Washaway Beach (North Harbour)

Washaway is a pocket of white sand at the foot of Dobroyd Head, the first beach north of Grotto Point inside Sydney Harbour National Park, and it has a reputation as one of the most reliable tailor spots in the whole harbour. It faces east into North Harbour, close enough to the heads that clean ocean-flushed water washes straight past the sand and the rock at either end. In summer the beach is regularly clouded with bait pushed into the shallows by pelagics, and when that happens it goes off — surface fish hammer from above while flathead and bream work the same bait from below. The rocky point at the southern end is genuinely the harbour's best shore-based shot at a quality kingfish. It is small, awkward to reach and sometimes not there at all, which is exactly why it stays uncrowded.

Most sessions are worked with metals and stickbaits across the wash, casting into bait schools and around the rock at the northern corner, which is consistently the most productive end. The first and last hour of daylight on a run-in tide are the prime windows, and the bigger tides that move the most water tend to fire the bait up. For tailor and salmon, fast-retrieved chrome slugs do the damage; for the resident bream and flathead, lightly weighted soft plastics and unweighted baits drifted through the gutters along the sand work well. The serious kingfish play is at the southern rocky point — a live yellowtail fished hard against the structure on a heavy outfit, since the aquatic reserve here rules out jigging your own squid. Watch for birds and spraying bait, then get a cast in fast, because the blitz windows here are short.

Tailor are the headline act and turn up year-round, but the run from spring through autumn is when they school thickest, often alongside chopper-sized fish smashing bait in the shallows. Through summer and into autumn the southern rocks give up the odd kingfish to anglers fishing live bait, and from autumn into winter Australian salmon move through with the cooler water. Yellowfin bream and dusky flathead are the dependable bottom fish, holding along the sand and the rock edges all year and biting best in the warmer months. Silver trevally show on the bait schools alongside them. On a good summer morning with bait in close, landing five or six different species in a session is realistic.

Time the tide before the swell — the sand can be completely gone at high water and in any solid south-east blow, so a low to mid tide on a calm morning is when there is actually a beach to stand on. Know the rules before you pack, because Washaway sits inside the North Harbour (Sydney) Aquatic Reserve: hand-held line for finfish only, and no taking any invertebrate, squid and cuttlefish expressly included, so every bait comes in with you. Spearfishing is out twice over — the reserve bans it, and so does the separate Port Jackson spearfishing closure covering all of North Harbour north of the Grotto Point to outer North Head line. Little penguins nest across the harbour at Manly, and the declared critical habitat — Little Manly Point through Collins, Store and Quarantine Beaches to Cannae Point, plus the Manly Point foreshore, each reaching 50 metres out from the high-water mark — is closed to all fishing between sunset and sunrise from 1 July to 28 February. Washaway sits round at Dobroyd Head, outside those areas, so a night session here is legal; it is the Manly side that shuts. The northern corner near the rock is the spot to start; work it in the first hour of light rather than before sunrise. Carry your metals and a couple of stickbaits rather than a tackle box, because the walk in punishes anyone who over-packs. This is harbour water east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where the health advice is to eat no more than about 150 grams of your catch a month, so most of what you land is better off going back. Pack out every scrap of line and rig — this is national park, it gets foot traffic from walkers, and it stays clean because the regulars keep it that way. If the bait has not arrived, do not stand and wait; this is a spot you fish when it is on.

There is no road to the sand. Access is on foot via the Manly Scenic Walkway, reached from Tania Park on Dobroyd Head or from the Clontarf and Castle Rock end, then an unmarked side track off the main path near Grotto Point Lighthouse. The final drop to the beach is a steep rock scramble of around five metres at the northern end, so it is not suitable for prams, wheelchairs or anyone unsure on their feet. There are no toilets, no bins and no facilities at the beach itself — the nearest amenities are back at Clontarf or Tania Park. It can be a fun adventure with older, sure-footed kids who treat it as a bushwalk-plus-fishing trip, but it is the wrong choice for toddlers or a casual family beach day.

