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)

Sat 08 Aug 2026 · Australia/Perth

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📍 Karratha (Nickol Bay / Hearson's Cove)

waning crescent · 27%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 188° · 12 km/h Swell: flat Water: 22.1 °C

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 7:00 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Strong flow

Wind SE 7 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 22.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

6:00 am → 9:00 am

Good

5:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

3:00 am → 5:00 am

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

6:20 pm

Sunrise

6:39 am

Sunset

5:57 pm

Moonrise

2:10 am

Moonset

1:05 pm

High tide

3:35 am

Low tide

10:51 am

High tide

4:39 pm

Low tide

10:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

24°

↙︎

221°

14 km/h

1am

☀️

23°

↙︎

213°

12 km/h

2am

☀️

23°

↙︎

208°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

22°

↙︎

203°

12 km/h

4am

☁️

22°

↓︎

188°

12 km/h

5am

☁️

22°

↓︎

170°

9 km/h

6am

☁️

22°

↓︎

158°

8 km/h

7am

☁️

23°

↘︎

147°

7 km/h

8am

☁️

23°

↓︎

184°

8 km/h

9am

☁️

25°

↓︎

189°

9 km/h

10am

☁️

27°

↓︎

193°

10 km/h

11am

☁️

28°

↓︎

193°

11 km/h

12pm

☁️

29°

↓︎

188°

12 km/h

1pm

☁️

29°

↓︎

183°

14 km/h

2pm

☁️

29°

↓︎

183°

14 km/h

3pm

☁️

29°

↓︎

195°

11 km/h

4pm

☁️

29°

↙︎

223°

9 km/h

5pm

☁️

28°

↙︎

242°

9 km/h

6pm

☁️

27°

↙︎

231°

10 km/h

7pm

☀️

27°

↙︎

209°

12 km/h

8pm

☀️

27°

↓︎

195°

15 km/h

9pm

☀️

26°

↓︎

185°

16 km/h

10pm

☀️

25°

↓︎

177°

18 km/h

11pm

☀️

24°

↓︎

170°

19 km/h

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.8° over the last 3 days

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°

Wed

12 Aug

21.8°

Thu

13 Aug

21.6°

Fri

14 Aug

21.6°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 12 km/h S (188°).

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

6:00 am → 9:00 am

Good

5:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

3:00 am → 5:00 am

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

6:17 am

Last light

6:20 pm

Sunrise

6:39 am

Sunset

5:57 pm

Moonrise

2:10 am

Moonset

1:05 pm

High tide

3:35 am

Low tide

10:51 am

High tide

4:39 pm

Low tide

10:30 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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