Carrickalinga Beach — Attraction in Carrickalinga

Excellent shore entry scuba dive site. Can be tricky entering and leaving the water even when sea and weather conditions are ideal. The swells are bigger here than at Normanville,and navigating the shallow subtidal and intertidal rocks before submerging can be hazardous,depending partly on tidal levels, But the main target area of extensive medium to high profile reef some 200m offshore is worth the effort. Depth is between 4 and 8m with good ledges and gutters.I'd give it 5 stars if it was included in the nearby Carrickalinga Cliffs Green Sanctuary Zone, but it is open to spearfishing and is heavily utilised by recreational boat fishers ,so the fish are scarcer,smaller and warier than would otherwise be the case.And the occasional juvenile Western Blue Groper that settles there and would eventually establish a breeding home range never survives to reproductive age. They are either speared or hooked (despite being a protected species in GSV, they're easily misidentified by novice spearos and recreational anglers because when young, they are drab brownish green and look similar to other wrasses). The location should be a Green Sanctuary Zone with fishing allowed from shore but not spearfishing and boat fishing. Similar reef areas within the Carrickalinga Cliffs Green Sanctuary Zone are not accessible for scuba diving from shore, and not...

Nice long beach, very clean and sandy. Good parking space with public toilets. Wish it got a shower but there is a tap so kids used it to clean after beach play. Best part is the rock pools in far right side. So many crabs under rocks and saw people catching crabs and releasing them back to the sea, looked fun activity to do with kids specially in school break. Careful while walking on rocks and sometimes its bit wobbly and slippery. We did setup a Beach camp and not difficult. Luckily not a windy day if not it will be...

Lovely beach, tucked away in a beautiful location, their parking is minimal closer to the beach, so on busier occasions, on street parking is utilised. The beach facilities are great, the shower is close to the bathrooms and there is plenty of information around precautions and warnings. The water itself is quite rocky depending on the area that you choose to swim, although the temp left something to be desired. A nice little Christmas day experience and someplace to go back to...