Can you collect cunjevoi or pump worms for bait at Mona Vale Headland?

No. Mona Vale Headland is a declared Intertidal Protected Area, which means collecting cunjevoi, worms, crabs, shellfish and all other invertebrates from the rocks is prohibited, and you cannot kill cunjevoi to berley fish. Line fishing is allowed — you just have to bring your own bait, such as bread, prawns or weed, within the recreational bag limits. You also need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish anywhere in NSW.

Do you have to wear a lifejacket to rock fish at Mona Vale?

Yes. The Northern Beaches is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and the law requires an appropriate lifejacket when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell — which is what the Mona Vale platform is. Adults need Australian Standard AS 4758 level 50S or greater, and children under 12 need level 100 or greater. It also covers anyone helping someone else fish, and anyone supervising a child who is fishing. Going without can attract a $100 on-the-spot fine.

What fish can you catch off Mona Vale Headland?

It is best known for drummer (rock blackfish) and luderick, which peak from autumn through winter when weed grows thick on the rocks. You will also find yellowfin bream and silver trevally year-round, tailor and Australian salmon on the spin through the cooler months, sand whiting in summer, and the odd snapper off the deeper reef. Eastern blue groper are resident in the Basin, but they are protected and release-only, so they are a fish to watch rather than catch.

Can you keep blue groper caught at Mona Vale?

No. Eastern blue groper is a no-take, release-only species everywhere in NSW, and the line fishing prohibition on it has been extended to 1 March 2028. Any groper that grabs a bait — and they are common in Bongin Bongin Bay — has to go back, and none should be targeted. Handle it gently in the water and let it swim off. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is still required to fish the area.

Is Mona Vale Headland a good spot for beginners or kids?

It is one of the gentler ocean rock platforms on the Northern Beaches — the lower ledges are a short, mostly flat walk from the Surfview Road car park, with toilets and showers nearby. That said, it is still exposed to ocean swell and the rock gets slippery, so it suits supervised, settled-weather sessions only. Anyone fishing or helping to fish must wear a lifejacket, children under 12 included, and the Basin is not patrolled by lifeguards.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Mona Vale Headland (Bongin Bongin)

Wed 09 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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9 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Mona Vale Headland (Bongin Bongin)

waning crescent · 8%

Weather: Cloudy Wind: S 174° · 23 km/h Swell: 0.8 m @ 6 s SE Water: 18.2 °C Pressure: 1022.2 hPa → steady

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Turning

Wind NW 12 km/h

Moon waning crescent all day

Water temp 18.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:38 am Last light 6:06 pm

Low 12:11 am High 6:09 am Low 11:50 am High 6:11 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:30 am

First light

5:38 am

Last light

6:06 pm

Sunrise

6:02 am

Sunset

5:42 pm

Moonrise

4:46 am

Moonset

3:36 pm

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:09 am

Low tide

11:50 am

High tide

6:11 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

11°

↖︎

302°

10 km/h

1am

☀️

10°

↖︎

302°

11 km/h

2am

☀️

10°

↖︎

306°

12 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↖︎

303°

13 km/h

4am

☀️

9°

↖︎

303°

11 km/h

5am

☁️

9°

↖︎

316°

11 km/h

6am

☀️

10°

↖︎

314°

12 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↖︎

303°

11 km/h

8am

☀️

13°

↖︎

300°

7 km/h

9am

☀️

17°

↙︎

243°

8 km/h

10am

☀️

19°

↙︎

204°

8 km/h

11am

☁️

20°

↓︎

197°

14 km/h

12pm

☁️

19°

↓︎

174°

23 km/h

1pm

🌧️

17°

↓︎

177°

27 km/h

2pm

🌧️

17°

↓︎

176°

29 km/h

3pm

🌧️

16°

↓︎

179°

32 km/h

4pm

☁️

16°

↓︎

176°

31 km/h

5pm

☀️

16°

↓︎

172°

32 km/h

6pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

175°

31 km/h

7pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

176°

29 km/h

8pm

☀️

15°

↓︎

176°

31 km/h

9pm

☁️

15°

↓︎

178°

33 km/h

10pm

☁️

14°

↓︎

177°

27 km/h

11pm

☀️

14°

↓︎

184°

25 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 1.1 → 1.7 m S

12am

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

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

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

10am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

11am

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

12pm

0.8 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

1pm

0.7 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

2pm

0.6 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

3pm

0.5 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

4pm

0.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Calm

chop

5pm

0.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

6pm

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

7pm

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Slight

8pm

1.1 m

@ 8 s

↘︎

Moderate

9pm

1.3 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

10pm

1.6 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.7 m

@ 8 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 18.2°

Sun

6 Sep

18.3°

Mon

7 Sep

18.4°

Tue

8 Sep

18.2°

Wed

9 Sep

18.2°

Thu

10 Sep

18.1°

Fri

11 Sep

18.1°

Sat

12 Sep

18.2°

Sun

13 Sep

18.2°

Mon

14 Sep

18.3°

Tue

15 Sep

18.4°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 23 km/h S (174°).

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 → 7:00 am

Good

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

Good

9:30 am → 11:30 am

First light

5:38 am

Last light

6:06 pm

Sunrise

6:02 am

Sunset

5:42 pm

Moonrise

4:46 am

Moonset

3:36 pm

Low tide

12:11 am

High tide

6:09 am

Low tide

11:50 am

High tide

6:11 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Rock Blackfish
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Silver Trevally
Sand Whiting