Glenelg Jetty

I have jumped off the jetty numerous times and have not gotten attacked by crazy wild fish so this is why the Glenelg jetty has my four stars of approval.
On a more serious note, It’s a pretty cool jetty however don’t walk down it on windy days because your face might freeze and fall off. I like the Glenelg jetty because there’s places to sit and it’s quite peaceful.
I think I saw a dolphin one time too.
In conclusion, definitely go for a walk down it in the summer time or if you do walk down it in cold windy weather then wear WARM clothes.

An icon of the South Australian summer, Glenelg Jetty is often the start of a day or the end of an evening. My favourite part of walking along the jetty is looking back at the Glenelg left behind and the huge expanse left in front of me as the water just stretches on for eternity. A must visit when you catch the tram down from the CBD.

I was tasked with writing the voice over for a documentary on jetty jumping a few months back. The focus was on Glenelg jetty jumping (though the film tried to encompass jetty jumping everywhere).
My dad and I use to fish at the jetty’s zenith. I’ve never been one for seafood, so we threw all our catches back. We just fished for the fishing.
On the day of my graduation my friends and I claimed the shade beneath the jetty as our own and dug a hole in the sand big enough to fit one of our number. We stayed until dark, reflecting and reminiscing.
I took a date for a walk along the jetty once. We walked its entire length, and stayed for a time at the end of it, in sentimental, teenage embrace. After it grew cold, we made the walk back, but once we’d reached the sands and found ourselves rejuvenated by the walk, we stopped and turned to make the journey again.

Glenelg jetty is just like any other jetty until you see teenage boys doing black flips into the Glenelg sea.
Jetty Jumping is dangerous kids! However let me tell you, although a semi illegal act, the kids don’t care. They are there all summer long jumping of the highest point they can find (which happens to be really high).
My friends little brother got featured in page six of the Advertiser smiling while simultaneously doing a black flip from this jetty, and he’s rather proud of this accomplishment. Hilarious.
Other than all the jetty jumping talk, the Glenelg jetty remains popular for walks and fishing all year long. It also comes in handy every January for the Orthodox church, blessing of the water.
Just don’t get blown away because it can get really windy on this thing!

When I first moved to Adelaide a year ago, I came under strict instructions to take a photo of myself under the Glenelg Jetty and send it to my mother. Apparently this is a tradition they’ve kept to every time we visited Adelaide when I was a child.
What is the attraction of the jetty? I’ve never seen it empty, and it feels to be the natural progression from Jetty Road, out onto the water. It’s a beautiful, calming place to be — there’s something very cool about standing 100 metres into the ocean.
It’s an important focal point in Glenelg history, but on a day to day level it’s a favourite place for locals and tourists. An Adelaide must is to spend time shopping or eating on Jetty Road, then sprawled on the beach, with a short trip down the Jetty for some photos.
Even if you don’t quite understand why you do it, you’ll be drawn out here onto the old wooden planks.

The Glenelg Jetty is an iconic South Australian landmark and one that I grew up with. As kids, and up until the age of around 5, we lived at Glenelg and I must have been about 3 when I saw my first blue swimmer crab pulled up in a net by someone fishing from the jetty.
I remember both of my brothers jumping from the jetty as kids — I was never allowed to and was always too much of a scaredy cat to jump anyway. That’s probably a good thing because it is apparently a really dangerous thing to do and authorities go out of their way to discourage it.
I remember the old Birdman Rallies sponsored and even broadcast on Channel 10 where people would build all sorts of crazy craft and try to ‘fly’ off the jetty. I remember when Queen Liz visited Adelaide and they built a special appendage on the side of the jetty for her to land her boat. I remember the day they said a tidal wave was going to hit Glenelg beach and Premier Don Dunstan stood on the jetty to assure people everything was safe.
There are a few things I don’t remember though. Apparently the original jetty was opened in 1859 and a lighthouse added in 1872 caught on fire and was cast off to sea so the rest of the structure didn’t catch alight. I don’t remember but have been told about the old aquarium and kiosk that were on the original jetty. That jetty used to be L shaped and went out a hundred or so metres further than today’s and then back towards Glenelg North. The breakwater pylons in front of the Glenelg Life Saving Club are actually the old jetty pylons so that gives you an idea of where the original jetty used to be.
I do however remember great walks along the jetty after all sorts of occasions. Even though I don’t live there anymore, a walk on the Glenelg Jetty on a summer’s evening is still one of my favourite things to do.