Imagine emerging from a salty swim to a chilled beverage and hot fish and chips served to you while you laze on your day bed under the shade of an umbrella. Surely you’re dreaming. But when you overlook the Port Noarlunga jetty and paddleboarders are gliding past, you’ll realise you’re home and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Welcome to the Cabana Beach Club, a sandy extension of the landmark restaurant Hortas.
Hortas also hosts the Cabana Club, located on the promenade below the restaurant. Here you’ll enjoy a festive vibe with live Latina music while savouring delicious Portuguese-inspired dishes from one of Australia’s best seafood restaurants. That’s not hearsay, for in 2019 Hortas was named one of the nation’s best seafood restaurants*.
Further along the aquamarine coast you’ll find Pizzateca Beach, near the Silver Sands ramp.
The McLaren Vale pizzeria sensation has chosen this location for its pop-up kiosk serving wood oven pizzas, gelato and other treats to enrich the casual beachy lifestyle.
Pound in the Park is also back to help keep us fit while breathing in fresh, salty air and listening to the breakers metres away; while Art in the Park is sure to inspire with its exhibition of fine work by talented artists.
For another fabulous summer activity, how does an open-air cinema under the stars sound making it even more tempting are the on-site food and bar facilities. Sauerbier House in Port Noarlunga and Aldinga Bay Surf Life Saving Club will host these special activities in January, following November’s Food Truck Carnivale, which saw about 25,000 people attend.
There are 17 activities on the City of Onkaparinga’s coastal activation program, which kicked off last November and will end in April 2020 — skyrocketing from three activities in 2018.
There are many reasons for the program’s uptake, says the council’s Economic Growth Officer Eulonda Bolger. “Onkaparinga boasts some of South Australia’s most spectacular beach scenery and provides an ideal setting to create iconic activations and increase visitation,” she says.
“And everyone benefits! The community prospers through employment growth, there’s a spotlight on local products and services, and visitors experience our amazing landscapes and hospitality.”
*Hortas won silver in the 2019 Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering awards in the seafood restaurant (informal) category.
Save the dates
Over summer, Onkaparinga’s foreshore will be fringed with pop-up beach bars, open-air cinemas and many other sensational summer activities. Some were held before publication, but still to come are:
ART IN THE PARK
Free entry
Rotary Park, Christies Beach
Sunday 26 January, 10am–1pm
CABANA BEACH CLUB
$10 — redeemable on food and drink
Port Noarlunga jetty
Every day in January
Saturday and Sunday in February
Sunday 1 March, Noon–9pm
CABANA CLUB OUTDOOR EATERY AND BAR
Promenade, Port Noarlunga
Ends Sunday 26 Jan
Sunday–Thursday, 11am–10.30pm
Friday and Saturday, 11am–midnight
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY FLASH MOBS
Free entry
Port Noarlunga jetty and Rotary Park, Christies Beach
Wednesday 29 April, 3–8pm
ONKAPARINGA OUTDOOR CINEMA SUMMER SERIES
Ticketed event
Sauerbier House, Port Noarlunga
Saturday 18 January
Aldinga Bay Surf Life Saving Club
Saturday 25 January, 6–10.30pm
PIZZATECA BEACH SEASIDE PIZZERIA
Aldinga Beach (opposite Clarrie Eatts Reserve)
Ends Monday 27 January
Monday–Sunday, 4–9.30pm
POUND IN THE PARK
Free
Outdoor fitness class — drum sticks and fit balls
Rotary Park, Christies Beach
25 January, 8 February and 22 February, 5–6pm
LOCALLY SOURC’D (CHRISTIES BEACH FORESHORE)
Free entry
Outdoor eatery and bar
Ends 27 January
Monday–Thursday, noon–9.30pm
Friday–Saturday, 11am–11.30pm
Sunday, 11am–9.30pm
SUNSET YOGA FOR ALL AGES
Free entry
Moana Beach: 17, 19, 31 January
and 2, 14, 16, 28 February
Rotary Park, Christies Beach:
24 and 26 January and 7, 9, 21, 23 February,
7.30–8.30pm
TWILIGHT MARKETS
Free entry
Market stalls, children’s amusements and food trucks
Rotary Park, Christies Beach
17 and 31 January, 14 and 28 February
and 13 and 27 March, 5–9pm