Maroubra Beach was temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon after a member of the public reported seeing a shark in the water, adding to a string of closures across Sydney beaches during the Australia Day long weekend.
The alarm was raised just after midday on Sunday, with swimmers evacuated from the water as a precautionary measure. The beach was quickly reopened around 12.25pm after drone surveillance and patrol found no sharks in the area, according to Surf Life Saving NSW.
Local beachgoer Olea Chu described hearing the horn blast at noon, followed by an announcement urging everyone to exit the water. Around 20 minutes later, a second horn sounded to alert the public that the shark had gone.
“It was a bit of a surprise because it’s our first time at the beach,” Ms Chu said. Despite the brief scare, she said she still felt safe thanks to the lifeguards on duty.
The closure came during a busy weekend for Sydney’s coastal lifesavers, who managed multiple beach evacuations across the metropolitan area following several shark sightings. The precautionary measures were implemented after four shark attacks occurred in less than 48 hours earlier in the week.
On Monday, Australia Day celebrations were disrupted along the NSW coast with closures at multiple popular beaches including Manly Beach, which was shut twice following fresh shark sightings, and Palm Beach, which also saw a brief closure.
Further north on the Central Coast, Terrigal Beach closed and reopened twice over the long weekend after separate shark sightings on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
As of Thursday morning, Palm Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches remained closed following another shark sighting, with beachgoers urged to follow lifeguard instructions and stay out of the water while monitoring continues.
Surf Life Saving NSW has encouraged beachgoers to follow lifeguard instructions and remain out of the water at closed beaches, as patrols and monitoring continue.
Published 29-January-2026
