Camp Cove (Watsons Bay)

Camp Cove is a small north-facing sand beach tucked inside South Head, with a rocky point at each end — Green Point near the Watsons Bay wharf and Laings Point at the southern corner. Both points drop into clean, weedy, current-washed water close to the harbour mouth, which is why this is rated the best shore-based squid and kingfish access on Sydney Harbour. The beach itself holds bread-and-butter species over the sand and broken rock, while the points put you within a cast of the bait and structure that pull kingfish in through the warmer months. It is sheltered, swimmable and busy with walkers, so it fishes as a dawn-and-dusk spot rather than an all-day one.

Squid is the headline. Locals work size 2.5–3.5 jigs along the weed edges off either point, casting out over the scattered rock and letting the jig sink before a slow lift-and-flutter retrieve — first and last light, into a moving tide, with clear water. The same squid double as the premium kingfish bait: a live or fresh squid fished under a float or on a lightly weighted rig off Laings Point on a run-in tide is the classic harbour-kingie approach. Off the open beach, the bread-and-butter fishing is a dawn job — cast 10–20m past the inshore rocks and work bait or soft plastics back over the sand. Because there is rock scattered through the cast, locals reel up off the bottom quickly rather than leaving baits to snag.

Southern calamari are the year-round mainstay, best in the cooler, clearer months and through autumn when the water steadies. Yellowtail kingfish push in from late spring through autumn — roughly November to May — and are the reason people fish the points with live squid. Yellowfin bream are reliable around the rocks and beach edges year-round, with a winter spawning run. Dusky flathead lie over the sand from spring into autumn, sand whiting come on through the warmer months on nippers and worms, and luderick hold around the weedy rock on green weed and cabbage. Juvenile blue groper are a common sight in the cove, but the species is no-take everywhere in NSW and line fishing for it is prohibited until 1 March 2028 — admire them, never target them, and release any that grabs a bait.

Clear water is everything for the squid, so check clarity before you commit; a dirty cove after rain or a big run of swell through the heads is worth skipping. Fish the points at first or last light to dodge the swimmers and walkers, who own the beach by mid-morning. If you land squid and want a kingfish, keep one alive — fresh-caught harbour squid out-fishes anything from the bait shop. Don't clean fish or squid on the beach; it is a swimming cove and ink-stained sand makes no friends. Buy or bring the nippers and beachworms rather than gathering them, because the whole Sydney Harbour foreshore is an Intertidal Protected Area and collecting bait off it is prohibited even though line fishing is not. Camp Cove sits east of the Harbour Bridge, so the health advice is to eat no more than about 150 grams of your catch a month, though higher amounts of some species may be eaten. Light, mobile gear suits the rock-hopping between the two points far better than a beach spike and an esky.

It is roughly a 10-minute walk from the Watsons Bay ferry wharf via Cliff and Pacific Streets, or you can use the paid Cliff Street car park with limited street parking nearby — spots vanish early on summer weekends. Toilets and showers sit at Green Point Reserve at the Watsons Bay end and there is a kiosk above the beach for coffee and a feed. A beach access mat is rolled out over summer for wheelchair and stroller access onto the sand, though the toilets are reached by stairs. The sheltered, shallow, gently shelving beach makes it genuinely kid-friendly — children can fish the shallows for whiting and small bream while the rest of the family swims.

Camp Cove faces north into the harbour, so it is sheltered from the southerly buster and most ocean swell, and it stays fishable when the open coast is blown out. A northerly blows straight in and chops the cove up, and a big southerly swell can still wrap around South Head and dirty the water. Tide matters more than wind here: a moving tide — the run-in is the pick — pushes bait and current past both points and switches the squid and kingfish on. Early morning and the last hour of light are the windows, partly for the fish and partly to beat the crowds. After heavy rain the inner-harbour water colours up and the squidding falls away until it clears.

This is a sheltered harbour beach, not an exposed ocean platform, so the risks are the smaller estuary kind — the rocks at Green Point and Laings Point are slick with weed and studded with oysters and barnacles that open up bare hands and feet, so wear grippy shoes and watch your footing. It is a swimming and snorkelling cove, so keep casts clear of people in the water and never cast over swimmers. Boats and the ferry use the bay, bluebottles blow in on summer northerlies, and there is no shade on the points — sun protection matters for a dawn-to-mid-morning session. One genuine warning: the ocean rock ledges just around South Head, past Hornby Lighthouse, are a different and dangerous proposition where anglers have been swept off — that is true exposed rock fishing, so wear a lifejacket out there — an adult jacket to AS 4758 level 50S or greater, level 100 for under-12s — and watch the sets for several minutes before committing to any low ledge.

Yes — Camp Cove is one of the best land-based kingfish spots on Sydney Harbour. Fish the rocky points, especially Laings Point at the southern end, with a live or fresh squid on a run-in tide from late spring through autumn (roughly November to May). NSW kingfish must be at least 65cm to keep, with a bag limit of 5, and you need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish anywhere in the state.

Work size 2.5–3.5 egi jigs along the weed edges off both points — Green Point near the wharf and Laings Point at the southern corner — at first or last light into a moving tide. Clear water is the key; after heavy rain or a big swell the cove dirties up and the squid go off. Southern calamari have no minimum size in NSW and a daily bag of 20 shared across all squid and cuttlefish.

It is one of the better family spots in the eastern suburbs — a sheltered, shallow, gently shelving beach where children can fish the shallows for whiting and small bream while others swim. There are toilets and showers at Green Point Reserve, a kiosk above the beach, and a summer beach-access mat for prams and wheelchairs. Watch the slippery, oyster-covered rocks at each end.

Dusky flathead in NSW have a slot limit of 36–70cm — you can keep fish in that range, but anything under 36cm or over 70cm must be released, as the big ones are the breeding females. The daily bag limit is 5, with 10 in possession. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish in NSW.

You don't need a separate licence, but a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in New South Wales, including Camp Cove, and you must carry the receipt while fishing. It is $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, bought online through Service NSW or from a fishing fee agent. Anyone under 18 is exempt, as are Aboriginal people and Pensioner Concession Card holders.