Picturesque Myponga Beach is a sleepy little seaside retreat. Divided in two by Myponga Creek the village of only a handful of houses nestles between two headlands.
Myponga Beach is reported to have been the site of the first European settlement on the Fleurieu hills in 1840.
Stone was dragged from the nearby cliffs by bullock teams. Evidently one load was too heavy. The dray load of stone pulled the team back down the hill, over the cliff and into the sea.
In the early days Myponga Beach consisted of just three families. If the fish were biting the kids didn’t return to school after lunch!
In 1860 a jetty was built, the remains of which are still evident today. The official opening turned into a tragedy. A woman holding a baby on the over crowded jetty was pushed off onto the rocks below. The baby survived but unfortunately she didn’t.
For 30 years the jetty serviced local trade with exports consisting of wheat, livestock and wattle bark for leather tanning. With the demise of the ketch trade the jetty was no longer as important to the local area. In 1900 it was torn apart by a storm. Its remains are now part of the tranquil scene.