What fish can you catch at Cronulla Beach and The Alley?

Sand whiting, yellowfin bream and dart through the gutters by day, and Australian salmon, tailor and mulloway in low light, especially around dawn, dusk and after dark. Flathead and silver trevally turn up as by-catch. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including off the beach here.

Do you need a fishing licence to fish at Cronulla?

Yes. There is no separate licence as such, but a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish in NSW saltwater and freshwater, with exemptions for people under 18, pensioner concession card holders and Aboriginal people among others. It is $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, and the receipt has to be carried while you fish.

What is the best bait for whiting at Cronulla Beach?

Fresh beach worms are the standout, fished on a paternoster or long-leader rig with long-shank hooks, and the state-wide limit is 20 worms whole or part. Pipis and live nippers also work well, though pipis may only be taken from an ocean beach for immediate use as bait and never more than 50 m from the high-water mark. Fish the gutters on a rising tide through the middle of the day and target the cleaner water along the edge of The Alley rip.

What size and bag limits apply to mulloway and whiting here?

NSW rules apply, and the mulloway figure is the one people most often get wrong. Mulloway have a 70 cm minimum and a bag of one fish per person, with a boat limit of two per boat per day when two or more are aboard. Sand whiting are 27 cm on a bag of 20, yellowfin bream 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, tailor 30 cm on a bag of 10 with 20 in possession, and dusky flathead sit in a 36 to 70 cm slot with a bag of 5, so release any flathead over 70 cm. Dart have no size limit and fall under the default bag of 20, and a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required as well.

Is Cronulla Beach a good spot for fishing with kids?

For daytime gutter fishing, yes — there's paved parking right behind the beach, toilets and a kiosk at the pavilion, a rock pool, and the patrolled beach makes it easy to keep an eye on everyone. Keep children well clear of The Alley rip, which is a strong permanent current, and avoid the slippery rock pool edges and armoured rock.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Cronulla Beach & The Alley

Mon 14 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

14 Sep

Today

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Cronulla Beach & The Alley

waxing crescent · 6%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NE 33° · 13 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 9 s S Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1018.5 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind NE 13 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:32 am Last light 6:10 pm

Low 3:10 am High 9:34 am Low 3:45 pm High 9:47 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

1:30 pm → 3:30 pm

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

9:00 pm → 10:00 pm

First light

5:32 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

7:13 am

Moonset

9:00 pm

Low tide

3:10 am

High tide

9:34 am

Low tide

3:45 pm

High tide

9:47 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

16°

↑︎

354°

5 km/h

1am

☀️

15°

↖︎

329°

5 km/h

2am

☀️

14°

↖︎

332°

5 km/h

3am

☀️

13°

↑︎

339°

4 km/h

4am

☀️

13°

↖︎

318°

5 km/h

5am

☁️

12°

↖︎

301°

6 km/h

6am

☁️

12°

↖︎

304°

6 km/h

7am

☁️

12°

↖︎

298°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

15°

↖︎

304°

9 km/h

9am

☀️

18°

↖︎

311°

9 km/h

10am

☁️

22°

↖︎

327°

6 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↑︎

19°

8 km/h

12pm

☁️

26°

↗︎

45°

8 km/h

1pm

☁️

25°

↗︎

63°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

25°

↗︎

58°

15 km/h

3pm

☀️

26°

↗︎

52°

13 km/h

Now

☀️

26°

↗︎

35°

13 km/h

5pm

☀️

25°

↗︎

33°

13 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

29°

13 km/h

7pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

17°

15 km/h

8pm

☀️

22°

↑︎

3°

13 km/h

9pm

☀️

22°

↑︎

352°

11 km/h

10pm

☀️

21°

↖︎

337°

10 km/h

11pm

☀️

20°

↖︎

332°

10 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.0 m S

12am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

1am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

2am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

3am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

5am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

6am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

7am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

11am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

12pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

1pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

2pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

3pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

Now

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

5pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6pm

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9pm

1.0 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 5 s

↗︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.0 m

@ 4 s

↗︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

Fri

11 Sep

17.9°

Sat

12 Sep

17.9°

Sun

13 Sep

17.9°

Mon

14 Sep

17.9°

Tue

15 Sep

18.0°

Wed

16 Sep

17.8°

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 13 km/h NE (33°).

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 pm → 7:00 pm

Good

1:30 pm → 3:30 pm

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

9:00 pm → 10:00 pm

First light

5:32 am

Last light

6:10 pm

Sunrise

5:56 am

Sunset

5:46 pm

Moonrise

7:13 am

Moonset

9:00 pm

Low tide

3:10 am

High tide

9:34 am

Low tide

3:45 pm

High tide

9:47 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Sand Whiting
Yellowfin Bream
Dart
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Dusky Flathead
Silver Trevally