Ardent Soul Photography)
Look at the list and $12,000 is what jumps out. Look at it per person and the pricing turns itself inside out.
The cheapest property on offer is a one-bedroom Harbour View Apartment at $3900, which sleeps two. That’s $487.50 per person per night, the most expensive bed in the ballot. The two $10,000 Heritage Houses sleep 12, which works out to $208 per person per night. The new Dockmaster’s Residence, at $12,000 for eight, sits at $375. The two-bedroom apartment I stayed in is $6500 for up to five, or $325.
So the entry-level listing is the least value for money and the second dearest is the best, and the variable doing all the work is how many people you can round up. $208 per person, per night, on Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve is not a mad number. It’s roughly what a decent hotel room costs in this city on a Tuesday in March.
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AI Prompt
Wake up to this view in 2027. (Credit: Emily Murphy)
Cockatoo Island's New Year's Eve stays are decided by ballot. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
Spend four nights on Cockatoo Island over New Year's. (Credit: Emily Murphy)
There’s a reason the group size matters more than usual here. On 31 December, the island closes to everyone without an accommodation booking, and ballot winners are explicitly barred from inviting day guests. Whoever is on your booking is your entire New Year’s Eve. Get the maximum occupancy right at the ballot stage, or you’re paying premium rates to have a smaller party than you planned.
Camping packages are available
NYE camping packages go on sale on 22 September. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
Cockatoo Island’s campground is the affordable option. (Credit: Destination NSW)
If the ballot feels like a lot of money resting on a phone call, the campground is the accessible version of the same view.
NYE camping packages go on sale at 9am AEST on Tuesday 22 September, with a pre-sale for the island’s NYE mailing list on Monday 21 September. It’s a two-night stay, arriving Wednesday 30 December and leaving Friday 1 January. BYO tent sites start at $590 plus a booking fee for a four-person site facing the Harbour Bridge, and $690 for a six-person one. Pre-erected packages also start at $690 for the basic setup, climbing through to a deluxe waterfront package (Harbour Bridge view) at $1290 to a premium waterfront package (Woolwich view) at $1350, of which only two exist.
Run the same per-person sum and the six-person BYO site lands at about $57.50 a head per night. That is the cheapest legitimate Sydney Harbour fireworks view I know of that comes with a bed.
One catch worth knowing before you book: campers can’t bring alcohol onto the island and have to buy it from the licensed cafes, while house and apartment guests can bring their own in moderate amounts. It’s a real difference in what the night costs and what it feels like, and it isn’t obvious until you’re deep in the terms and conditions.
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Emily Murphy is Australian Traveller's Email & Social Editor, and in her 4+ years at the company she has been instrumental in shaping its social media and email presence, and crafting compelling narratives that inspire others to explore Australia's vast landscapes. Her previous role was a journalist at Prime Creative Media and before that she was freelancing in publishing, content creation and digital marketing. When she's not creating scroll-stopping travel content, Em is a devoted 'bun mum' and enjoys spending her spare time by the sea, reading, binge-watching a good TV show and exploring Sydney's vibrant dining scene. Next on her Aussie travel wish list? South Australia and The Kimberley.
Bate Bay’s sweep of beaches has been crowned Australia’s best for 2026, placing Sutherland Shire in the spotlight as a top coastal destination just south of Sydney’s CBD.
The beaches fringing Bate Bay – Cronulla, North Cronulla, Wanda, Elouera and Greenhills – have topped Tourism Australia’s 2026 list of best Australian beaches (as curated by Beach Ambassador Brad Farmer). For locals, it’s less revelation, more recognition.
The mood shifts from the moment you step off the T4 train service from Central to Cronulla and catch a glimpse of the ocean. At dawn, the Esplanade is already buzzing with regulars, and by mid-morning, parents have staked out a toasty spot on Cronulla Beach where excited toddlers clamber over rocks, and the Jellybean swim squad at Oak Park have donned their bright pink caps while singing Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.
By the afternoon, towels are being collected from across the sand as visitors wander back to Cronulla in loose formation.
