Caringbah Suburb Review

A suburb of two halves - one pretty with grand homes, another with busier higher-density - makes Caringbah a place with two faces.

Summary: Formerly home solely to streets lined with grand old homes from the glory years of the mid to late 1900s, Caringbah like many other higher-end Sutherland Shire suburbs remains pretty, yet is also modernising and losing some of its character.

It’s got plenty going for it for families however, with quality schools nearby, nice leafy roads, peace and quiet, plenty of parkland, and a heavy rail station for city access. It’s a versatile & largely scenic suburb in parts, however its price has ballooned in recent years & now ranks on the pricier side in return for its liveability.

Key stats

One of the old-time heart suburbs of Sutherland Shire, Caringbah is essentially two suburbs in one, with South Caringbah offering quite a different streetscape to its northern counterpart.

Its southern portion – essentially, everything that lies to the south of the Kingsway main road – is a land of leafy, wide streets dotted with impressive, large-scale freestanding homes.

While many of these have been standing for decades, there’s been continual slices of renovation and sub-division into high-end duplexes taking place in recent times, as more people have wanted to move into such spots in the Shire that offer roomier & quieter streetscapes like this part of Caringbah still does. This is a highly-safe & street-proud part of the suburb, with obvious high levels of house-pride and typically well-mantained gardens and lawns.

Still, Caringbah’s a suburb with a face that is gradually changing. Its period-era, multi-decade-old homes are slowly being stripped out one by one and replaced by more modern and minimalistically designed buildings, which simultaneously adds a layer of freshness while stripping it of some of its character.

Caringbah’s northern portion meanwhile, is a place of higher-density retail and slices of industry clustered around its train station & main thoroughfare that leads out of the Shire in Taren Point Road.

As a result, it’s a fairly versatile all-rounder suburb that caters to both the higher and mid sections of the property market, depending on your willingness to compromise on space. As a whole, it’s also highly family friendly with good park & playground covereage – although there’s not much to see or do attraction-wise, and distance from the CBD can be a factor for city workers.

As with many of the suburbs of Sutherland Shire, living here is all about the extra space you get in return for distance from the city. Nice, wide streets where you can actually park multiple cars outside your house without – *gasp!* – paying, are part and parcel to living here, and wide median strips and towering trees line its pathways in much of its southern half.

Caringbah has long been quite a prestigious and well-equipped suburb, balancing together house size with convenience courtesy of its central retail area. The suburb has a train station that sees regular services that run on time and provide direct access to Sydney city.

It’s not the fastest of train trips – expect about a 50 minute train ride to Town Hall – but it is reliable given it runs on the T4 line. Driving into the city will take around 40 minutes on an average day, so having a roughly equivalent and less-stressful alternative is a bonus.

Its blend of space and services does, however, mean that property prices remain high and growing despite its distance from the CBD. As with the rest of Sydney, property prices went berserk ever since the Covid-19 pandemic as people desired more space – suburbs like Caringbah in particular were a prime candidate for people who were wanting larger homes.

It’s now not uncommon for detached houses in Caringbah (especially in the southern half) to eclipse the $2 million mark for purchase, and the median house price for the suburb as a whole now sits around the $1.7 million range, placing it firmly in the “unaffordable” zone for the average new buyer.

Caringbah offers wide streets with plenty of greenery

Rental prices for apartments are obviously comparatively more affordable; lower-end 2 bedroom apartments are available for around $600 per week – although you’re likely to pay around the $700 mark for something decent as of 2024 – with a greater concentration of apartment blocks in the northern portion of Caringbah for those looking for high-density accommodation.

Location, Location, Location

The suburb’s physical location is another point in its favour as well. Bordered on either side by the waters of Woolooware Bay and the waterways of Port Hacking, there’s plenty of nice scenery and opportunity for aquatic activities nearby.

In addition, the excellent beaches of Cronulla are only a short trip away and rank amongst the best in the entire Greater Sydney region. It’s a good balance between full-blown suburban life and not being too greatly land-locked like a number of other Shire suburbs further inland, and not having to grapple with the over-crowded beaches further north.

“Bordered on either side by the waters of Woolooware Bay and the waterways of Port Hacking, there’s plenty of nice scenery.”

Basic shopping needs are taken care of both within Caringbah itself via its central retail hub – featuring a duo of Woolworths, IGA and other bigger-box homeware-style outlets (think Bunnings, et al) as well – while the massive Westfield Miranda complex and its cavalcade of shopping opportunities are also just a single train stop – or short drive – away.

Caringbah’s most likely going to be of interest as a place to live for families; the chance at a bigger house with a proper yard and more space in general is its major appeal. There’s also a range of great schools at both the high and primary levels to choose from nearby, and enough amenities, dining and hotel/pub for a drink down at the local to round things out.

The suburb is also home to some great walks, reserves and green spaces, most notably in its southern portion towards Lilli Pilli and Port Hacking.

Upmarket Suburban Living, or Cheaper Density: Pick One

Its main downsides as a place to live are its mixture of distance and price, but also that some areas – primarily in its north side – do also have some elements of shadiness. It can be a little dodgy-feeling, particularly at night around some of the high-density apartment blocks and on its main high street towards the station.

It’s quite safe overall however, and mirrors the relatively low crime statistics of Sutherland Shire as a whole.

Lastly, it’s a fairly “vanilla” suburb in terms of there not being much to do outside of standard pub and small-local restaurant dining – there’s no real single notable highlight or attraction (unless you count high tea in the admittedly-pretty Camelia Gardens as your idea of a “good time”), and its central area is a little bit bland, noisy and generic.

The Verdict

Caringbah is a solid choice for families large and small who want the mix of space, greenery, safety and quiet that Sutherland Shire provides without being too disconnected from “true” Sydney, while still having a solid array of amenities on hand close by.

It’s now definitely become more on the pricey side considering its distance from the city, however its overall offering largely remains the same pretty, well-equipped and visually appealing package it’s always been – you’re now simply just paying (a lot) more for the privilege of living here.

Younger professionals and/or uni students looking for a good time would likely want to look somewhere else – such as the more lively Gymea or Cronulla elsewhere in the Shire – or perhaps further north “across the bridge”, however, as Caringbah may still be a little “sleepy” for that demographic.