The Kaurna name of Murrkangga was derived from the meaning of Kareildung and applied specifically to the Amphitheatre in the Hallett Cove Conservation Park.

Archaeological evidence in the form of more than 1700 large stone tools near the coast and at a campsite at Waterfall Creek, north of Black Cliff, shows the presence of the Kartan people of Kangaroo Island, shows a settlement dating back to 40,000 years BP.

[3] The spring, and Hallett Cove more broadly, has in the past mistakenly been ascribed the place name Krildhung (by Albert Karlowan) or Ka`reildung (Norman Tindale); however, this word is derived from a verb in the Ngarrindjeri language, and found to be the result of mistaken location.

[5] Geological features include glacial striations on the clifftop discovered by Professor Ralph Tate in 1877, which along with similar striations found earlier at Selwyn's Rock at Inman Valley, 40 km (25 mi) to the south in 1859, provide evidence for the Permian glaciation of southern Australia, then part of Gondwana.

Hallett Cove East Primary School is in the Karrara estate on the northern side of the suburb.

A new railway extension was built south along the coast to Noarlunga; Hallett Cove Beach is the first station on this line.