A South Australian beach that looks a bit European has Australian social media users dusting off their cameras and charging their phones.
That beach? Port Willunga. One of the Fleurieu Peninsula’s most photographed beaches, Port Willunga features the remains of the Port Willunga Jetty and some cool little caves that wouldn’t look out of place in Portugal’s Algarve region.
The beach is located 35kms south of Adelaide. Like many destinations lately, it’s been blowing up on social media and being compared to some vaguely similar landscapes overseas (possibly due to people going stir crazy about not being able to travel overseas).
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The Daily Mail recently reported that Port Wilunga’s sands were “reminiscent of Europe’s picturesque south” and that “caves carved into the cliffs by fishermen who once stored boats there are now Instagram hotspots used as backdrops by millennial and Gen Z travellers.”
They also compared it to a Sicilian island.
Browsing through the beach’s photo page on Instagram, one sees it’s not just the caves visitors are enjoying, but also seeing sections of the hull of the Star of Greece, a cargo ship that came a cropper in 1888, and which has become one of South Australia’s most popular diving spots.
Port Willunga has also made its way over to TikTok, as you can see in the video at the very top of this article, which was taken by TikTok user @salty_aura.
Sand, caves and a shipwreck aren’t the only things Port Willunga offers. On the edge of the cliff top is the Star of Greece restaurant. The restaurant offers diners superb vistas along the coast and (at low tide) some of the remains of the shipwreck can be seen.
Another attraction is the nearby Aldinga historic township, where you can score baked goods, cafes, clothing boutiques and grocery shops (and markets in summer).
Check out the following images of Portugal’s Algarve region and South Australia’s Port Willunga, and decide for yourself which you’d prefer to visit.