Bondi Beach Tourism Statistics

At a glance

• 2.9 million international and domestic overnight visitors¹ went to Bondi in 2025, against 2.6 million in 2024, though the 2025 domestic figure comes from a new survey.²
• 1.8 million of them were international visitors and 1.1 million were domestic overnight visitors.¹
• The December quarter is the busiest, bringing 30% of the year’s international visitors.¹
• At the height of summer, Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama draw up to 50,000 people a day.³
• Visitors from outside Waverley spent about A$884 million in the area in 2024/25.²

Bondi Beach drew 2.9 million international and domestic overnight visitors in 2025¹, putting it among Australia’s most visited places.

• Before the pandemic, visitors grew from 2.5 million in 2017 to 2.8 million in 2019.⁴
• In 2020, COVID-19 restrictions cut domestic overnight visitors by 73%, to around 300,000.⁵ Numbers stayed low in 2021, at about 400,000. International figures weren’t published for 2020 to 2022.
• By 2022, domestic overnight visitors had bounced back to about 882,000.⁵
• International visitors returned in 2023, with about 1.4 million,¹ and total visitation reached 2.6 million in 2024.²
• In 2025, Bondi had 2.9 million visitors: 1.8 million international and 1.1 million domestic overnight.¹

Domestic figures for 2025 come from Tourism Research Australia’s new Domestic Tourism Statistics survey, which replaced the National Visitor Survey, so 2025 totals aren’t directly comparable with earlier years.¹ International visitors, measured the same way throughout, rose 10% on 2024.

Summer is Bondi’s busiest season. In 2025, 30% of international visitors came in the December quarter, more than in any other, while winter (the June quarter) was the quietest for both international and domestic visitors.¹

• International visitors: 28% visited in the March quarter, 19% in the June quarter, 23% in the September quarter and 30% in the December quarter.¹
• Domestic overnight visitors: spread more evenly across the year, with 27% in the March quarter, 22% in the June quarter, 24% in the September quarter and 26% in the December quarter.¹

For a quieter visit, come on a weekday morning outside summer, or late in the afternoon. Crowds build through late morning and peak in the early-to-mid afternoon, and the southern end near Icebergs is always the most crowded.⁶

Bondi Beach is free to visit, but most people spend money on food, activities or somewhere to stay.

• Surf lessons: a two-hour group lesson with Let’s Go Surfing costs from A$99.⁷
• Board hire: surfboard hire starts from A$25, or A$30 with a wetsuit.⁸
• Guided tours: a guided beach and coastal walking tour costs A$59 for adults.⁹

Prices were checked in October 2026 and can change by season.

Most tourists visit Bondi Beach for the day and stay the night somewhere else.⁴

• Most visitors don’t stay the night in Bondi itself. In 2019, only 11% of domestic overnight visitors and 6% of international visitors to Bondi stayed overnight there.⁴
• International visitors to Sydney stay about 23 nights on average¹³, but Bondi usually takes up just a day of that, often as a single excursion.

There’s no published official count of deaths at Bondi Beach over the years, but two official records stand out.

• Bondi’s worst day was Black Sunday, 6 February 1938, when three large waves dragged hundreds of swimmers out in a rip.¹⁴ Lifesavers rescued 245 people, but five drowned.
• In 2024/25, Waverley Council recorded no deaths at Bondi, Bronte or Tamarama, despite crowds of up to 50,000 a day at the height of summer.³
• Over summer 2025/26 (1 December to 28 February), 81 people drowned across Australia, 22% fewer than the summer before, and 91% of them were male.¹⁵ Beaches were the most common location (27%).
• In the year to June 2026, 313 people drowned in Australia.¹⁵ 151 of those deaths (48%) were at coastal locations, 16% above the 10-year average, and beaches recorded 66.
• New South Wales recorded the most unintentional drowning deaths of any state, 109, 9% above its 10-year average.¹⁵