Coffs Harbour Jetty

Coffs Harbour Jetty is the long timber jetty reaching out from Jetty Beach into the harbour — about 450 m of hardwood dating from 1892, and the town's best-known fishing spot. The harbour walls and Muttonbird Island shelter it from the open swell, so it fishes in weather that shuts down the headlands. Bream, trevally and whiting come from the upper and lower decks, and sometimes a surprise kingfish or mulloway. It's outside Solitary Islands Marine Park, which starts at Muttonbird Island.

Bream and trevally are fished around the pylons with lightly weighted prawn, mullet strip or pilchard pieces dropped close to the timber, or with small soft plastics worked along the shaded edges. Whiting come from the sand off the shallower inner section on nippers or worms. Luderick anglers float weed beside the pylons in winter. Tailor and kingfish are spun with small metals at first light. A steady bread or pellet berley pulls fish in close; dumping a whole bucket at once just feeds the pickers.

Bream and silver trevally are year-round regulars. Sand whiting (27 cm, bag 20) run through the warm months. Luderick move in from autumn to spring. Tailor pass through in the cooler months, kingfish are a summer chance (65 cm minimum, bag 5), and a mulloway (70 cm, bag 1) turns up after dark for the patient.

The jetty is ageing. In August 2025 Coffs Harbour City Council said the timber had reached the end of its life and endorsed a hybrid timber and fibre-reinforced-polymer renewal estimated at $21 million, with partial works planned for 2025–26, so sections may be fenced or closed — follow the signs and never climb past a barrier. Mornings and evenings on a moving tide fish best, and the harbour gets busy with swimmers and walkers in the middle of the day. Bin your scraps; the resident pelicans and gulls will do the rest.

Park in the free car parks at the Jetty Foreshores off Jordan Esplanade, a short flat walk from the jetty, with public toilets, drinking water, picnic shelters and playgrounds nearby. The walk onto the deck is flat, but the timber surface and any temporary fencing make wheelchair and pram access to the deck itself uncertain; the foreshore paths are easy. Cafes and restaurants line the Jetty Strip a few minutes away. It's one of the most family-friendly spots on the coast.

The breakwalls shelter the harbour from most swell, so the jetty fishes in moderate southerlies and north-easterlies. A big easterly sea surges into the harbour and dirties the water, and heavy rain colours it from Coffs Creek. The top of the tide and the first of the run-out are the best windows; a dead low over the sand is the slowest time.

This is a sheltered jetty, so the risks are structural and everyday: the deck is old, parts may be fenced for repairs, and the boards are slippery when wet — respect every barrier and closure sign. Some sections have no rail, so watch children near the edges. Keep lines clear of swimmers off Jetty Beach and boats in the harbour, and expect bluebottles after persistent north-easterlies. Summer sun off the water is relentless — hat, shirt and water.

Yes. The jetty is a popular land-based spot with upper and lower decks fished for bream, trevally and whiting. It's an ageing heritage structure due for renewal works, so sections may be fenced — follow the signs. The harbour is outside Solitary Islands Marine Park. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required unless you're exempt.

Bream and silver trevally year-round, sand whiting in summer, luderick in winter, tailor in the cooler months, and the occasional kingfish or mulloway. Bream are 25 cm minimum within a combined bream-and-tarwhine bag of 10; silver trevally 30 cm within a trevally bag of 10.

The jetty has been open to the public, but Coffs Harbour City Council says its timber has reached the end of its life and renewal works are planned, so parts may be fenced or closed at times. Check the council's website and the signage on the day.

Yes — the water is sheltered, bream and whiting are reliable, and the foreshore has toilets, playgrounds, picnic shelters and a swimming beach. Watch children near unrailed edges and on wet boards.