How do you get to Box Head for fishing?

Park at the Hawke Head Drive car park at Killcare — Bouddi National Park charges $8 per vehicle per day, payable by card at the machine or via the Park'nPay app — and take the Box Head track. It is about 3.1km return and takes 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes on a rocky Grade 3 trail. There are no toilets or taps at the headland, so carry water and a head torch if you're fishing into the dark. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, and the receipt has to be on you while you fish.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Box Head?

Yes. Box Head sits in the Central Coast local government area, which is declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so wearing an appropriate lifejacket is a legal requirement at the high-risk rock-fishing locations the council has declared — and a swell-exposed ocean platform like this one is squarely what the law is aimed at. It covers everyone fishing and anyone helping. Adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater and children under 12 need level 100, correctly sized and in good condition. Going without can attract a $100 on-the-spot fine, and given the exposed swell here it is sensible regardless of the law.

What's the best time to catch jewfish at Box Head?

Night sessions around the tide change are the go, and the standout window is the run-out tide in the days after heavy Hawkesbury rain when flood water flushes bait past the entrance. Soak a live yellowtail, fresh squid or a whole dead bait on the deeper edges. Mulloway in NSW must be at least 70cm and the recreational bag limit is one fish per person.

Can you spin for tailor and pelagics off Box Head?

Yes — flood-time spinning is what the spot is known for. Throw 40–65g metals and stickbaits into the wash for tailor, salmon, bonito and the odd summer kingfish, best at dawn and dusk on a moving tide. Tailor have a 30cm minimum and a daily bag limit of 10, with 20 in possession. Australian salmon have no minimum size in NSW and a bag of 5.

Is Box Head safe for kids and families?

Not really — the 3.1km round walk, unfenced cliffs and exposed rock make it a poor fit for small children. Families are much better off at Putty Beach near the Killcare car park, where there is sand, sheltered water and a patrolled beach at the Killcare end. Keep the headland for capable adults in suitable conditions.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Box Head

Sun 01 Nov 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 1:02pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

1 Nov

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Box Head

last quarter · 66%

Weather: Rainy Wind: SE 135° · 17 km/h Swell: flat Water: 18.9 °C Pressure: 1013.4 hPa → steady Faces south · Offshore: NW, N, NE · Onshore: SE, S, SW · Forecast wind: onshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 18 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 18.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 7:47 pm

High 2:00 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

5:00 am → 8:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 10:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

1:00 am → 2:00 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

1:03 am

Moonset

11:06 am

High tide

2:00 am

Low tide

7:18 am

High tide

2:00 pm

Low tide

9:06 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

21°

↖︎

315°

20 km/h

1am

🌧️

20°

↖︎

303°

23 km/h

2am

🌧️

20°

↖︎

295°

25 km/h

3am

☀️

19°

←︎

291°

24 km/h

4am

☀️

19°

←︎

289°

21 km/h

5am

☀️

19°

←︎

285°

18 km/h

6am

☀️

20°

←︎

282°

16 km/h

7am

☀️

21°

←︎

280°

14 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

←︎

272°

10 km/h

9am

🌧️

22°

↙︎

230°

6 km/h

10am

🌧️

21°

↓︎

159°

9 km/h

11am

🌧️

21°

↘︎

142°

15 km/h

12pm

🌧️

21°

↘︎

135°

17 km/h

1pm

🌧️

22°

↘︎

130°

18 km/h

2pm

🌧️

22°

↘︎

125°

18 km/h

3pm

☁️

22°

↘︎

119°

18 km/h

4pm

☁️

21°

↘︎

114°

18 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

→︎

110°

18 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

→︎

104°

16 km/h

7pm

☀️

20°

→︎

97°

14 km/h

8pm

☀️

20°

→︎

90°

12 km/h

9pm

🌧️

19°

→︎

84°

9 km/h

10pm

🌧️

19°

→︎

79°

6 km/h

11pm

🌧️

18°

→︎

79°

4 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.6 m E

12am

0.7 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.5 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.5 m

@ 6 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

8am

Calm

9am

Calm

10am

Calm

11am

Calm

12pm

Calm

1pm

Calm

2pm

Calm

3pm

Calm

4pm

Calm

5pm

Calm

6pm

0.5 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.6 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.9°

Thu

29 Oct

18.6°

Fri

30 Oct

18.8°

Sat

31 Oct

18.8°

Sun

1 Nov

18.9°

Mon

2 Nov

19.3°

Tue

3 Nov

19.3°

Wed

4 Nov

19.5°

Thu

5 Nov

19.4°

Fri

6 Nov

19.2°

Sat

7 Nov

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 17 km/h SE (135°).

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 am → 8:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 10:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

1:00 am → 2:00 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:47 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:21 pm

Moonrise

1:03 am

Moonset

11:06 am

High tide

2:00 am

Low tide

7:18 am

High tide

2:00 pm

Low tide

9:06 pm

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