Can you fish off the rocks at Ben Buckler North Bondi?

Yes. The rock platform under the northern headland of Bondi Beach is a long-established land-based rock-fishing spot for tailor, salmon, luderick and more. It is exposed to ocean swell, so it should only be fished on small, settled seas, never alone, and ideally in cleated boots with an approved lifejacket. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW unless you are exempt — $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years — and the receipt has to be on you while you fish.

Should you wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Bondi?

Yes. Ben Buckler is swell-exposed ocean rock and every rock-fishing safety authority recommends an approved lifejacket — AS 4758 level 50S or greater for adults, level 100 for under-12s — for anyone fishing and anyone helping them. The Randwick coast immediately south has recorded 24 rock-fishing deaths since 2001 and the same swell runs past this headland. You also need to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee.

What fish can you catch at Ben Buckler?

Tailor and Australian salmon in the wash, luderick on weed, eastern rock blackfish (black drummer), silver trevally and yellowfin bream in the gutters, and yellowtail kingfish off the front in summer. The headline limits: tailor 30 cm and a bag of 10, salmon no minimum size and a bag of 5, luderick 27 cm and a bag of 10, blackfish 30 cm and a bag of 10, silver trevally 30 cm on a bag of 10 shared across the trevallies, bream 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, and kingfish 65 cm with a bag of 5. Eastern blue groper are common around the rocks but are no-take everywhere in NSW, with line fishing for them prohibited until 1 March 2028 — look, do not target them.

Where do you park to fish North Bondi rocks?

Use the timed street parking along Ramsgate Avenue at the top of the headland; spaces are limited and fill quickly on weekends. From the car it is a short walk and then a steep, uneven scramble down to the platform, so it is not a mobility-friendly spot. There are no toilets on the headland — the nearest are along the Bondi promenade and at North Bondi.

When is the best time to fish Ben Buckler?

Dawn and dusk on a rising tide, on a small swell under about 1.5 metres with a light westerly blowing offshore. Tailor and Australian salmon are best through the cooler months, roughly April to August, while kingfish are a summer fish, December to April. Avoid the ledge entirely on swells over roughly 2 metres or on any building easterly or southerly sea.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Ben Buckler (North Bondi)

Wed 16 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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16 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Ben Buckler (North Bondi)

waxing crescent · 19%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 189° · 27 km/h Swell: 1.3 m @ 9 s S Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1028.0 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 26 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:28 am Last light 6:11 pm

Low 4:12 am High 10:52 am Low 5:24 pm High 11:08 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:28 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:02 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:52 am

Low tide

5:24 pm

High tide

11:08 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

14°

↓︎

182°

23 km/h

1am

🌧️

13°

↓︎

191°

22 km/h

2am

☁️

13°

↙︎

203°

14 km/h

3am

☁️

13°

↙︎

207°

16 km/h

4am

☁️

13°

↓︎

200°

21 km/h

5am

☀️

13°

↙︎

209°

21 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

↙︎

213°

23 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↙︎

214°

22 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

210°

21 km/h

9am

☀️

13°

↙︎

203°

24 km/h

10am

☀️

14°

↓︎

194°

24 km/h

11am

☀️

14°

↓︎

194°

25 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

27 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

188°

29 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

188°

30 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

189°

31 km/h

4pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

188°

31 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

188°

27 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

190°

26 km/h

7pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

191°

25 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

188°

26 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

192°

23 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

193°

23 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

192°

24 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.2 → 1.7 m S

12am

1.2 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.4 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.4 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

Sun

13 Sep

17.9°

Mon

14 Sep

17.9°

Tue

15 Sep

18.0°

Wed

16 Sep

17.8°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.8°

Sun

20 Sep

18.0°

Mon

21 Sep

18.0°

Tue

22 Sep

18.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 27 km/h S (189°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:28 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:02 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:52 am

Low tide

5:24 pm

High tide

11:08 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Tailor
Australian Salmon
Luderick
Rock Blackfish
Silver Trevally
Yellowfin Bream
Yellowtail Kingfish