Can you keep a blue groper caught at Swansea Heads?

No. Eastern blue groper are a no-take, release-only species across NSW, and the line fishing prohibition was continued for a further three years from 1 March 2025, so it runs to 1 March 2028. Any groper hooked off the rocks here must be released — ideally unhooked in the water without dragging it onto the platform. Significant fines apply for taking one. You still need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish here at all.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Caves Beach / Swansea Heads?

Yes. Lake Macquarie is one of the ten areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map marks the Swansea Heads ocean rock as a high-risk rock fishing location, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here. The duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care, adults need AS 4758 level 50S or greater and under-12s level 100, and a $100 on-the-spot fine applies. Cleated boots and never fishing alone are sensible on top of that.

What's biting off the Swansea Heads rocks in winter?

Winter is the headland's best season. Black drummer (rock blackfish, the local pigs) feed hard in the washes from April through September on cabbage weed, cunje and peeled prawn, at 30cm minimum with a bag of 10. Luderick run on green weed under a float from about May to August, and bream show year-round. Blue groper live here too but are release-only and cannot be line-fished. The day or two after a swell, when the washes are stirred up, is the time to go.

Can you fish Caves Beach itself, not just the rocks?

Yes. The beach beside the headland runs Australian salmon from late autumn into spring, with tailor about through much of the year and best in the cooler months, both on metals or ganged pilchards through dawn and dusk. Dusky flathead work the gutters over the sand from spring to autumn — note the 36–70cm slot, with fish over 70cm to be released. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in the state.

When can you walk into the Caves Beach sea caves?

Only at low tide and in calm conditions. The caves are carved into the base of the headland and a rising tide or any real swell will fill them and cut you off against the cliff. Check the NSW tide tables before you go, time your visit around dead low water, and treat the mossy rock crossing carefully — it's slippery, and aqua shoes help.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Caves Beach / Swansea Heads Rock Platform

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Caves Beach / Swansea Heads Rock Platform

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 180° · 21 km/h Swell: 1.9 m @ 8 s S Water: 18.9 °C Pressure: 1030.7 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Turning

Wind S 8 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 18.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:26 am Last light 6:10 pm

Low 4:45 am High 11:30 am Low 6:23 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

6:23 pm

High tide

11:47 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

14°

↓︎

200°

23 km/h

1am

☀️

13°

↓︎

202°

23 km/h

2am

☁️

13°

↙︎

211°

21 km/h

3am

☁️

12°

↙︎

221°

20 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↙︎

226°

20 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

225°

21 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

235°

20 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↙︎

240°

17 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

236°

17 km/h

9am

☁️

13°

↙︎

215°

17 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

↓︎

198°

18 km/h

11am

☁️

16°

↓︎

185°

22 km/h

12pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

180°

21 km/h

1pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

176°

21 km/h

2pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

169°

19 km/h

3pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

164°

17 km/h

4pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

160°

15 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

157°

12 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

172°

8 km/h

7pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

184°

6 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

↙︎

217°

4 km/h

9pm

☀️

12°

←︎

260°

3 km/h

10pm

☀️

11°

←︎

274°

7 km/h

11pm

☀️

10°

←︎

274°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.7 → 1.2 m S

12am

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

5am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

6am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

7am

2.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

8am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Solid

chop

9am

2.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.9 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↘ cooling — down 0.4° over the last 3 days

Mon

14 Sep

19.3°

Tue

15 Sep

19.4°

Wed

16 Sep

19.2°

Thu

17 Sep

18.9°

Fri

18 Sep

18.9°

Sat

19 Sep

19.0°

Sun

20 Sep

19.2°

Mon

21 Sep

19.2°

Tue

22 Sep

19.2°

Wed

23 Sep

19.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 21 km/h S (180°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

First light

5:26 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:50 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

8:57 am

Moonset

11:56 pm

Low tide

4:45 am

High tide

11:30 am

Low tide

6:23 pm

High tide

11:47 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Australian Salmon
Tailor
Dusky Flathead