diff --git a/autogen/main/variables.tf.tmpl b/autogen/main/variables.tf.tmpl
index a3118d41ab..d678fa60e6 100644
--- a/autogen/main/variables.tf.tmpl
+++ b/autogen/main/variables.tf.tmpl
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {
diff --git a/docs/upgrading_to_v33.0.md b/docs/upgrading_to_v33.0.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ab69cac69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/upgrading_to_v33.0.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Upgrading to v33.0
+The v33.0 release of *kubernetes-engine* is a backwards incompatible release.
+
+### Private Cluster Defaults
+All private-cluster modules now set `enable_private_nodes` to `true` by default.
+To opt out, set `enable_private_nodes` to `false`.
+
+```diff
+  module "cluster" {
+-   version          = "~> 32.0"
++   version          = "~> 33.0"
+
++   enable_private_nodes = false
+}
+```
diff --git a/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/README.md b/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/README.md
index b94c531c4b..47038d5562 100644
--- a/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/README.md
+++ b/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/README.md
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Then perform the following commands on the root folder:
 | enable\_l4\_ilb\_subsetting | Enable L4 ILB Subsetting on the cluster | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_network\_egress\_export | Whether to enable network egress metering for this cluster. If enabled, a daemonset will be created in the cluster to meter network egress traffic. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_private\_endpoint | Whether the master's internal IP address is used as the cluster endpoint | `bool` | `false` | no |
-| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `false` | no |
+| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_resource\_consumption\_export | Whether to enable resource consumption metering on this cluster. When enabled, a table will be created in the resource export BigQuery dataset to store resource consumption data. The resulting table can be joined with the resource usage table or with BigQuery billing export. | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_secret\_manager\_addon | (Beta) Enable the Secret Manager add-on for this cluster | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_tpu | Enable Cloud TPU resources in the cluster. WARNING: changing this after cluster creation is destructive! | `bool` | `false` | no |
diff --git a/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/variables.tf b/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/variables.tf
index b53537b90e..aeb1b176d8 100644
--- a/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/beta-autopilot-private-cluster/variables.tf
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {
diff --git a/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/README.md b/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
index 7b39d3fdf1..d648f2c8f5 100644
--- a/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
+++ b/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ Then perform the following commands on the root folder:
 | enable\_network\_egress\_export | Whether to enable network egress metering for this cluster. If enabled, a daemonset will be created in the cluster to meter network egress traffic. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_pod\_security\_policy | enabled - Enable the PodSecurityPolicy controller for this cluster. If enabled, pods must be valid under a PodSecurityPolicy to be created. Pod Security Policy was removed from GKE clusters with version >= 1.25.0. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_private\_endpoint | Whether the master's internal IP address is used as the cluster endpoint | `bool` | `false` | no |
-| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `false` | no |
+| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_resource\_consumption\_export | Whether to enable resource consumption metering on this cluster. When enabled, a table will be created in the resource export BigQuery dataset to store resource consumption data. The resulting table can be joined with the resource usage table or with BigQuery billing export. | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_secret\_manager\_addon | (Beta) Enable the Secret Manager add-on for this cluster | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_shielded\_nodes | Enable Shielded Nodes features on all nodes in this cluster | `bool` | `true` | no |
diff --git a/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf b/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
index fa7670edfa..7941ea613b 100644
--- a/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/beta-private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {
diff --git a/modules/beta-private-cluster/README.md b/modules/beta-private-cluster/README.md
index f10cc3e03b..0a08552513 100644
--- a/modules/beta-private-cluster/README.md
+++ b/modules/beta-private-cluster/README.md
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ Then perform the following commands on the root folder:
 | enable\_network\_egress\_export | Whether to enable network egress metering for this cluster. If enabled, a daemonset will be created in the cluster to meter network egress traffic. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_pod\_security\_policy | enabled - Enable the PodSecurityPolicy controller for this cluster. If enabled, pods must be valid under a PodSecurityPolicy to be created. Pod Security Policy was removed from GKE clusters with version >= 1.25.0. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_private\_endpoint | Whether the master's internal IP address is used as the cluster endpoint | `bool` | `false` | no |
-| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `false` | no |
+| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_resource\_consumption\_export | Whether to enable resource consumption metering on this cluster. When enabled, a table will be created in the resource export BigQuery dataset to store resource consumption data. The resulting table can be joined with the resource usage table or with BigQuery billing export. | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_secret\_manager\_addon | (Beta) Enable the Secret Manager add-on for this cluster | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_shielded\_nodes | Enable Shielded Nodes features on all nodes in this cluster | `bool` | `true` | no |
diff --git a/modules/beta-private-cluster/variables.tf b/modules/beta-private-cluster/variables.tf
index fa7670edfa..7941ea613b 100644
--- a/modules/beta-private-cluster/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/beta-private-cluster/variables.tf
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {
diff --git a/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/README.md b/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
index 707fbc9237..a1ab6b6efb 100644
--- a/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
+++ b/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/README.md
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ Then perform the following commands on the root folder:
 | enable\_mesh\_certificates | Controls the issuance of workload mTLS certificates. When enabled the GKE Workload Identity Certificates controller and node agent will be deployed in the cluster. Requires Workload Identity. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_network\_egress\_export | Whether to enable network egress metering for this cluster. If enabled, a daemonset will be created in the cluster to meter network egress traffic. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_private\_endpoint | Whether the master's internal IP address is used as the cluster endpoint | `bool` | `false` | no |
-| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `false` | no |
+| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_resource\_consumption\_export | Whether to enable resource consumption metering on this cluster. When enabled, a table will be created in the resource export BigQuery dataset to store resource consumption data. The resulting table can be joined with the resource usage table or with BigQuery billing export. | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_shielded\_nodes | Enable Shielded Nodes features on all nodes in this cluster | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_tpu | Enable Cloud TPU resources in the cluster. WARNING: changing this after cluster creation is destructive! | `bool` | `false` | no |
diff --git a/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf b/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
index ea5dc1a700..2ce680c4e1 100644
--- a/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/private-cluster-update-variant/variables.tf
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {
diff --git a/modules/private-cluster/README.md b/modules/private-cluster/README.md
index b6d3eaa10e..6e945276bf 100644
--- a/modules/private-cluster/README.md
+++ b/modules/private-cluster/README.md
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ Then perform the following commands on the root folder:
 | enable\_mesh\_certificates | Controls the issuance of workload mTLS certificates. When enabled the GKE Workload Identity Certificates controller and node agent will be deployed in the cluster. Requires Workload Identity. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_network\_egress\_export | Whether to enable network egress metering for this cluster. If enabled, a daemonset will be created in the cluster to meter network egress traffic. | `bool` | `false` | no |
 | enable\_private\_endpoint | Whether the master's internal IP address is used as the cluster endpoint | `bool` | `false` | no |
-| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `false` | no |
+| enable\_private\_nodes | Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_resource\_consumption\_export | Whether to enable resource consumption metering on this cluster. When enabled, a table will be created in the resource export BigQuery dataset to store resource consumption data. The resulting table can be joined with the resource usage table or with BigQuery billing export. | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_shielded\_nodes | Enable Shielded Nodes features on all nodes in this cluster | `bool` | `true` | no |
 | enable\_tpu | Enable Cloud TPU resources in the cluster. WARNING: changing this after cluster creation is destructive! | `bool` | `false` | no |
diff --git a/modules/private-cluster/variables.tf b/modules/private-cluster/variables.tf
index ea5dc1a700..2ce680c4e1 100644
--- a/modules/private-cluster/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/private-cluster/variables.tf
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ variable "enable_private_endpoint" {
 variable "enable_private_nodes" {
   type        = bool
   description = "Whether nodes have internal IP addresses only"
-  default     = false
+  default     = true
 }
 
 variable "master_ipv4_cidr_block" {