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

Sun 20 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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20 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Caves Beach / Swansea Heads Rock Platform

first quarter · 59%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 308° · 11 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 8 s S Water: 19.2 °C Pressure: 1019.1 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 W 16 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 19.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:22 am Last light 6:12 pm

High 2:50 am Low 7:50 am High 2:53 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 → 8:30 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 12:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:12 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

11:27 am

Moonset

1:40 am

High tide

2:50 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

←︎

275°

5 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

←︎

272°

5 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

←︎

281°

5 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

↖︎

296°

5 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↖︎

306°

5 km/h

5am

☀️

13°

↖︎

302°

6 km/h

6am

☀️

14°

↖︎

313°

7 km/h

7am

☀️

17°

↖︎

322°

8 km/h

8am

☀️

19°

↖︎

329°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

21°

↖︎

331°

10 km/h

10am

☀️

23°

↖︎

329°

11 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↖︎

320°

11 km/h

12pm

☀️

26°

↖︎

308°

11 km/h

1pm

☀️

27°

↖︎

294°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

28°

←︎

283°

14 km/h

3pm

☀️

29°

←︎

276°

15 km/h

4pm

☀️

29°

←︎

274°

16 km/h

5pm

☀️

28°

←︎

278°

16 km/h

6pm

☀️

27°

←︎

287°

16 km/h

7pm

☀️

25°

↖︎

298°

15 km/h

8pm

☀️

23°

↖︎

309°

15 km/h

9pm

☀️

21°

↖︎

317°

15 km/h

10pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

319°

15 km/h

11pm

☀️

19°

↖︎

314°

14 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.3 m S

12am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

2am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

3am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

4am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

5am

0.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

6am

0.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

7am

0.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

8am

0.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Calm

9am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

10am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

11am

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

12pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

1pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

2pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

3pm

0.4 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

4pm

0.4 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

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

9pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

10pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

11pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 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°

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 11 km/h NW (308°).

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 → 8:30 pm

Good

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

11:00 am → 12:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:22 am

Last light

6:12 pm

Sunrise

5:46 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

11:27 am

Moonset

1:40 am

High tide

2:50 am

Low tide

7:50 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Australian Salmon
Tailor
Dusky Flathead