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)

Sun 20 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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20 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Ben Buckler (North Bondi)

first quarter · 59%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 3° · 7 km/h Swell: 0.3 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.0 °C Pressure: 1019.5 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind N 8 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.0 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:23 am Last light 6:14 pm

High 2:54 am Low 7:54 am High 2:47 pm Low 9:56 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

5:23 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:47 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:45 am

High tide

2:54 am

Low tide

7:54 am

High tide

2:47 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

14°

↖︎

315°

2 km/h

1am

☀️

13°

↑︎

338°

1 km/h

2am

☀️

12°

↖︎

307°

2 km/h

3am

☀️

12°

↖︎

295°

4 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↖︎

293°

5 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↖︎

295°

7 km/h

6am

☀️

11°

↖︎

297°

8 km/h

7am

☀️

12°

↖︎

301°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

20°

↖︎

333°

6 km/h

9am

☀️

22°

↑︎

342°

6 km/h

10am

☀️

24°

↑︎

349°

7 km/h

11am

☀️

26°

↑︎

355°

7 km/h

12pm

☀️

27°

↑︎

3°

7 km/h

1pm

☀️

28°

↑︎

11°

7 km/h

2pm

☀️

29°

↑︎

16°

7 km/h

3pm

☀️

29°

↑︎

17°

7 km/h

4pm

☀️

29°

↑︎

13°

7 km/h

5pm

☀️

28°

↑︎

3°

7 km/h

6pm

☀️

27°

↑︎

348°

8 km/h

7pm

☀️

25°

↖︎

335°

10 km/h

8pm

☀️

23°

↖︎

326°

12 km/h

9pm

☀️

21°

↖︎

322°

14 km/h

10pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

319°

16 km/h

11pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

319°

17 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.3 m S

12am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

2am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

3am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

4am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

5am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

6am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

7am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

8am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

9am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

10am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

11am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

12pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

1pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

2pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

3pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

4pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

5pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

6pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

7pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

8pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Calm

chop

9pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Calm

chop

10pm

Calm

11pm

Calm

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.0°

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°

Wed

23 Sep

18.1°

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 7 km/h N (3°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 12:00 pm

First light

5:23 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:47 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:45 am

High tide

2:54 am

Low tide

7:54 am

High tide

2:47 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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