March 2024 update: Initially, the swimming season at the inner-city beach (known as Pondi) was set to run until early March 2024, but the season has just been extended to finish on Anzac Day, April 25.
Sydney’s impressive list of beaches is welcoming a new addition this summer, with plans for Penrith’s new urban beach officially announced. The sandy stretch will be the same length as Bondi Beach, and will be free to visit seven days a week from December 19 (with the exception of Christmas Day).
The announcement is welcome news for outdoor swimming enthusiasts based in Western Sydney, who otherwise have to travel up to 40 kilometres to Lake Parramatta or upwards of 60 kilometres to one of Sydney’s beaches. Reaching Bondi from Penrith takes an hour by car on a good day – and, parking, ugh – so scoring a similarly extensive swimming spot just a walk away is a big win for the Penrith community. For ease of access, a shuttle bus service will be running from Penrith station.
“This is a location of which the people of Western Sydney can be proud and which will make the rest of Sydney a little bit jealous,” said the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully.
As fun as the new beach is as a concept, the $1.7 million swimming spot has been built primarily for reasons of safety and equality – to provide an accessible place for residents of Western Sydney to cool off through what is anticipated to be an exceptionally hot summer.
During an average heatwave, Penrith reaches temperatures that are up to 10 degrees warmer than Sydney’s beach-lined Eastern Suburbs, and back in 2020, the Western Sydney suburb was the hottest place on Earth, reaching a sweltering 48.9 degrees Celsius. If any Sydney suburb is in need of a sandy spot to submerge in salt water, it’s here.
You can learn more about Penrith's beach and book one of the 700 parking spaces over here.
There's a lot happening in Penrith at the moment – the suburb just scored its first five-star hotel.