Dive into the world’s best beaches.
That’s the thing about Bate Bay beaches. This isn’t a story about a single beach. This long, uninterrupted sweep of sand and sea, where you can walk for kilometres without breaking stride, is not just enjoyed over summer; it’s a year-round destination. Here, Cronulla’s buzz gives way to Wanda’s wild edges, before stretching out to the quieter reaches of Greenhills.
But while Bate Bay’s beaches may have taken top honours in the 2026 Best Australian Beaches list, they’re only part of the drawcard. Sutherland Shire stacks up as a full-spectrum coastal escape, where good food, national park adventures and on-the-water experiences sit within easy reach of the shoreline. Whether you’re planning a long weekend or stretching out a stay, here’s how to make the most of Cronulla beyond the sand, sea and surf.
Beyond the beaches
Dining
Enjoy a sundowner by the sea at Pippis Cronulla.
The Sutherland Shire dining scene delivers from early morning to late at night with a mix of vibrant cafes, bars and pubs. Start your day at Grind Espresso, where the coffee comes strong and fast. From there, drift towards HAM for pastries, best eaten buttery warm.
By midday, locals linger across sun-lit tables. Loaf and Next Door appeal to the surfers who come in for snacks after chasing waves. Blackwood’s Pantry and The Press are also popular for breakfast and lunch, while Pilgrim’s continues to hold a special place in the hearts of vegans.
Newer arrivals signal where Cronulla is heading: Homer Rogue Taverna is being hailed as one of the best restaurants in Cronulla, with the confidence that comes from understanding what locals want. Ask a local to reveal their favourite restaurant for a special occasion, and it’ll likely be Pino’s Vino e Cucina al Mare, Yalla Sawa or Alphabet Street. Summer Salt, Sealevel, Benny’s, Bobbys and Pippis are a few of the best waterfront restaurants in the Shire.
A short ferry ride from Cronulla, Bundeena offers a counterpoint to Cronulla’s mighty surf beaches. If Cronulla is the Shire’s social heart, Bundeena – or Bundenesia, as it’s affectionately known – is the place to go to exhale and unwind.
Hop on the ferry from Cronulla, and within 30 minutes, you’ll be inhaling the eucalyptus-scented air. Check the creative pulse of the local community by timing your visit with the Bundeena Maianbar Art Trail on the first Sunday of every month.
One of the best things to do in Bundeena is paddle into Cabbage Tree Basin with Bundeena Kayaks. Follow the five-kilometre Jibbon Beach Loop Track that leads past quiet coves to ancient Indigenous rock art, or simply find a stretch of pearl-white sand to relax on.
Pristine walking trails
Cool off with a coastal stroll.
Beyond the coastline, Sutherland Shire offers myriad ways to shift gears. Royal National Park – the oldest national park in Australia – sits just minutes from the surf. Clifftop walks trace the edge of the continent, the rugged bushland is threaded with creeks and hidden waterfalls, and a network of tracks rewards those willing to go a little further.
Take the Coast Track, where the land drops cleanly into the ocean over sheer cliffs that have been stacked together like giant Jenga. Or veer inland, where pockets of forest cool the air and filter the light. It’s a reminder of how close nature sits to the bustle of suburbs in the Sutherland Shire.
Enjoy whale watching
Spot whales from May to October. (Credit: The Edit Suite)
Twist your binoculars until the ocean is in focus, stretched like a creased blue sheet all around.Come May, the East Coast becomes the humpback highway. Thousands of whales migrate along this stretch of coastline each year, their movements tracked by keen eyes from vantage points like the Cape Solander platform in Kamay Botany Bay National Park, one of the best places for whale watching in Australia. There’s something quietly thrilling about seeing that first telltale spout or the arc of a breaching body against the vastness of the sea. From June to October, whale-watching cruises depart from Cronulla, offering a closer look at the migration.
Awards come and go. But places like Cronulla endure because they belong as much to the visitors as they do the early-morning swimmers, walkers and surfers.
