Can you fish off the rocks at Austinmer?

Yes. The southern rock platform at Austinmer Beach, around the twin ocean pools, and the northern platform are both fished, mostly into the gutters that run out past the rock. Fish the seaward faces away from the pools and swimmers, wear a lifejacket — Wollongong is a declared rock-fishing area — and carry your NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt.

Do you need a lifejacket to fish at Austinmer?

Yes, on the rock. Austinmer is in the Wollongong local government area, a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map shades the Austinmer platforms. A lifejacket is compulsory when fishing with rod, line or handline from this naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell, for anyone helping you and for any child under 12 in your care. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 or greater, and the fine is $100 on the spot.

What fish can you catch at Austinmer?

Bream, black drummer, luderick, silver trevally and Australian salmon are the regulars off the rock, with tailor at dawn and dusk. Black drummer are 30cm with a bag of 10, bream 25cm with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, and salmon have no minimum size but a bag of 5. Eastern blue groper also live here, and they are release-only — line fishing for them is prohibited in NSW through to the end of February 2028.

Is Austinmer Beach dangerous?

It can be. Surf Life Saving's Beachsafe rates Austinmer 7 out of 10 for hazard, with two strong permanent rips against the rocks at each end and an average of 90 people pulled from them each year. For anglers that means the rocks border the rips directly, so fish only on a small swell, keep to the higher rock and wear a lifejacket.

How do you get to Austinmer to go fishing?

Drive the Lawrence Hargrave Drive coast road to the beach car park, or take the train to Austinmer station, which is a short walk from the sand. Toilets, showers and change rooms are beside the ocean pools at the southern end of the beach, right next to the platform.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Austinmer Rock Platform

Thu 29 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 7:02pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

29 Oct

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Austinmer Rock Platform

waning gibbous · 91%

Weather: Sunny Wind: SE 155° · 15 km/h Swell: 1.1 m @ 8 s SE Water: 18.1 °C Pressure: 1022.3 hPa → steady Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NW 8 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 18.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:32 am Last light 7:48 pm

Low 4:24 am High 10:56 am Low 5:43 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

11:30 pm → 12:00 am

30m

First light

5:32 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:22 pm

Moonrise

11:13 pm

Moonset

7:42 am

Low tide

4:24 am

High tide

10:56 am

Low tide

5:43 pm

High tide

11:50 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

13°

←︎

292°

6 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

↖︎

294°

9 km/h

2am

☁️

12°

↖︎

296°

11 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

↖︎

298°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↖︎

299°

10 km/h

5am

☀️

12°

↖︎

297°

8 km/h

6am

☀️

13°

←︎

284°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

←︎

266°

8 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

↙︎

245°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

17°

↙︎

209°

8 km/h

10am

☀️

19°

↓︎

176°

11 km/h

11am

☀️

20°

↓︎

162°

14 km/h

12pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

155°

15 km/h

1pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

150°

14 km/h

2pm

☁️

20°

↘︎

143°

13 km/h

3pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

135°

13 km/h

4pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

126°

12 km/h

5pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

121°

12 km/h

6pm

☀️

19°

↘︎

123°

10 km/h

7pm

☀️

18°

↘︎

132°

7 km/h

8pm

☀️

17°

↘︎

147°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

171°

2 km/h

10pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

247°

1 km/h

11pm

☀️

16°

←︎

285°

3 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.7 → 1.1 m SE

12am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.5° over the last 3 days

Mon

26 Oct

17.6°

Tue

27 Oct

17.6°

Wed

28 Oct

17.8°

Thu

29 Oct

18.1°

Fri

30 Oct

18.2°

Sat

31 Oct

18.4°

Sun

1 Nov

18.4°

Mon

2 Nov

18.4°

Tue

3 Nov

—

Wed

4 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 15 km/h SE (155°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

2:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

2:30 pm → 4:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

11:30 pm → 12:00 am

30m

First light

5:32 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:22 pm

Moonrise

11:13 pm

Moonset

7:42 am

Low tide

4:24 am

High tide

10:56 am

Low tide

5:43 pm

High tide

11:50 pm

Nearby Spots

Species at This Spot

Keep Tabs on Austinmer Rock Platform

Get an email when the bite score here hits High, and stop refreshing this page. Free account, takes a minute.

Alert Me When It's High Save This Spot