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 bream, luderick and trevally, 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 16 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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16 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Malabar (Long Bay ledges)

waxing crescent · 19%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 188° · 28 km/h Swell: 1.2 m @ 10 s S Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1027.5 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind S 27 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 6:11 pm

Low 4:12 am High 10:50 am Low 5:24 pm High 11:10 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:02 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:24 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

13°

↓︎

198°

21 km/h

1am

☁️

13°

↙︎

212°

16 km/h

2am

☀️

13°

↙︎

217°

14 km/h

3am

☁️

12°

↙︎

237°

12 km/h

4am

☀️

11°

↙︎

233°

14 km/h

5am

☀️

11°

↙︎

225°

17 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↙︎

229°

17 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↙︎

231°

17 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

220°

17 km/h

9am

☀️

14°

↙︎

203°

25 km/h

10am

☀️

14°

↓︎

196°

25 km/h

11am

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

26 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

188°

28 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

27 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

191°

29 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

30 km/h

4pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

29 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

190°

28 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

192°

27 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

193°

25 km/h

8pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

194°

25 km/h

9pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

194°

25 km/h

10pm

☁️

14°

↓︎

195°

24 km/h

11pm

☁️

14°

↓︎

197°

24 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.0 → 1.5 m S

12am

1.0 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.2 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.5 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

9am

1.7 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

10am

1.6 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11am

1.4 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

12pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

1pm

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

2pm

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

ground

3pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

4pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

5pm

1.0 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

6pm

1.1 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

7pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

8pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

9pm

1.2 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.2 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

11pm

1.5 m

@ 9 s

↓︎

Moderate

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

Sun

13 Sep

17.9°

Mon

14 Sep

18.0°

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°

Mon

21 Sep

18.0°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 28 km/h S (188°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

4:30 am → 6:30 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:11 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:47 pm

Moonrise

8:18 am

Moonset

11:02 pm

Low tide

4:12 am

High tide

10:50 am

Low tide

5:24 pm

High tide

11:10 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowfin Bream
Luderick
Yellowtail Kingfish
Southern Calamari (Squid)
Silver Trevally
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Rock Blackfish