The suburb is mostly commercial, being dominated by the Centro Colonnades shopping centre and the small 'Inspire Noarlunga' estate to the east of Goldsmith Road.

[citation needed] The name Noarlunga is an English adaptation of the native Kaurna word Nurlongga, meaning 'at the curvature', referring to the horseshoe bend near the mouth of the Onkaparinga River.

Noarlunga Hospital was established in 1985 as a regional community health service.

City buses from the station interchange and centro colonnades are routes:

Noarlunga has a hot mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa); with very warm, dry summers and mild, somewhat rainy winters.