Can I drive to the Abrolhos Islands?

No. The Abrolhos are 60 to 80 kilometres offshore from Geraldton with no road, no bridge and no public ferry. Access is by chartered vessel, private boat or fly-in fly-out scenic flight. Most fishing visitors take a 3 to 6 day live-aboard charter out of Geraldton.

Does the West Coast demersal closure apply at the Abrolhos?

Yes for private boats — the Abrolhos sit at the northern edge of the West Coast Bioregion and the boat-based demersal closure applies, continuously, until spring 2027. Licensed charter boats outside the Perth metro zone are exempt, so a charter holding West Coast demersal quota tags can still land demersals for clients, though DPIRD's guide also says baldchin groper cannot be taken or landed at the Abrolhos while the closure runs. Abrolhos-specific limits are tighter than the rest of the coast — for charter clients now, and for everyone once the closure lifts: a mixed demersal daily bag of 1, against 2 for the rest of the West Coast. Baldchin groper are separately closed 1 October to 31 December inside the Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area, and that closure catches land-based and charter fishers too. Confirm the current rules with DPIRD and your charter skipper before each trip.

What is the best time of year to fish the Abrolhos?

April to July is the traditional window — settled weather, warm Leeuwin water still pushing south, and reliable charter availability. Summer is also fishable for pelagics like Spanish mackerel and tuna but the trade winds are harder. On a private boat, do not plan an April-to-July trip around a demersal feed: the boat-based demersal closure is continuous until spring 2027, not a seasonal window, so those months sit squarely inside it. Licensed charters are exempt, and an operator holding West Coast demersal quota tags can still land demersals for clients, so ask whether the boat carries tags before booking a demersal trip.

Are there sanctuary zones inside the Abrolhos?

Yes. Multiple sanctuary and special-purpose zones overlay the three island groups under the Houtman Abrolhos Islands National Park and the Fish Habitat Protection Area. Charter skippers know them; private boats need a current DBCA visitor map and a plotter with the zones loaded. Penalties for fishing in sanctuary are significant.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Houtman Abrolhos Islands (Wallabi / Easter / Pelsaert Groups)

Fri 09 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Sun 11 Oct, 10:15pm AWST

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9 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

📍 Houtman Abrolhos Islands (Wallabi / Easter / Pelsaert Groups)

waning crescent · 5%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 235° · 20 km/h Swell: 3.1 m @ 11 s SW Water: 20.7 °C Pressure: 1014.9 hPa → steady Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Slack

Wind SW 17 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 20.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:31 am Last light 6:53 pm

Low 2:30 am High 8:45 am Low 1:50 pm High 8:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:30 pm → 12:00 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:31 am

Last light

6:53 pm

Sunrise

5:54 am

Sunset

6:30 pm

Moonrise

4:51 am

Moonset

5:15 pm

Low tide

2:30 am

High tide

8:45 am

Low tide

1:50 pm

High tide

8:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

18°

↙︎

223°

28 km/h

1am

☁️

18°

↙︎

228°

26 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

↙︎

231°

25 km/h

3am

☀️

18°

↙︎

233°

24 km/h

4am

☁️

18°

↙︎

232°

23 km/h

5am

☁️

17°

↙︎

229°

26 km/h

6am

🌧️

17°

↙︎

232°

23 km/h

7am

☁️

18°

↙︎

231°

24 km/h

8am

🌧️

18°

↙︎

223°

21 km/h

9am

☁️

18°

↙︎

229°

22 km/h

10am

☁️

18°

↙︎

231°

20 km/h

11am

☀️

18°

↙︎

236°

19 km/h

12pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

235°

20 km/h

1pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

231°

20 km/h

2pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

232°

19 km/h

3pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

229°

18 km/h

4pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

230°

17 km/h

5pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

232°

15 km/h

6pm

☁️

19°

↙︎

231°

17 km/h

7pm

☁️

19°

↙︎

232°

17 km/h

8pm

☁️

19°

↙︎

239°

14 km/h

9pm

☁️

19°

↙︎

239°

16 km/h

10pm

☁️

19°

↙︎

239°

15 km/h

11pm

☁️

18°

↙︎

235°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.8 → 3.2 m SW

12am

2.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

1am

2.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

2am

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

3am

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

4am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

5am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

6am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

7am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

8am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

9am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

10am

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

11am

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

12pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

1pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

2pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

3pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

4pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

5pm

3.0 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

6pm

3.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

7pm

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

8pm

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

9pm

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

10pm

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

11pm

3.2 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.6° over the last 3 days

Tue

6 Oct

20.1°

Wed

7 Oct

20.5°

Thu

8 Oct

20.7°

Fri

9 Oct

20.7°

Sat

10 Oct

20.8°

Sun

11 Oct

20.7°

Mon

12 Oct

20.2°

Tue

13 Oct

20.3°

Wed

14 Oct

20.7°

Thu

15 Oct

21.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 20 km/h SW (235°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Open in the full fishing map →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

10:30 pm → 12:00 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:31 am

Last light

6:53 pm

Sunrise

5:54 am

Sunset

6:30 pm

Moonrise

4:51 am

Moonset

5:15 pm

Low tide

2:30 am

High tide

8:45 am

Low tide

1:50 pm

High tide

8:30 pm

Species at this spot

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