The beach fishes best on calm to light mornings with a low to mid tide and clean water moving through on the run-in. North Harbour gives it some shelter, but it faces enough open water that a decent south-east swell or a strong onshore wind will blow it out and chop up the wash. Big south-east storms do not just make it unfishable — they physically strip the sand back to the rock bed, which is how the beach earned its name. After a blow, give it a few tides to settle and for the sand to rebuild. The summer pattern of warm water and bait getting pushed inshore is what triggers the best sessions.

This is a rock-and-ocean spot despite the sand, and it deserves respect. The southern point and the rock at either end get washed by swell and ground sets, the surfaces are slick with weed and slime, and people fishing harbour-mouth ledges like these have come unstuck in exactly these conditions — never turn your back on the water and never fish the rock in a building swell. 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 — level 50S or greater for adults, level 100 or greater for under-12s, covering anyone helping you and any child under 12 in your care — with a $100 on-the-spot fine for going without. This rock takes swell, so wear one regardless, with cleated boots or rock plates. National Parks is running a 1080 fox-baiting program across Dobroyd Head and the neighbouring harbour headlands through to 31 January 2027, and the baited ground is signed, so keep dogs on a lead and well clear of baits and ejector devices. The scramble down to the beach is steep and greasy when wet. The sand itself can vanish under a rising tide, leaving you cut off against the rocks, so know the tide before you commit. Add the usual bluebottles on a north-easterly, oyster-cut hands on the rock, and a long walk back out if anything goes wrong and there is no quick exit.

It earns the reputation. Washaway is widely rated one of the most reliable tailor spots in the harbour, especially from spring through autumn when bait gets pushed into the shallows and the surface fish blitz. Just be aware the sand can be absent after a storm or at high tide, so time your trip for low to mid tide in settled weather. You will need a NSW Recreational Fishing Fee to fish here, as you do anywhere in NSW.

There is no road access. You walk in via the Manly Scenic Walkway from Tania Park on Dobroyd Head or from the Clontarf and Castle Rock end, then take an unmarked side track near Grotto Point Lighthouse and scramble down a steep five-metre rock section at the northern end. Park at Tania Park or Clontarf and expect a decent bushwalk in either direction. There are no toilets or facilities at the beach itself.

Yes — the rocky point at the southern end is often called Sydney Harbour's best shore-based access to quality kingfish. Fish a live yellowtail hard against the structure on a heavy outfit through summer and early autumn, caught on a bait jig rather than a squid jig, because squid cannot lawfully be taken inside the aquatic reserve. The NSW minimum size for yellowtail kingfish is 65cm and the bag limit is 5.

Fishing is allowed, and yes, Washaway is inside the reserve. DPI describes the North Harbour (Sydney) Aquatic Reserve as the waters of North Harbour between North Head and Dobroyd Head, out to the line drawn from the eastern end of Forty Baskets Beach to Manly Point, which puts this east-facing beach at the foot of Dobroyd Head squarely inside it. That means finfish on a hand-held line and nothing else — no spearfishing, no nets or traps, and no squid, shellfish, worms or other invertebrates, dead or alive — so bring every bait in with you. Little penguins also use this harbour, but the declared critical habitat sits over on the Manly side — Little Manly Point through Collins, Store and Quarantine Beaches to Cannae Point, plus the Manly Point foreshore — so the sunset-to-sunrise closure from 1 July to 28 February does not reach Washaway. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required as well.

Yes. The Northern Beaches local government area is declared 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. Adults need Australian Standard AS 4758 level 50S or greater and children under 12 need level 100 or greater, with a $100 on-the-spot fine for going without, and the duty covers anyone helping you as well. Wear cleated boots or rock plates, watch for swell and ground sets, and never fish the rock in a building sea.