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 20 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

←

20 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Darook Park (Cronulla)

first quarter · 59%

Weather: Sunny Wind: NW 294° · 6 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 7 s S Water: 18.1 °C Pressure: 1020.2 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind W 15 km/h

Moon first quarter all day

Water temp 18.1 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:23 am Last light 6:14 pm

High 2:45 am Low 7:54 am High 2:53 pm Low 9:56 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 12:00 pm

30m

First light

5:23 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

5:50 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:46 am

High tide

2:45 am

Low tide

7:54 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

14°

←︎

252°

13 km/h

1am

☀️

14°

←︎

259°

14 km/h

2am

☀️

14°

←︎

265°

14 km/h

3am

☀️

14°

←︎

271°

14 km/h

4am

☀️

15°

←︎

274°

15 km/h

5am

☀️

16°

←︎

276°

15 km/h

6am

☀️

18°

←︎

279°

14 km/h

7am

☀️

20°

←︎

280°

13 km/h

8am

☀️

22°

←︎

282°

12 km/h

9am

☀️

24°

←︎

284°

11 km/h

10am

☀️

26°

←︎

286°

10 km/h

11am

☀️

26°

←︎

288°

8 km/h

12pm

☀️

27°

↖︎

294°

6 km/h

1pm

☀️

27°

↖︎

305°

3 km/h

2pm

☀️

27°

↑︎

342°

2 km/h

3pm

☀️

27°

↗︎

41°

2 km/h

4pm

☀️

26°

↗︎

60°

2 km/h

5pm

☀️

25°

↗︎

58°

2 km/h

6pm

☀️

23°

↗︎

37°

2 km/h

7pm

☀️

21°

↑︎

343°

2 km/h

8pm

☀️

19°

↖︎

313°

3 km/h

9pm

☀️

17°

↖︎

301°

5 km/h

10pm

☀️

15°

↖︎

296°

6 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

↖︎

293°

7 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.5 m S

12am

0.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

1am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

2am

0.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

3am

0.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

5am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

6am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

7am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

8am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

9am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

10am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

11am

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

12pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

1pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

2pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

3pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

4pm

0.3 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

5pm

0.3 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

6pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

7pm

0.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Calm

chop

8pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Calm

chop

9pm

Calm

10pm

0.6 m

@ 3 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.5 m

@ 3 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

↗ warming — up 0.4° over the last 3 days

Thu

17 Sep

17.7°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

18.0°

Sun

20 Sep

18.1°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wed

23 Sep

—

Thu

24 Sep

—

Fri

25 Sep

—

Sat

26 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 6 km/h NW (294°).

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 → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

11:30 am → 12:00 pm

30m

First light

5:23 am

Last light

6:14 pm

Sunrise

5:48 am

Sunset

5:50 pm

Moonrise

11:26 am

Moonset

1:46 am

High tide

2:45 am

Low tide

7:54 am

High tide

2:53 pm

Low tide

9:56 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

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