Coronation Beach (Geraldton)

Coronation Beach is 28km north of Geraldton at the end of 8km of sealed road, and it is far better known as a wind sports beach than a fishing one — windsurfers, kitesurfers and foilers rate it world-class, and there is gear rental and instruction on site. That reputation is the useful part of the picture: the sea breeze that fills the car park with boards is the same breeze that flattens the fishing, so the two crowds barely overlap. Anglers get the calm ends of the day, which is exactly when the tailor and herring bite. After dark the beach turns into one of the better mulloway stretches on the Mid West coast, with a 2021 Fishing Monthly report putting fish to 15kg on the beaches from Sunset Beach north to here. It sits outside any marine park, and the Shire of Chapman Valley runs the campground behind the dune.

The local shorthand is a day-and-night split and it holds up. Daylight belongs to tailor and herring, best at dawn and dusk with a light sea breeze on the water — a 70g Twisty covers ground for tailor and a 55g version handles the mixed bag. At night the big mulloway push close inshore, and they are a lure fishery here more than a bait one: shallow-running hard bodies, big soft plastics and vibes, worked through the wash rather than soaked. That last point is what makes the drive worth it, because most WA beach jewie fishing is a bait-and-wait proposition.

Tailor and herring are the daytime staples and this beach is heavily fished for both, while mulloway are the headline, with a 2021 Fishing Monthly report putting fish to 15kg along the beaches from Sunset Beach north to here, and they come close inshore after dark. Giant herring and yellowfin whiting round out the list, and crayfishing is a named use of this beach alongside the surfing and snorkelling. Tailor are 300mm with a bag of 8 and only 2 over 500mm; mulloway are 500mm and 2 a day; Australian herring and yellowfin whiting have no minimum size at all, with bags of 20 and 30. This is the West Coast bioregion, so the demersal mixed bag is 2 and the pink snapper minimum is 410mm rather than the 500mm that applies from Lancelin south to Black Point. The demersal closure is a boat closure that exempts fishing by line from the shore or a structure attached to land, plus shore-based spearfishing for everything except dhufish, and it runs until at least spring 2027 on DPIRD's current advice. If you do find crabs on this coast, the West Coast bag is 10 a day at 127mm with no seasonal closure — the Perth crab closure stops hundreds of kilometres south of this beach.

Get there for the calm ends of the day and leave the middle of it to the kites. The vehicle pathways down to the sand are steep enough that deflating is not optional, though the campground itself takes any setup, buses included. Bring water and bring light — there is neither on site, and the mulloway session ends with a walk back to a dark campsite. The camping fee goes into an EFTPOS ticket machine at $20 per vehicle per 24 hours, there is no online booking, and if the place is full a sign goes up on the highway before you have driven the 8km in.

Turn off the North West Coastal Highway about 28km north of Geraldton, then 8km of bitumen all the way to the campground — 2WD, caravans, buses, anything. Two vehicle pathways drop to the beach for boat launching, and both are steep soft sand that wants deflated tyres. Camping is $20 per vehicle per 24 hours paid at an EFTPOS ticket machine, there is no online booking facility, and the maximum stay is 30 nights in any 12-month period. The Shire lists pit toilets, a shower cubicle for solar shower bags and a communal gas barbecue in the day use area, no water and no power, campfires strictly prohibited and dogs on a lead at all times, and that is the whole of the council's list. A travel blog adds picnic shelters, a dump point, rubbish bins, a wooden ship-themed playground, an on-site lunch van and a caretaker on the ground, none of which the Shire publishes, so do not plan a trip around them. Sheltered sites sit a short walk from the beach, which makes it workable with kids; nothing is documented as wheelchair-accessible, and the vehicle access to the sand is steep. The Shire of Chapman Valley office is on (08) 9920 5011, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm.

Tailor want a light sea breeze and the low-light ends of the day; a howling one puts chop across everything and fills the water with boards and kites. Mulloway come close inshore at night, which is the single most useful conditions statement anyone makes about the place. Swell thresholds, water clarity and tide behaviour are not recorded for Coronation Beach, so read the forecast and the water rather than a formula. If the wind sports crowd has the car park full at 2pm, that is your answer for the afternoon.

The vehicle pathways down to the beach are steep soft sand and will bog anything that has not aired down; that is the routine incident here. Wind is the second one — this is a nationally rated kite and windsurf beach, and casting into water with boards moving across it at speed is a bad idea for everyone involved. There is no drinking water and no power at the campground, and the nearest services are the 28km back to Geraldton. There is no lighting anywhere on site, so the night mulloway session is a head-torch job with a walk back through the dunes. Rips, reef and king waves are not documented for this stretch, which is not the same as their absence, so watch the water for a while before you wade.

Yes. Coronation Beach is open coast 28km north of Geraldton and is not inside any marine park, so no zoning restricts shore fishing. It is heavily fished during the day for tailor and herring, and at night for mulloway. No licence is needed to fish from the shore in WA.

Dawn and dusk with a light sea breeze for tailor and herring, and after dark for mulloway. The afternoon sea breeze that fills the car park with kites and boards is the same breeze that shuts the fishing down, so the calm ends of the day are the window. Big mulloway come close inshore at night, which is the strongest local pattern anyone records here.

A camping fee of $20 per vehicle per 24 hours is paid at the EFTPOS ticket machine on site. There is no online booking facility, so it is first-come — if the campground is full, the Shire puts a sign up on the highway before you make the 8km drive in. The maximum stay is 30 nights in any 12-month period.

No. The Shire of Chapman Valley states there is no water and no power at the campground. There are pit toilets and a shower cubicle for solar shower bags, but you supply your own water for both drinking and washing. The nearest services are 28km south in Geraldton.

Not from the shore. The West Coast demersal closure applies to boat fishing, and the gazetted order exempts fishing by line from the shore or a structure attached to land, along with shore-based spearfishing for demersals other than dhufish, which stays off-limits to spearos. On DPIRD's current advice the boat closure runs until at least spring 2027, though the order itself carries no expiry date. If you do land a pink snapper here the minimum is 410mm, not the 500mm that applies from Lancelin south to Black Point, and the demersal mixed bag in the West Coast bioregion is 2.