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)

Tue 20 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated 9:50am AWST

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20 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 17 Oct

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

first quarter · 65%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SW 237° · 14 km/h Swell: 2.1 m @ 10 s SW Water: 20.5 °C Pressure: 1018.2 hPa → steady Faces several ways: wind direction isn't scored here

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 16 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 20.5 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:19 am Last light 7:00 pm

High 1:00 am Low 12:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 9:00 am

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

12:00 pm → 2:00 pm

First light

5:19 am

Last light

7:00 pm

Sunrise

5:43 am

Sunset

6:36 pm

Moonrise

12:57 pm

Moonset

2:00 am

High tide

1:00 am

Low tide

12:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

19°

↓︎

197°

20 km/h

1am

☀️

19°

↓︎

201°

20 km/h

2am

☀️

19°

↙︎

204°

20 km/h

3am

☀️

19°

↙︎

205°

19 km/h

4am

☀️

19°

↙︎

206°

18 km/h

5am

☀️

19°

↙︎

207°

16 km/h

6am

☀️

19°

↙︎

208°

14 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

↙︎

210°

13 km/h

8am

☀️

19°

↙︎

213°

12 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

↙︎

218°

12 km/h

10am

☀️

19°

↙︎

225°

12 km/h

11am

☀️

19°

↙︎

232°

13 km/h

12pm

☀️

19°

↙︎

237°

14 km/h

1pm

☀️

20°

↙︎

240°

16 km/h

2pm

☀️

20°

↙︎

242°

17 km/h

3pm

☀️

20°

↙︎

241°

19 km/h

4pm

☀️

20°

↙︎

239°

20 km/h

5pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

237°

22 km/h

6pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

236°

24 km/h

7pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

234°

26 km/h

8pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

233°

27 km/h

9pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

233°

27 km/h

10pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

233°

27 km/h

11pm

☁️

20°

↙︎

234°

26 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.1 → 2.8 m SW

12am

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

1am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

2am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11am

2.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

12pm

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1pm

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

2.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3pm

2.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4pm

2.3 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5pm

2.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6pm

2.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

7pm

2.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

8pm

2.6 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

9pm

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

10pm

2.7 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

11pm

2.8 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.7° over the last 3 days

Sat

17 Oct

21.2°

Sun

18 Oct

21.2°

Mon

19 Oct

20.9°

Tue

20 Oct

20.5°

Wed

21 Oct

20.5°

Thu

22 Oct

—

Fri

23 Oct

—

Sat

24 Oct

—

Sun

25 Oct

—

Mon

26 Oct

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 14 km/h SW (237°).

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 am → 9:00 am

Good

6:30 pm → 8:30 pm

Good

12:00 pm → 2:00 pm

First light

5:19 am

Last light

7:00 pm

Sunrise

5:43 am

Sunset

6:36 pm

Moonrise

12:57 pm

Moonset

2:00 am

High tide

1:00 am

Low tide

12:30 pm

Species at this spot

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