Sellicks Beach, SA: Best for swimming, driving or fishing?
Driving and fishing at Sellicks Beach near Adelaide, South Australia are more popular than swimming. Pick a lifeguard-patrolled Fleurieu Peninsula beach for a swim.
Sellicks Beach near Adelaide is one of several Fleurieu Peninsula beaches within a short drive of the McLaren Vale wineries. The Sellicks Hill Range lines up behind the sand. These gently rounded hills provide a photogenic backdrop alongside Gulf St Vincent.
What makes Sellicks Beach in South Australia a bit different, however, is that you’re allowed to drive on it.
Driving on Sellicks Beach, SA
Driving on Sellicks Beach doesn’t come free. You have to pay a $6 Sellicks Beach driving fee to an attendant as you go down the ramp. But being able to take a 4WD vehicle on the sand means it’s much easier to find a quiet spot to yourself. The Onkaparinga City Council warns that anyone caught driving on the Fleurieu Peninsula dunes, however, can face a stiff fine.
Fishing on Sellicks Beach, SA, is as popular as driving on it – and the two are rarely mutually exclusive. Mullet, salmon and whiting tend to be the reliable stars of the Sellicks Beach fishing scene.
The shallow inner bar is the prime spot – fish tend to swim through the trough next to it.
Swimming at Sellicks Beach, South Australia
Beach driving and fishing don’t tend to make great bedfellows for swimming at Sellicks Beach, however. That said, it’s not an especially dangerous beach for swimming. It is unpatrolled by lifeguards, however. Go north to Silver Sands and Aldinga beaches if you want to swim between the flags.
If you choose to swim at Sellicks Beach, the area around the inner bar is safest. As with at nearby Normanville Beach and Carrickalinga, the swell rarely gets especially high – this isn’t really a surf beach.
McLaren Vale day trip from Adelaide
Sellicks Beach is a 53km drive from central Adelaide, and can be worked into a day trip around the McLaren Vale. Go to the beach in the morning, then head to the McLaren Vale wineries such as Maxwell Wines, Inkwell and d’Arenberg before going for a walk to Onkaparinga Gorge. It’s also possible to stop by on the drive from Adelaide to Cape Jervis to catch the Kangaroo Island ferry.
More South Australia travel
Walk to the Hell’s Hole sinkhole near Mount Gambier.
What to do on an Adelaide to Cairns road trip.
What to see on the drive from Adelaide to Tailem Bend.
Dive in sinkholes at Piccaninnie Ponds.
What to see on an Adelaide to Townsville road trip.