Where do you launch a boat at Karratha?

The Karratha boat ramp on Nickol Bay is the main sealed launch, with parking, giving access to the Nickol River mouth and the inshore creeks. Hearson's Cove on the Burrup is a beach launch for small boats in settled conditions, and Cleaverville to the north-east has a creek ramp. Time launch and retrieval to the tide — the four-to-five-metre range strands boats on the mud at the bottom of a big low.

What can you catch at Hearson's Cove?

Hearson's Cove is a sheltered, family-friendly beach more than a fishing hotspot — it fishes lightly for queenfish and small trevally on the run-in across the flats. The better fishing is in Airport Creek behind the cove, which holds threadfin and mangrove jack, and in the Nickol River and Cleaverville creeks nearby. Wear reef shoes for stonefish and stingrays on the flats.

Is the fishing at Karratha different to Dampier?

Yes — Karratha is the inshore, land-based and small-boat side: Nickol Bay, the town creeks and Hearson's Cove, with threadfin, queenfish, mangrove jack and flathead on the tide. Dampier, 20 minutes west at Hampton Harbour, is the gateway to the Dampier Archipelago and the offshore reef fishery for emperor, coral trout and mackerel. Many anglers base in Karratha and fish both.

Are there crocodiles around Karratha?

Occasionally. Saltwater crocodile sightings are recorded across the Pilbara, including the Karratha creeks and Nickol River, and the resident population is slowly expanding. Numbers are far lower than Broome, but the mangrove creeks and tidal water should be treated as potential croc habitat — don't wade the creek edges and don't clean fish at the water's edge. Check City of Karratha and DBCA alerts before fishing.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Karratha (Nickol Bay / Hearson's Cove)

Wed 05 Aug 2026 · Australia/Perth

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5 Aug

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Today Tomorrow Sat 8 Aug

📍 Karratha (Nickol Bay / Hearson's Cove)

last quarter · 58%

Weather: Sunny Wind: W 249° · 10 km/h Swell: flat Water: 21.3 °C

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Strong flow

Wind W 12 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 21.3 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 9:00 am

4h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 2:30 am

First light

6:18 am

Last light

6:19 pm

Sunrise

6:41 am

Sunset

5:56 pm

Moonrise

11:02 pm

Moonset

10:37 am

High tide

1:48 am

Low tide

8:16 am

High tide

2:04 pm

Low tide

8:16 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

21°

←︎

257°

7 km/h

1am

☀️

21°

↙︎

245°

9 km/h

2am

☀️

21°

←︎

248°

10 km/h

3am

☀️

21°

↙︎

237°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

20°

↙︎

226°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

19°

↙︎

207°

7 km/h

6am

☀️

19°

↓︎

202°

6 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

↓︎

194°

5 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

↓︎

161°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

24°

↘︎

146°

7 km/h

10am

☀️

27°

↘︎

152°

4 km/h

11am

☀️

29°

↗︎

23°

1 km/h

12pm

☀️

29°

↖︎

337°

5 km/h

1pm

☀️

29°

↖︎

318°

9 km/h

2pm

☀️

29°

↖︎

308°

11 km/h

3pm

☀️

28°

↖︎

294°

13 km/h

4pm

☀️

26°

←︎

280°

13 km/h

5pm

☀️

25°

←︎

278°

12 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

←︎

271°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

23°

←︎

273°

11 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

←︎

265°

10 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

←︎

264°

10 km/h

10pm

☀️

22°

←︎

249°

10 km/h

Now

☀️

22°

↙︎

227°

9 km/h

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 1.0° over the last 3 days

Sun

2 Aug

20.3°

Mon

3 Aug

20.7°

Tue

4 Aug

21.0°

Wed

5 Aug

21.3°

Thu

6 Aug

21.6°

Fri

7 Aug

21.9°

Sat

8 Aug

22.1°

Sun

9 Aug

22.0°

Mon

10 Aug

22.0°

Tue

11 Aug

21.9°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 10 km/h W (249°).

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

Open in the full fishing map (beta) →

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 9:00 am

4h 30m

Good

1:30 am → 2:30 am

First light

6:18 am

Last light

6:19 pm

Sunrise

6:41 am

Sunset

5:56 pm

Moonrise

11:02 pm

Moonset

10:37 am

High tide

1:48 am

Low tide

8:16 am

High tide

2:04 pm

Low tide

8:16 pm

Nearby spots

Dampier (Hampton Harbour / Dampier Archipelago) 9.9 km

Species at this spot

Weekly Bite Forecast

Karratha (Nickol Bay / Hearson's Cove) + nearby Perth spots. Thursday 6pm — top windows, conditions, what's biting.

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