Do you have to wear a lifejacket rock fishing at Malabar?

Yes. Malabar sits inside the Randwick local government area, a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell here, and the duty covers anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care. Going without risks a $100 on-the-spot fine. The Randwick coast is the number one danger spot in the state, with 24 rock-fishing deaths since 2001, so it is worth wearing regardless of exactly where the boundary falls. Some Randwick council facilities run lifejacket loan trials, so it is worth asking around before you buy one.

What can you catch at the Long Bay ledges in Malabar?

Yellowfin bream and silver trevally are the staples, with luderick on green weed and southern calamari over the weed through the cooler months. Yellowtail kingfish run the warmer half of the year on live bait, and tailor, Australian salmon and rock blackfish show up too. The whole foreshore sits inside the Long Bay Intertidal Protected Area, so line fishing is fine but you cannot gather cunjevoi, nippers, worms or shellfish off the rocks. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, including from the rocks here.

When does Malabar's Long Bay fish best?

The inner northern ledges shine when a nor'easter has blown out the open coast, because the bay stays sheltered while exposed platforms wash out. The falling tide is the key window for luderick and trevally, bream favour the top of the tide, and low light at dawn or dusk lifts the whole bite. Cooler months suit luderick, squid, tailor and salmon, while the warmer months bring the kingfish. Bream are there all year.

Where do you park to fish the Malabar Long Bay ledges?

Park near the North Malabar wastewater treatment plant at the northern arm of Long Bay, off Fishermans Road, where there is timed parking along the road and a car park by the boat ramp. It is a short walk down onto the ledges. Toilets, showers and a playground are back at Cromwell Park behind Malabar Beach, a couple of minutes away.

Is Long Bay safer than the open Malabar and Maroubra rocks?

It is more sheltered, which is its whole appeal, but sheltered is not the same as safe. A wrapping south-east swell can still surge across the lower ledges, the rock is slippery, and Randwick is a declared lifejacket area, so wear one. Watch the sea before stepping down, stay off low ledges in any swell, and do not fish alone.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Malabar (Long Bay ledges)

Wed 28 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 7:11pm AEDT

Bite Alert

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28 Oct

Today

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Malabar (Long Bay ledges)

waning gibbous · 96%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 190° · 7 km/h Swell: 1.0 m @ 6 s S Water: 18.5 °C Pressure: 1018.0 hPa ↑ rising Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: cross-shore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Strong flow

Wind W 9 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 18.5 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:33 am Last light 7:45 pm

Low 3:49 am High 10:17 am Low 4:55 pm High 10:55 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

1:30 am → 7:00 am

5h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

10:00 am → 11:00 am

First light

5:33 am

Last light

7:45 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:19 pm

Moonrise

10:00 pm

Moonset

6:49 am

Low tide

3:49 am

High tide

10:17 am

Low tide

4:55 pm

High tide

10:55 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

17°

↙︎

216°

8 km/h

1am

☁️

16°

↙︎

228°

2 km/h

2am

☁️

16°

←︎

265°

5 km/h

3am

☁️

16°

↙︎

233°

10 km/h

4am

☁️

15°

↙︎

242°

11 km/h

5am

☀️

15°

←︎

251°

9 km/h

6am

☁️

14°

←︎

249°

9 km/h

7am

☀️

15°

←︎

266°

9 km/h

8am

☀️

17°

←︎

269°

10 km/h

9am

☀️

19°

←︎

261°

15 km/h

10am

☀️

20°

←︎

257°

16 km/h

11am

☀️

21°

←︎

260°

22 km/h

12pm

☀️

22°

←︎

253°

22 km/h

1pm

☀️

22°

↙︎

246°

23 km/h

2pm

☁️

24°

←︎

252°

24 km/h

3pm

☀️

22°

↓︎

190°

21 km/h

4pm

☀️

21°

↓︎

184°

17 km/h

5pm

☀️

21°

↓︎

177°

14 km/h

6pm

☀️

20°

↓︎

179°

12 km/h

7pm

☀️

19°

↓︎

190°

7 km/h

Now

☀️

18°

↓︎

168°

3 km/h

9pm

☀️

18°

←︎

255°

4 km/h

10pm

☀️

18°

↙︎

247°

10 km/h

11pm

☀️

17°

←︎

248°

7 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~1.0 m S

12am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

5am

0.9 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

8am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

9am

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.8 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

5pm

0.9 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

6pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Slight

chop

7pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Now

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.5°

Sun

25 Oct

18.6°

Mon

26 Oct

18.4°

Tue

27 Oct

18.6°

Wed

28 Oct

18.5°

Thu

29 Oct

18.8°

Fri

30 Oct

19.1°

Sat

31 Oct

18.8°

Sun

1 Nov

19.0°

Mon

2 Nov

19.3°

Tue

3 Nov

19.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 7 km/h S (190°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

1:30 am → 7:00 am

5h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 8:30 pm

1h 30m

Good

10:00 pm → 12:00 am

Good

10:00 am → 11:00 am

First light

5:33 am

Last light

7:45 pm

Sunrise

5:58 am

Sunset

7:19 pm

Moonrise

10:00 pm

Moonset

6:49 am

Low tide

3:49 am

High tide

10:17 am

Low tide

4:55 pm

High tide

10:55 pm

Nearby Spots

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