carrickalinga beach

Our home away from home for a few weeks each summer: perfect beach, stunning views, amazing sunsets and, at times, it feels like it is all ours. A true family and dog friendly beach and community. Great facilities are 5 minutes away at Normanville and Yankalilla and more stunning scenery awaits down the coast at Second Valley and beyond. Love this place.

We visit friends here every New Years Day. It's a great beach, still quiet but slowly becoming very popular. Still, it's safe for young children to swim in the water and play on the beach. It's clean and has a laid back feel! A great spot!!

As a family we have been going to Carrickalinga for years. We hire a shack a street away from the beach. The beach you've got to see it to believe it. White sand and clear blue water, like I've never seen before. Normanville and Yankalilla close by and fantastic places to visit. Grab a bite to eat, look in a second hand store, grab some new bathers at the surf shop or stock up on groceries. So you can spend your days swimming walking or relaxing on the beach in Carrickalinga. I've heard their plenty of great finishing too.The locals are lovely and really make you feel welcome. Everytime we visit we always find something new to do.

This is by far my favourite beach in SA. The sand is impossibly white and soft. The beach shelves gently and there is very little surf. There is a small creek/estuary with bream at one end and rock pools at the other. There are cafes within an easy walking distance at Normanville. There is a small resident population of hooded plovers nesting directly on the sand near the dunes (dont let your dog disturb this vulnerable bird, or its eggs)Please don't remove crabs and other animals from the rock pools, it is illegal and the fisheries inspector is VERY unsympathetic.

This is a lovely beach to walk along as there are rocky headlands with great places for the kids to explore the rock pools. Take care if swimming as the water gets deep quickly and there can be rips.

An unspoilt beach with clean white sand, just far enough away from the city of Adelaide to not ever really be crowded even on a hot summers day. Some a amazing sunsets can be seen from this western facing beach. It has many moods, it can offer shelter in winter months and yet if a storm comes up through the gulf it can offer amazing wild sea spectacles. It is open to the gulf but protected by headlands at both ends, offering a small esturay at the southern end and rocks at the northern end. A great beach for the kids to explore the beach, rocks and rock pools and digging in the soft sand. It is also a popular swimming beach with seldom more than a gentle surf. People also use the beach for walking, running, fishing, some near-shore and kayaking. Note that there is no shade. There is a well maintained toilet block above the foreshore. Nearest shops are in nearby Normanville.

The colour of this water has to be seen to be believed, especially since it's so close to the metro coast. It's not crowded, has interesting natural features, and is conveniently close to the facilities at Normanville. A treasure.

this is our favourite beach - it has it all: sand, rock pools, surf, and some great cafes close by in Normanville

We have a beach home at Carrickalinga, and love the area. I am reluctant to say too many good things as we regard it as one of SA's best kept secrets.

Carrickalinga Beach has featured predominately in our family. As a teenager I walked along the windswept sands, the only one on the beach. In summer I would snorkel among the fish and lose myself in their watery underworld. Later, It would be our children's first experience of the ocean, sometimes calm, placid and safe, other times wild and unpredictable. During the summer we would get up at the crack of dawn to drive down to the cement table and chairs at the far end of the beach and have breakfast whilst watching dolphins catch theirs, putting on a wonderful display of showmanship. The early morning rays of the sun creating sparkling jewels on the crest of the waves. Now the grandchildren experience the beauty of this beach. Not quite as deserted as it was when I first experienced it 40 years ago. Somehow it manages to retain its raw, unpredictable beauty, constantly changing as the seasons roll by year after year. This is one Australian beach to put on your itinerary for memories that last a life time.

Drove down from Normanville, just 5 minutes away there is a small carpark by the beach. The sand is fine and white and the beach seems to go on forever. We saw a young family fishing and some people jogging. But most of us were just walking. It's beautiful and not cold on that sunny winter day.

such a quiet & idyllic beach. away from the packed city beaches. it's just so relaxing & only a 5 min drive to shops at Normanville

Never ceases to amaze me, the views, relaxation and serenity

Beach was nice and clean. Kids had a great time. Would like to see some better facilities re carparking and a nearby shop.

I have been travelling there for the summer with my pet jack russell for the past 5 years and there has never been a boring moment. Always a new adventure & making new friends in the local area. The dolphin views, sunsets, soft clean sands, crystal waters, peaceful nature walks & starry nights are pure bliss.What very few people have probably ever seen is the moon setting into the water!That is why its only worth the trip if you stay along the coast to view all this from the porch or balcony of your holiday home while listening to the waves.