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)

Sat 31 Oct 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Forecast updated 5:10pm AEDT

Bite Alert

←

31 Oct

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Today Tomorrow Sat 31 Oct

📍 Malabar (Long Bay ledges)

waning gibbous · 75%

Weather: Sunny Wind: N 356° · 19 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 10 s S Water: 18.8 °C Pressure: 1012.5 hPa ↓ falling Faces south-east · Offshore: W, NW, N · Onshore: E, SE, S · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

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▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind NE 7 km/h

Moon waning gibbous all day

Water temp 18.8 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 7:48 pm

High 12:53 am Low 6:20 am High 12:58 pm Low 8:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 2:00 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:22 pm

Moonrise

12:12 am

Moonset

9:53 am

High tide

12:53 am

Low tide

6:20 am

High tide

12:58 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

18°

↑︎

352°

10 km/h

1am

☁️

18°

↑︎

353°

8 km/h

2am

☁️

17°

↑︎

339°

6 km/h

3am

☁️

17°

↖︎

334°

5 km/h

4am

☁️

17°

↗︎

28°

5 km/h

5am

☀️

16°

↗︎

28°

7 km/h

6am

☁️

16°

↑︎

22°

8 km/h

7am

☁️

17°

↑︎

6°

7 km/h

8am

☁️

18°

↑︎

6°

7 km/h

9am

☁️

21°

↑︎

18°

7 km/h

10am

☁️

24°

↑︎

5°

12 km/h

11am

☀️

25°

↑︎

356°

17 km/h

12pm

☀️

28°

↑︎

356°

19 km/h

1pm

☁️

29°

↑︎

346°

19 km/h

2pm

🌧️

27°

↑︎

2°

17 km/h

3pm

🌧️

28°

↗︎

24°

16 km/h

4pm

🌧️

26°

↗︎

30°

15 km/h

5pm

🌧️

25°

↗︎

27°

16 km/h

6pm

🌧️

26°

↗︎

35°

10 km/h

7pm

🌧️

25°

↑︎

4°

14 km/h

8pm

🌧️

23°

↑︎

346°

13 km/h

9pm

🌧️

22°

↑︎

360°

12 km/h

10pm

☀️

23°

↑︎

342°

13 km/h

11pm

🌧️

22°

↖︎

327°

15 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.9 m S

12am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

1am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

2am

1.1 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

3am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

4am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

5am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

6am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Moderate

7am

1.0 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

8am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

9am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

10am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

11am

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

12pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

1pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

2pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

3pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

4pm

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.7 m

@ 10 s

↓︎

Slight

6pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

7pm

0.9 m

@ 7 s

→︎

Slight

chop

8pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

9pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

10pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

11pm

0.9 m

@ 5 s

→︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.8°

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°

Wed

4 Nov

19.2°

Thu

5 Nov

19.2°

Fri

6 Nov

19.2°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 19 km/h N (356°).

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

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

4:00 am → 7:30 am

3h 30m

Good

4:30 pm → 9:00 pm

4h 30m

Good

12:00 am → 2:00 am

First light

5:29 am

Last light

7:48 pm

Sunrise

5:55 am

Sunset

7:22 pm

Moonrise

12:12 am

Moonset

9:53 am

High tide

12:53 am

Low tide

6:20 am

High tide

12:58 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Nearby Spots

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