Angus Neill Reserve Playground Review

The new playground at Angus Neill Reserve, on The Esplanade in Seacliff was officially opened in September 2018, and our playground reviewers reckon this beautiful seaside park is well worth a visit.

Review by Susannah Marks

You’ll find Angus Neill Reserve just over the road from beautiful Seacliff Beach. It’s a gorgeous spot and you could easily spend a few hours here letting the kids enjoy the playground while you enjoy a coffee or a view of the sea.

Angus Neill Reserve includes a new nature play area, a large shaded sandpit/water play area,  cave built into the hillside, and a wooden pirate ship. With BBQ facilities, under cover gazebos and wide open spaces with plenty of beautiful green grassy areas this is a great spot for family picnics and birthday parties.

This is a fabulous park upgrade and kids and families are loving the new playground. Well done to the City of Holdfast Bay Council.

Here’s what we like about the new playground at Seacliff’s Angus Neill Reserve:

• Two undercover BBQ areas
• Toilet facilities including baby change facilities
• Large grass area suitable for sport or large gatherings
• The playground and reserve are really well maintained – bonus points for good, clean toilet facilities
• Sandpit with pump for water play
• Basket swing plus regular swing
• A merry-go-round/carousel
• Wooden pirate ship area including little slide, stairs and climbing frame
• Hilly area with climbing wall, and blue wooden ‘stumps’ to clamber over
• This hillside also has a cute little ‘cave’ cut into it which kids will love to hide in
• A grassy hill which is perfect for kids to roll or slide down
• Big trees around the perimeter of the reserve provide shade for picnics

Hilly area with climbing wall, and blue wooden ‘stumps’ to clamber over, as well as the little cave in the hillside. It’s not so deep that kids will get stuck inside or that you’ll have to entice or drag them out.

Sandpit with pump for water play.

This seat carved into a log is a nice place to sit and watch the play in the sandpit.

These shade sails have recently been installed and make this sandpit a great spot for sunny days.

The last time we went we were delighted to find sandpit toys that had been left there for kids to use.

The water pump has been working intermittently since the new playground was open to the public. But it looks like a lot of fun.

Merry-go-round/carousel.

Hopscotch.

Pirate ship themed structure.

Swings.

Nature play elements.

Under cover BBQ areas and seating.

Things to consider:

• Water pump in the sand pit has been working intermittently and wasn’t working when we last visited
• Limited fencing and parts of the reserve are close to the road. Having said that it is a relatively quiet road but you’ll want to keep an eye on potential runners
• Bring a towel/spare change of clothes in case the water pump is working
• Parking may be limited at busy times like weekends and public holidays
• There is an abundance of bark chips in the playspace which may be an issue if you’ve got a toddler who puts anything and everything in their mouth
• Bring hats and sunblock if it’s a sunny or high-UV day as there’s not shade over the whole playground

Photo from Holdfast Beach Club Facebook

Photo from Holdfast Beach Club Facebook

Coffee options nearby:

We missed the Holdfast Beach club coffee cart last time we went. You can often find them there serving delicious locally roasted coffee, organic herbal teas; and treats like croissants, biccies and popsicles from 7am-1pm Tuesday-Friday and 7am-3pm on weekends.

We enjoyed milkshakes, good coffee and divine cheesecake at Cafe Olive | 1/220 The Esplanade, Seacliff.

Other nearby food options include:

The Seacliff Surf Lifesaving Club bistro | open Thursday, Friday, Sunday 8:30am – 8:30pm, Saturday 8:30am – 4pm.

Seacliff Beach Hotel a five minute walk away.

Map link

Location: Angus Neill Reserve | Esplanade, Seacliff

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About Susannah: I’m a mum to three boys and a little girl and I am learning to embrace the chaos. I love my morning coffee, exercise, cranking up some good tunes on the stereo, and heading away to new places on holiday. Originally from New Zealand, I now call Adelaide home and I love getting out and about and exploring all the fabulous things for families to do in Adelaide.

This playspace is in the City Of Holdfast Bay council area.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Susannah Marks for Play & Go, unless stated otherwise.

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