It is 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Randwick.

At the time of British colonisation, the area was inhabited by the Indigenous Australian Murro-ore-dial clan of the Eora people.

[9] The suburb first made headlines on 6 May 1898, when the Hereward, a fully rigged iron ship weighing 1,513 tons was caught by the gale-force winds and shipwrecked at the northern end of Maroubra Beach while heading north toward Newcastle.

[10][11][12] The shipwreck remained on the beach for a number of years until a failed attempt to refloat it was made by building a coffer dam around the wreck.

In March 2013 after large seas, extensive portions of the ship's metal hull, along with mast and engine pieces were exposed to a greater extent than they ever had been before.

Between 1925 and 1934, the Olympia Motor Speedway was located in South Maroubra at the corner of Anzac Parade and Fitzgerald Avenue.

However, due to the dangerous nature of the concrete track, a number of deaths occurred and it was closed after only nine years of operation.

McKeon Street and Marine Parade are home to multiple cafes and restaurants, and other retail facilities such as surf shops, yoga schools, a chemist and newsagent, the Maroubra Seals Club.

The CBD is located 10 kilometres north-west from Maroubra via Anzac Parade, via Kensington, Kingsford and Moore Park.

Due to the age of the suburb there are 34 sites formally recognised by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage as providing a "sense of continuity and belonging to the place where we live".

[36] Maroubra is within the reporting and circulation boundaries of the South-Eastern Suburbs newspaper; "Southern Courier" which is owned and distributed by News Limited.

Maroubra is also within the reporting and circulation boundaries of The Beast, a monthly magazine for the beaches and bays of Sydney's east.

The suburb also features in the 2022 Netflix reboot with South Sydney High School serving as a primary filming location.

The most notable of which was the 2004 Snickers Australian Open where then-six time world champion Kelly Slater won.

There are numerous photography guides for Maroubra Beach and Mahon Pool and professional photographers showcase photos from this place as a part of their portfolio.

Central Park, at the corner of Cooper and Storey Streets, has a flat parkland with an excellent bicycle track for young children built of smooth concrete.

Coral Sea Park, south of Yorktown Parade, has a flat area that provides several sports fields.

[1] Scott, Mark and Nolan, Tony, Maroubra: Golden Age of the 'Bra, Kingsclear Books, (Alexandra), 2014 ISBN 978-0-9876067-3-0