The station was first opened on 11 September 1905 as Cooden Golf Halt[1] to serve a growing area of new, mainly high quality, housing located close to the beach (hence its later name).

[1] With the growing housing development of the 1930s and the electrification of the line a new enlarged station was built adopting its present name of Cooden Beach on 7 July 1935.

[1] The station building is at street level and a subway leads to the platforms with their wooden shelters.

In the latter half of 2005 and early 2006, Cooden Beach station underwent a minor refurbishment programme to bring the station in line with Southern's image (the company's dark green colour scheme was implemented).

The improvements included new double glazing on the subways leading to the platforms and opening up the waiting rooms, which had been closed for at least a decade.