Where do I launch at Dampier?

The public boat ramp is on the Dampier foreshore near Windy Ridge Oval, inside a groyne and dredged turning basin where swimming is prohibited. The ramp at the Hampton Harbour Boat and Sailing Club is private, a club facility rather than a public launch. Get there at first light on dry-season weekends. Withnell Bay on the Burrup has an informal beach launch, and the Karratha Back Beach ramp on Nickol Bay, 20 minutes east, covers the inshore creeks but needs about 2.4 metres of tide for most boats.

What's the fishing like in the Dampier Archipelago?

It's a reef and pelagic fishery — forty-two islands within a 30-minute run of Hampton Harbour holding coral trout, spangled and red emperor, rankin cod, Spanish mackerel and big GTs. Drift the shoals and bommie edges on the tide for demersals, troll the island edges for mackerel, and cast stickbaits at the wash for trevally. No state marine park covers the archipelago, but the island nature reserves (under DBCA–Murujuga joint management planning) and the Commonwealth marine park offshore both carry rules, so check DBCA and Parks Australia zoning before each trip.

Are there crocodiles at Dampier?

Occasionally. Saltwater crocodile sightings are rising across the Pilbara, and in late October 2026 the City of Karratha closed the beach at Dampier, between the Hampton Harbour Boat and Sailing Club and the Port Authority access, after DBCA confirmed a 1.5-metre saltwater crocodile there. The back creeks and mangroves are the likeliest habitat, but the town foreshore is not exempt: treat any creek, tidal margin or beach as potential croc habitat, don't clean fish at the water's edge, and check City of Karratha and DBCA alerts.

Does the West Coast demersal closure apply at Dampier?

No. Dampier is in the North Coast Bioregion, and the West Coast demersal closure applies only in the West Coast Bioregion, which ends near Kalbarri. North Coast rules apply: a 4-fish demersal mixed bag with tighter per-species caps, plus species size and bag limits. No state marine park covers the archipelago, but the island nature reserves and the Commonwealth Dampier Marine Park offshore carry their own rules — verify current DPIRD, DBCA and Parks Australia zoning before each trip.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Dampier (Hampton Harbour / Dampier Archipelago)

Tue 27 Oct 2026 · Australia/Perth

Forecast updated Tue 27 Oct, 10:01pm AWST

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📍 Dampier (Hampton Harbour / Dampier Archipelago)

full · 99%

Weather: Sunny Wind: W 261° · 27 km/h Swell: flat Water: 26.0 °C Pressure: 1010.9 hPa → steady Faces north-west · Offshore: E, SE, S · Onshore: W, NW, N · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Minor window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind SW 12 km/h

Moon full all day

Water temp 26.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:11 am Last light 6:43 pm

Low 5:15 am High 11:25 am Low 5:18 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 1:00 pm

Good

6:00 pm → 7:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 12:30 am

30m

First light

5:11 am

Last light

6:43 pm

Sunrise

5:33 am

Sunset

6:20 pm

Moonrise

7:40 pm

Moonset

5:55 am

Low tide

5:15 am

High tide

11:25 am

Low tide

5:18 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

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23°

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268°

21 km/h

1am

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23°

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265°

20 km/h

2am

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23°

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260°

17 km/h

3am

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23°

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249°

15 km/h

4am

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22°

↙︎

239°

13 km/h

5am

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22°

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237°

12 km/h

6am

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22°

↙︎

237°

13 km/h

7am

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23°

↙︎

238°

14 km/h

8am

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25°

↙︎

240°

12 km/h

9am

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27°

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262°

11 km/h

10am

☀️

27°

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280°

15 km/h

11am

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27°

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288°

20 km/h

12pm

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27°

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289°

22 km/h

1pm

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27°

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285°

24 km/h

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26°

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280°

27 km/h

3pm

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26°

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275°

28 km/h

4pm

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25°

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271°

30 km/h

5pm

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24°

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268°

30 km/h

6pm

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23°

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264°

30 km/h

7pm

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22°

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260°

31 km/h

8pm

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22°

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258°

30 km/h

9pm

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22°

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258°

29 km/h

10pm

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22°

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261°

27 km/h

11pm

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21°

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263°

26 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.5 m W

12am

Calm

1am

Calm

2am

0.5 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

3am

0.5 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

4am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

5am

0.6 m

@ 4 s

←︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.5 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

7am

0.5 m

@ 4 s

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Slight

chop

8am

Calm

9am

Calm

10am

Calm

11am

Calm

12pm

Calm

1pm

Calm

2pm

Calm

3pm

Calm

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11pm

Calm

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 27 km/h W (261°).

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

4:30 am → 7:00 am

2h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 1:00 pm

Good

6:00 pm → 7:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 12:30 am

30m

First light

5:11 am

Last light

6:43 pm

Sunrise

5:33 am

Sunset

6:20 pm

Moonrise

7:40 pm

Moonset

5:55 am

Low tide

5:15 am

High tide

11:25 am

Low tide

5:18 pm

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