Cactus Beach is located about 20km south of
Penong. From the
Penong School on the Eyre Highway take the turnoff and head south towards
Point Sinclair. This is a rough dirt road.
Cactus Beach has become
well known in surfing communities as one of the best surfing beaches in Australia. It has been known one of the best destinations for both left and right-handed breaks in Australian surfing. The most popular surfing spots are called “Cactus”, “Caves”, and “Castles”.
The
Penong Road runs along the back of Cactus Beach, with a large
camping area (
Point Sinclair Camp Ground) set amongst the dune scrub, between the road and beach, and good vehicle and foot access to the back of
the beach.
Visitors should take extreme care when visiting the area. It is difficult to swim at Cactus owing to the extensive
rock flats and reefs. Large
sharks are
well known to frequent the area, and there have been shark bite fatalities at this beach (1975, 2000).
The best locations for visitors looking to cool off in the water are inshore at
Shelly beach for surf, and in the swimming net at
Port Le Hunte for calm, shark-free, conditions. Rocks, reef and rips dominate all other locations.
Situated to the southeast of Cactus Beach is
Point Sinclair. Protected from strong westerly winds,
Point Sinclair is where the locals go for a spot of
recreation.