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

Sat 19 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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19 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Cronulla Beach & The Alley

first quarter · 48%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 307° · 4 km/h Swell: 1.1 m @ 9 s S Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1023.2 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 5 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 17.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:25 am Last light 6:14 pm

High 1:30 am Low 6:30 am High 1:39 pm Low 8:50 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 pm → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

10:30 am → 11:00 am

30m

First light

5:25 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:49 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

10:31 am

Moonset

—

High tide

1:30 am

Low tide

6:30 am

High tide

1:39 pm

Low tide

8:50 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

12°

←︎

285°

4 km/h

1am

☀️

12°

←︎

283°

6 km/h

2am

☀️

11°

←︎

278°

7 km/h

3am

☀️

11°

←︎

274°

9 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

←︎

274°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

12°

←︎

276°

12 km/h

6am

☀️

12°

←︎

279°

12 km/h

7am

☀️

13°

←︎

283°

12 km/h

8am

☀️

16°

←︎

288°

12 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

↖︎

293°

12 km/h

10am

☀️

22°

↖︎

298°

11 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↖︎

301°

8 km/h

12pm

☀️

27°

↖︎

307°

4 km/h

1pm

☀️

27°

→︎

76°

1 km/h

2pm

☀️

27°

↘︎

120°

4 km/h

3pm

☀️

24°

↘︎

126°

8 km/h

4pm

☀️

22°

↘︎

130°

9 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

↘︎

135°

8 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

↘︎

149°

5 km/h

7pm

☀️

18°

↓︎

180°

3 km/h

8pm

☀️

17°

↙︎

214°

2 km/h

9pm

☀️

16°

↙︎

243°

2 km/h

10pm

☀️

14°

←︎

270°

3 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

←︎

274°

5 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.4 → 0.8 m S

12am

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

1.4 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

5am

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6am

1.3 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

1pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

2pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

3pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

4pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

5pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

6pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

7pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

8pm

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

9pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

10pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

11pm

0.8 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Slight

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

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°

Mon

21 Sep

18.0°

Tue

22 Sep

18.0°

Wed

23 Sep

18.0°

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 4 km/h NW (307°).

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 → 7:30 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

10:30 am → 11:00 am

30m

First light

5:25 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:49 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

10:31 am

Moonset

—

High tide

1:30 am

Low tide

6:30 am

High tide

1:39 pm

Low tide

8:50 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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