Do you need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at Coalcliff?

Yes. Coalcliff sits within the Wollongong local government area, a declared rock-fishing area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the council's map shades the Coalcliff shelf, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here, and 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 or greater, and the fine is $100 on the spot. You also need to have paid the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and to carry the receipt.

What fish can you catch at Coalcliff?

The rock platform gives up drummer (rock blackfish) year-round, luderick mainly from autumn to spring, plus yellowfin bream, silver trevally, Australian salmon and tailor. The beach produces bream, sand whiting and trevally off the top of the tide. Eastern blue groper live around the kelp here but are protected no-take in NSW, with line fishing for them prohibited until 1 March 2028, so they must be released.

Where do you park at Coalcliff for fishing?

Turn off Lawrence Hargrave Drive at the Coalcliff SLSC signpost just north of the Sea Cliff Bridge. Parking near the beach entrance is limited and there is more at the southern end by the rock pool. Spots fill quickly on warm weekends, so arrive early. From the southern car park it is a short walk to the beach and rock pool, then a rock scramble south to reach the main fishing platform.

When is the best time to fish Coalcliff rock platform?

Fish a making-to-high tide on a small-to-moderate swell under about 1.5m, ideally around dawn or dusk. Get a berley trail running early and the drummer and luderick bite usually switches on once it has been going for a while. Westerly winds clean the water and suit the float fishing; a strong onshore easterly blows it out and makes the platform unsafe.

Is Coalcliff good for fishing with kids?

The beach and rock pool end is the family half of it, with a surf club patrol over the summer season and good whiting and bream on the beach off the top of the tide. The rock platform under the bridge is a different proposition: exposed ocean ledges with swell and slippery rock, inside a declared area where lifejackets are required by law, so it is not a place for young children.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Coalcliff Rock Platform

Wed 09 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

9 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Coalcliff Rock Platform

waning crescent · 8%

Weather: Rainy Wind: S 184° · 24 km/h Swell: 0.7 m @ 5 s SE Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1022.8 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind W 11 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:39 am Last light 6:07 pm

Low 12:11 am High 6:08 am Low 11:50 am High 6:15 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:39 am

Last light

6:07 pm

Sunrise

6:04 am

Sunset

5:43 pm

Moonrise

4:49 am

Moonset

3:36 pm

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:08 am

Low tide

11:50 am

High tide

6:15 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

11°

↖︎

323°

14 km/h

1am

☀️

11°

↖︎

321°

15 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

↖︎

319°

16 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

↖︎

319°

15 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

↖︎

320°

14 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↖︎

304°

12 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

←︎

291°

11 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

←︎

287°

10 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

←︎

271°

11 km/h

9am

☀️

17°

↙︎

230°

16 km/h

10am

☀️

18°

↓︎

182°

17 km/h

11am

🌧️

17°

↓︎

185°

22 km/h

12pm

🌧️

17°

↓︎

184°

24 km/h

1pm

🌧️

16°

↓︎

183°

28 km/h

2pm

🌧️

16°

↓︎

184°

31 km/h

3pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

181°

32 km/h

4pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

176°

29 km/h

5pm

🌧️

15°

↓︎

180°

29 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

177°

31 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

178°

32 km/h

8pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

176°

35 km/h

9pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

179°

37 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

182°

32 km/h

11pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

188°

29 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 0.9 → 1.4 m SE

12am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.8 m

@ 5 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.8 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.4 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

Sun

6 Sep

17.9°

Mon

7 Sep

18.0°

Tue

8 Sep

17.9°

Wed

9 Sep

17.9°

Thu

10 Sep

17.8°

Fri

11 Sep

17.8°

Sat

12 Sep

17.8°

Sun

13 Sep

17.9°

Mon

14 Sep

17.9°

Tue

15 Sep

18.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 24 km/h S (184°).

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 → 7:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:00 am

1h 30m

First light

5:39 am

Last light

6:07 pm

Sunrise

6:04 am

Sunset

5:43 pm

Moonrise

4:49 am

Moonset

3:36 pm

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:08 am

Low tide

11:50 am

High tide

6:15 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Silver Trevally
Australian Salmon
Tailor
Sand Whiting
Eastern Blue Groper · closed