Do you need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at Boat Harbour?

Yes. Port Stephens is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map of high-risk rock fishing locations includes Boat Harbour. You must wear an appropriate lifejacket when fishing from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell, and so must anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 or greater, and going without risks a $100 on-the-spot fine.

What can you catch off the rocks at Boat Harbour, Port Stephens?

Black drummer (rock blackfish), luderick and bream in the wash, tailor and Australian salmon when they move along the coast, and the occasional snapper. Black drummer are 30 cm with a bag of 10, but blue drummer and eastern blue groper must be released. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW.

Is Boat Harbour in a marine park sanctuary zone?

No. The water off the Boat Harbour headland is a habitat protection zone of the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park, where recreational line fishing is allowed. The nearest sanctuary zones are inside Port Stephens and around Fingal Island, more than 5 km away, but check the marine park zoning map or the FishSmart NSW app if you move along the coast.

When is the best time to fish Boat Harbour rocks?

A small, clean swell under about a metre with a light westerly or north-westerly, early morning or late afternoon on a making tide. Winter is the strongest season for drummer, luderick and salmon. Stay off the platform in any south to south-east swell, which pushes straight onto the low ledges.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

Sun 01 Nov 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 7:02pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

1 Nov

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

last quarter · 66%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 82° · 17 km/h Swell: 0.6 m @ 9 s S Water: 19.9 °C Pressure: 1015.5 hPa → steady Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

Email me when a High bite day is coming Free

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind N 10 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 19.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:27 am Last light 7:43 pm

High 1:49 am Low 7:18 am High 2:00 pm Low 9:06 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 8:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:27 am

Last light

7:43 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

7:17 pm

Moonrise

12:58 am

Moonset

11:04 am

High tide

1:49 am

Low tide

7:18 am

High tide

2:00 pm

Low tide

9:06 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

19°

↑︎

17°

13 km/h

1am

☀️

18°

↑︎

12°

12 km/h

2am

☀️

18°

↑︎

4°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

17°

↑︎

358°

11 km/h

4am

☀️

17°

↑︎

354°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

17°

↑︎

356°

10 km/h

6am

☀️

18°

↑︎

6°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

19°

↗︎

28°

8 km/h

8am

☀️

20°

↗︎

57°

8 km/h

9am

☀️

21°

→︎

76°

11 km/h

10am

☀️

22°

→︎

85°

13 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

→︎

86°

16 km/h

12pm

☀️

23°

→︎

82°

17 km/h

1pm

☀️

23°

→︎

75°

19 km/h

2pm

☁️

23°

→︎

68°

22 km/h

3pm

☁️

23°

↗︎

61°

24 km/h

4pm

☁️

23°

↗︎

56°

25 km/h

5pm

☁️

23°

↗︎

52°

26 km/h

6pm

🌧️

23°

↗︎

50°

26 km/h

7pm

🌧️

23°

↗︎

47°

24 km/h

8pm

🌧️

22°

↗︎

43°

22 km/h

9pm

🌧️

22°

↗︎

40°

20 km/h

10pm

🌧️

21°

↗︎

35°

17 km/h

11pm

🌧️

21°

↗︎

30°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.8 m S

12am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2am

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

3am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7am

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

11am

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

12pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

3pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7pm

0.6 m

@ 9 s

↘︎

Slight

8pm

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

9pm

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 19.9°

Thu

29 Oct

20.0°

Fri

30 Oct

20.0°

Sat

31 Oct

19.8°

Sun

1 Nov

19.9°

Mon

2 Nov

19.9°

Tue

3 Nov

—

Wed

4 Nov

—

Thu

5 Nov

—

Fri

6 Nov

—

Sat

7 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 17 km/h E (82°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:30 am → 8:30 am

Good

5:30 pm → 9:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

12:30 am → 2:30 am

Good

11:00 am → 11:30 am

30m

First light

5:27 am

Last light

7:43 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

7:17 pm

Moonrise

12:58 am

Moonset

11:04 am

High tide

1:49 am

Low tide

7:18 am

High tide

2:00 pm

Low tide

9:06 pm

Nearby Spots

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Keep Tabs on Boat Harbour Headland (Port Stephens)

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