Second Valley Jetty

Second Valley is a short jetty tucked into a limestone-cliff inlet about 15km north-east of Cape Jervis, and it earns its reputation on one species above all others — southern calamari, which stack up over the weed and sand off the end. The water is clear and sheltered, the jetty fishes in a fraction of the wind that shuts down the open coast, and rock platforms either side give you reef structure within a cast. The jetty is open, but it has a run of repair history — closed in 2023 when part of the heritage causeway collapsed, reopened after emergency DIT works in 2025 with further heritage-approved works still to come, and closed again 25 to 28 June 2026 to replace the handrails — so check Yankalilla District Council notices before a long drive. It sits inside Encounter Marine Park, but jetty access for line fishing is unchanged by the park zoning. The catch here is timing rather than skill: when the squid are in, a kid with a jag can fill a bucket; when they are not, it is a pretty place to watch garfish dimple the surface. One thing to know before you pack the squid jags — see the hazards and regulation notes, because the headline species is currently shut.

Locals work the deeper water off the last third of the jetty for squid, casting a size 2.5 to 3.5 jag, letting it sink over the weed edge and giving it a slow whip-and-pause retrieve back. Garfish and tommies come on a berley trail and a light float rig fished close in along the pylons, best on a rising tide and in the low-light hours either side of dawn and dusk. Snook patrol the same water in the warmer months and get taken on small hardbody lures, gar baits under a float, or a jag worked faster than you would for squid. A green light or a headlamp over the side after dark pulls baitfish, and the squid follow them — night and the change of light are when the deck earns its keep.

The drawcard is southern calamari, thickest from autumn through winter and present in patches most of the year, taken on jags worked off the deeper end. Southern garfish and tommy ruff — the local name for Australian herring — are the reliable bread-and-butter on float rigs and berley, available year-round and best at first and last light. Snook show through the warmer months from October into autumn and will smash a fast-retrieved jag or a small hardbody. Yelloweye mullet hang in the shallows for anyone berleying with bread, the odd silver trevally turns up over summer, and Australian salmon run the nearby beaches and rocks through autumn and winter. Before you plan a session around squid or garfish, read the regulation note — both have been closed in this gulf since 1 May 2026, with no end date published.

Weekends and the summer holidays turn this into a busy little jetty, so the change of light is as much about beating the crowd as the bite. Berley early and keep it going — a steady trail of bread and pollard holds gar and tommies far better than the occasional handful. Squid are messy: stand clear when you swing one up, because an angry calamari will ink everyone within two metres, and the deck stains. Carry a cloth jag bag or bucket so you are not chasing squid across the planks. There is a fish-cleaning station at the caravan park, which is the polite place to deal with the catch rather than the jetty rail.

The jetty sits at the bottom of the valley below the Second Valley Caravan Park, with sealed parking close by and the jetty only around 100 metres from the campground. There are public toilets and a fish-cleaning station near the foreshore, a licensed cafe, and a small boat ramp nearby. The jetty deck is flat and low, which makes it more manageable than the high metro jetties, though the approach down the valley and the unrailed edges still want care for anyone unsteady. It is a genuinely good spot for kids — calm water, a safe swimming beach with rock pools alongside, and squid that even small hands can catch on a jag.

This is a foul-weather refuge by Fleurieu standards. The inlet faces roughly west into Gulf St Vincent but the cliffs and the curve of the bay knock down a lot of the southerly and south-easterly that flattens the open coast, so the jetty often fishes when Rapid Bay and the beaches are blown out. A westerly or north-westerly blowing straight in is the one that ruins it, pushing chop and weed over the end. Squid and garfish both like clean, settled water, so the day or two after a blow — once the suspended weed clears — tends to fish best, and the low-light tide changes are prime.

The everyday risks are the SA jetty staples: a deck that turns greasy with weed, slime and squid ink, an unrailed edge, cold gulf water below and fierce summer sun with little shade — bring grippy footwear, water and a hat. Squid ink is slippery as well as staining, so wipe the boards down. The rock platforms either side look fishy but get washed by swell and are slick underfoot; a lifejacket is sensible if you fish the rocks, and they are no place to be in a building sea. Great white sharks are present in South Australian waters — a real consideration for swimmers, divers and snorkellers in this clear inlet, though not for anyone fishing from the jetty deck. Most important right now: the 2025-26 marine algal bloom has driven hard closures, and southern calamari (take and possession) and recreational garfish are both CLOSED across the Gulf St Vincent zone from 1 May 2026 — Second Valley is inside that zone, so the squid and gar that built its name cannot legally be kept at present. King George whiting is under an annual spawning closure in both gulfs from 1 March to 30 June, so it is open again now; snapper remains closed across all gulf zones until 30 June 2027. Check PIRSA or the SA Fishing app before every trip — the source of truth is PIRSA, not this page.

Second Valley is famous for southern calamari off the end of the jetty, but as of 1 May 2026 there is a total closure on taking or possessing southern calamari across the Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf zones, brought in because of the 2025-26 marine algal bloom. Second Valley sits inside that closure. You can still fish for other species, but you cannot legally keep squid here for now. PIRSA has published no end date, so check pir.sa.gov.au or the free SA Fishing app before you go.

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence, so you can fish from the Second Valley jetty or beach without paying for a permit. You are still bound by all the size, bag and boat limits, gear rules and the current closures — and right now southern calamari and southern garfish are closed outright in this gulf and snapper is closed until 30 June 2027 — so check PIRSA's limits before you keep anything.

Yes. The jetty is short and low to the water, the inlet is sheltered, and there is a safe swimming beach with rock pools right alongside. Parking, toilets, a cafe and a fish-cleaning station are all within a short walk at the foreshore and caravan park. In a normal season, squid on a jag are about as beginner-friendly as fishing gets — just mind the unrailed edges and the slippery deck, and check what's currently in season.

The low-light hours around dawn and dusk, and the tide changes, fish best for garfish, tommies and snook, with a berley trail to hold them in close. Squid traditionally peak from autumn into winter, roughly April to August — though the Gulf St Vincent closure means you can't target or keep them at the moment. The jetty's real edge is shelter: it stays fishable in winds that blow out Rapid Bay and the open beaches, with a straight westerly being the one direction that ruins it.

With southern calamari and recreational garfish closed in Gulf St Vincent since 1 May 2026 and snapper closed across all gulf zones until 30 June 2027, the practical legal targets right now are tommy ruff (Australian herring), yelloweye mullet, snook, King George whiting (reopened 1 July after the 1 March to 30 June spawning closure) and the salmon and rock species off the nearby platforms. All have their own size and bag limits, so confirm what's open on the day with PIRSA or the SA Fishing app.