What fish can you catch at Darook Park Cronulla?

Sand whiting, dusky flathead, yellowfin bream, luderick and silver trevally are the staples, with tailor on the cooler water and squid over the seagrass. It is an estuary foreshore on Gunnamatta Bay, so the fish run smaller and cleaner than at ocean spots. Note that the whole of Gunnamatta Bay north of the Burraneer Point to Hungry Point line is closed to taking worms, nippers and shellfish, so bring your bait rather than pumping it. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish here, as it is anywhere in NSW saltwater unless you are under 18 or otherwise exempt.

Is Darook Park good for fishing with kids?

Yes — it's one of the easier family spots in the Sutherland Shire. Flat grass to a calm, sheltered beach, street parking close by, toilets and picnic shelters in the reserve, and water shallow enough that kids can swim off the same beach you fish from. Shuffle your feet in the shallows, as stingrays frequent the bay.

What's the best tide for fishing Gunnamatta Bay at Darook Park?

The run-out tide is the local pick — it drains the sand flat and lines whiting, bream and flathead along the deeper edges and the moored-boat channel. Early morning or the last of the light on a falling tide is the prime window, before swimmers fill the bay on warm days.

What size flathead can you keep at Darook Park?

Dusky flathead in NSW have a slot limit of 36 to 70 cm — fish smaller than 36 cm or larger than 70 cm must be released, and the daily bag is 5 with 10 in possession. The big breeding females over 70 cm go back. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a bag of 20 and luderick 27 cm on a bag of 10. A current NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt must be carried while fishing.

Do you need a fishing licence at Darook Park?

You need to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, which covers all saltwater and freshwater fishing in the state. It is $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years, with exemptions for anglers under 18, Aboriginal people, pensioners holding a Centrelink or Veterans' Affairs Pensioner Concession Card, and a few others. Seniors Cards, Health Care Cards and Veteran White Cards do not exempt you. Carry the receipt while you fish.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Darook Park (Cronulla)

Sun 13 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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13 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Darook Park (Cronulla)

new · 2%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 333° · 7 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 10 s S Water: 17.9 °C Pressure: 1026.3 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 1:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Midday

Tide Moving

Wind NE 13 km/h

Moon new 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 5:33 am Last light 6:09 pm

Low 2:38 am High 9:00 am Low 3:00 pm High 9:06 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

12:30 pm → 4:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

8:00 pm → 9:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:33 am

Last light

6:09 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

6:45 am

Moonset

7:57 pm

Low tide

2:38 am

High tide

9:00 am

Low tide

3:00 pm

High tide

9:06 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

14°

↖︎

305°

9 km/h

1am

☀️

13°

↖︎

320°

8 km/h

2am

☀️

13°

↖︎

314°

7 km/h

3am

☀️

12°

↖︎

307°

7 km/h

4am

☀️

12°

↖︎

316°

6 km/h

5am

☁️

11°

↖︎

302°

7 km/h

6am

☁️

11°

↖︎

295°

8 km/h

7am

☁️

12°

↖︎

300°

7 km/h

8am

☀️

14°

↖︎

316°

7 km/h

9am

☀️

16°

↖︎

319°

8 km/h

Now

☀️

19°

↖︎

333°

7 km/h

11am

☀️

22°

↑︎

12°

8 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

46°

10 km/h

1pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

59°

13 km/h

2pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

57°

14 km/h

3pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

50°

16 km/h

4pm

☀️

21°

↗︎

46°

16 km/h

5pm

☁️

20°

↗︎

37°

18 km/h

6pm

☁️

19°

↗︎

32°

19 km/h

7pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

33°

17 km/h

8pm

☁️

18°

↗︎

30°

15 km/h

9pm

☀️

18°

↑︎

357°

11 km/h

10pm

☀️

16°

↑︎

360°

8 km/h

11pm

☀️

15°

↑︎

342°

8 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.4 → 1.0 m S

12am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

1am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

2am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

3am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

4am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

5am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

6am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

7am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

8am

1.3 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

9am

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

Now

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

11am

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

12pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

2pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

3pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

4pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

5pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

6pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

7pm

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

8pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.9°

Thu

10 Sep

17.7°

Fri

11 Sep

17.8°

Sat

12 Sep

17.8°

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

18.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 7 km/h NW (333°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

12:30 pm → 4:00 pm

3h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

8:00 pm → 9:30 pm

1h 30m

First light

5:33 am

Last light

6:09 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

5:45 pm

Moonrise

6:45 am

Moonset

7:57 pm

Low tide

2:38 am

High tide

9:00 am

Low tide

3:00 pm

High tide

9:06 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Sand Whiting
Dusky Flathead
Yellowfin Bream
Luderick
Silver Trevally
Tailor
Southern Calamari (Squid)