Hey all. I continue to review my times in ‘Destination Adelaide’ for you, and today I am going to write about my little excursion to Port Noarlunga, around 45 minutes or so from Central Adelaide. Whilst I did my research for Adelaide late last year, I thought it a good idea to see if I could do a little snorkelling, as this is one of my favourite outdoor activities.

Reading the opinions online, it seemed Port Noarlunga was highly regarded as far as Adelaide was concerned for snorkelling. I saw a couple of videos with loads of marine life (mostly fish) and considering the lack of options, it seemed that Port Noarlunga was the place to snorkel. There is a long jetty and a reef just beyond it, a smaller reef closer in only 20-30 metres from shore.

So, to get there I made my way to Adelaide Central Railway Station, which is a pretty cool structure, and took a metro train out to Port Noarlunga.

The ride took me along the coast, which was pretty stunning, and I met a few locals in the carriage who gave me a little advice, also warning me about sharks (which I admit, made me a little nervous). I was told that as long as I didn’t go over to the far side of the reef, I would be okay.

The train stop was a little out of town, and I then transferred to a bus which took me to said town. It’s a nice place, and unlike Adelaide there were loads of people there. The weather was perfect, very sunny and in the mid to high 20s (could have been a bit warmer I guess). It looks like quite a community with shops, restaurants, ice cream bars and the like. I made my way down to the beach where the jetty stuck out, must have been 200 metres plus long, basically ending at the main reef.

Plenty of people beachside enjoying the water and the sun, I was lucky to find the life savers who where up on the hill watching everything from their vantage point connected to the life saving club and restaurant. They kept half an eye on my stuff as I was there alone.

I walked out to the jetty, and then along it with no shoes on in my snorkelling gear. My feet found the wooden jetty a little unkind, but I made it to the end, and there were steps to descend there to water level and a couple of people were swimming in the area, so it seemed all good to go.

For some reason, I suddenly felt a little apprehensive about getting the water, but I jumped in next to the jetty sure enough. Because of my apprehension though, I think, I found breathing through the snorkel initially very difficult, it was like I hadn’t done it for ages and I’d forgotten how to breath. Still, I normalised pretty quickly and the water which was cold at first quickly seemed fine.

Right there, where I entered the water, was actually the best spot. There were schools of fish swimming around under the jetty, and I looked down to see scuba divers at the floor of the ocean, although I’m not sure what they had found down there, probably five or more metres below me (I have no concept of depth!)

I swam around, with the plan basically to swim around the reef and little and then make my way back to shore. Unfortunately the wind had picked up – it was quite strong, and it affected the current. I found that I was trying to swim directly into it, which was not easy. The fish I think also had been pushed under the jetty, because once a few metres – maybe 10 – away from the jetty even at the reef there were no fish to be seen.

I swam back towards the shore, the current pushed across me which I also had to work against which was hard work with a camera in one hand. Some interesting formations on the jetty poles, seaward, barnacles and the like. The small reef was not up to much and I was happy to get out to be honest as the cross-current made me work!

But I have to say, there were a lot of fish under and around the jetty, and I got some good video and all in all, it was more successful than any of my Melbourne snorkelling exploits! And it looks like a great beach to take the kids to for the day as well, with plenty of restaurants and facilities there as well. And for sure, swimming with the fishes (not like that!) is always a great experience. I would recommend actually coming to Port Noarlunga for an overnight stay (or 2-3 nights) because I think it would be pretty rewarding!

Thanks for popping by today! Take care wherever you may be – May the Journey Never End!