Can you fish the Port Kembla breakwall and is it open to the public?

Yes. The Eastern Breakwater is open to the public from dawn to dusk, with access controlled by NSW Ports — it can close during bad weather, port operations or repairs, so check the NSW Ports public access status before you go. The Northern Breakwater is pedestrian-only via Coniston Beach and Seawall Road. You need a paid NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish anywhere in NSW, including here.

Is the inner harbour at Port Kembla closed to fishing?

Yes, and it is worth being precise about which water that is. The Inner Harbour — formerly Tom Thumb's Lagoon — lies west of a line between the navigation lights at the western end of the inner harbour entrance canal, and it is closed to any species by any method, all year. The sheltered water inside the breakwaters is a different basin, the Outer Harbour, where line fishing is legal and only nets and traps other than a landing net are banned. If you are east of the nav-light line you can fish; west of it you cannot.

What can you catch off Port Kembla breakwall?

The outer ocean side produces yellowtail kingfish, tailor, Australian salmon and bonito, mostly on metals, stickbaits and live bait. The sheltered side inside the breakwaters gives up luderick, bream, silver trevally, squid and school mulloway. Kingfish are the standout, holding in the close washes in clear, warm water, and they need to be 65cm to keep with a bag of 5.

Do you need a lifejacket to fish Port Kembla breakwall?

Wear one. Wollongong is a declared rock-fishing area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016 and the council's map shades the natural rock immediately south of the harbour entrance, so a lifejacket is compulsory when you fish with rod, line or handline from naturally occurring rock exposed to ocean swell there. Approved lifejackets are AS 4758 level 50S or greater for adults and level 100 or greater for under-12s, the duty extends to anyone helping you fish, and the fine is $100 on the spot. The outer wall takes the same swell as the platforms next to it, so this is not a spot to go without.

What's the best way to catch kingfish at Port Kembla?

Live bait beats dead bait here. Catch yakkas or slimy mackerel on bait jigs off the sheltered side, then fish them live under a balloon or float in the washes off the Eastern Breakwater. Target the tide changes in clear water with a light north-easterly and a sea temperature around 18C. Use 30–50lb braid and a 40–60lb leader — kings will bury you in the rocks if you go too light.

Is Port Kembla breakwall good for kids?

The sheltered side of the Eastern Breakwater and the area around the boat ramp is calm, and it's a genuine spot to take kids for bream, luderick and squid. Keep children well away from the exposed outer ocean ledges, which face open swell and are not safe for young ones. Keep clear of the closed water west of the entrance canal as well.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port Kembla Breakwall

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

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17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Port Kembla Breakwall

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 160° · 10 km/h Swell: 1.4 m @ 7 s SE Water: 17.8 °C Pressure: 1031.0 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 SW 15 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 6:13 pm

Low 4:53 am High 11:36 am Low 6:30 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

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

8:56 am

Moonset

12:04 am

Low tide

4:53 am

High tide

11:36 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

10°

↙︎

231°

19 km/h

1am

☀️

9°

↙︎

230°

19 km/h

2am

☀️

10°

↙︎

220°

20 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↙︎

218°

19 km/h

4am

☀️

10°

↙︎

221°

20 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↙︎

232°

15 km/h

6am

☀️

9°

↙︎

230°

16 km/h

7am

☀️

10°

↙︎

224°

16 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

225°

14 km/h

9am

☀️

14°

↙︎

211°

15 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

↙︎

203°

13 km/h

11am

☀️

16°

↓︎

191°

10 km/h

12pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

160°

10 km/h

1pm

☀️

17°

↘︎

144°

13 km/h

2pm

☀️

16°

↘︎

140°

16 km/h

3pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

145°

13 km/h

4pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

152°

10 km/h

5pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

157°

7 km/h

6pm

☀️

13°

↓︎

183°

3 km/h

7pm

☀️

12°

↙︎

242°

3 km/h

8pm

☀️

11°

←︎

270°

5 km/h

9pm

☀️

10°

←︎

280°

7 km/h

10pm

☀️

9°

←︎

286°

6 km/h

11pm

☀️

8°

←︎

292°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.6 → 1.0 m S

12am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.1 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.0 m

@ 6 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.0 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Slight

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.8°

Mon

14 Sep

18.0°

Tue

15 Sep

18.1°

Wed

16 Sep

17.9°

Thu

17 Sep

17.8°

Fri

18 Sep

17.8°

Sat

19 Sep

17.9°

Sun

20 Sep

18.0°

Mon

21 Sep

18.1°

Tue

22 Sep

18.1°

Wed

23 Sep

18.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 10 km/h S (160°).

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

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:48 pm

Moonrise

8:56 am

Moonset

12:04 am

Low tide

4:53 am

High tide

11:36 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Yellowtail Kingfish
Tailor
Australian Salmon
Bonito
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Luderick
Yellowfin Bream
Silver Trevally