Is the Kingston SE jetty open?

No. The 161-year-old jetty was damaged by storms in May 2025 and destroyed — split in two — on 24-25 June 2025. As of September 2026 there is no funded rebuild, and the council has said a rebuild will not be achievable before the 2026-27 summer. Any site telling you to fish the Kingston jetty is running stale copy.

When will the Kingston jetty be rebuilt?

Unknown. The damage was assessed at $11.2 million, a like-for-like rebuild was costed around $17 million in a 2022 business case, and engineers recommend rebuilding at least 1.2 metres higher. The State-owned structure sits in a state self-insurance process, and the new Member for MacKillop, elected in March 2026, has made the fix a stated priority. None of that adds up to a start date yet.

Where can you fish in Kingston SE now?

The Maria Creek groyne and foreshore in town for bream, tommies and mullet, the Long Beach surf gutters north toward the Granites for mulloway, salmon and gummy sharks, and Cape Jaffa 22 km south, where the marina rock walls are the district's most sheltered and reliable platform.

Can you keep snapper at Kingston SE?

Yes — the South East is the only zone in SA where snapper are open while the rest of the state is closed until 30 June 2027. Minimum size 38 cm, bag 5, boat limit 15, and every snapper you keep must be reported through the free SA Fishing app or Fishwatch on 1800 065 522. The famous local ground is Margaret Brock Reef, 7 km off Cape Jaffa, which is a boat trip.

Do I need a fishing licence to fish at Kingston SE?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence. Size and bag limits still apply, and the South East zone's rules differ from the gulfs — squid and garfish are open here, for one — so the free SA Fishing app is worth having for the current rules.

Why is the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse in the middle of Kingston?

The 1872 lighthouse originally stood on Margaret Brock Reef, 7 km off Cape Jaffa, and was dismantled and re-erected on Kingston's foreshore. The reef it guarded is still the district's famous snapper and crayfish ground — though the crays there are protected by a rock lobster sanctuary, so leave them to the lighthouse's memories.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Kingston SE

Thu 03 Sep 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

←

3 Sep

tap to pick date

→

Today Tomorrow Sat 5 Sep

📍 Kingston SE

last quarter · 64%

Weather: Sunny Wind: W 257° · 28 km/h Swell: 2.8 m @ 10 s SW Water: 13.7 °C Pressure: 1016.4 hPa → steady

★★☆☆☆

Low Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 pm

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind W 17 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 13.7 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 7:00 pm

1h 30m

First light

6:03 am

Last light

6:17 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:51 pm

Moonrise

—

Moonset

9:20 am

High tide

2:08 am

Low tide

8:50 am

High tide

1:08 pm

Low tide

7:39 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

🌧️

13°

←︎

292°

33 km/h

1am

☀️

14°

↖︎

295°

35 km/h

2am

🌧️

14°

←︎

289°

33 km/h

3am

☀️

14°

←︎

288°

33 km/h

4am

☁️

14°

←︎

290°

35 km/h

5am

🌧️

14°

←︎

276°

36 km/h

6am

🌧️

14°

←︎

250°

30 km/h

7am

☀️

14°

←︎

251°

25 km/h

8am

☀️

14°

←︎

249°

28 km/h

9am

☀️

14°

←︎

249°

27 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

←︎

254°

31 km/h

11am

☀️

15°

←︎

255°

30 km/h

12pm

☀️

15°

←︎

257°

28 km/h

1pm

☀️

15°

←︎

257°

27 km/h

2pm

☀️

15°

←︎

257°

25 km/h

3pm

☀️

14°

←︎

257°

25 km/h

4pm

☁️

14°

←︎

260°

21 km/h

5pm

☀️

13°

←︎

259°

19 km/h

6pm

☀️

13°

←︎

250°

17 km/h

7pm

☀️

12°

←︎

255°

14 km/h

8pm

☀️

13°

←︎

251°

15 km/h

9pm

☀️

12°

←︎

263°

11 km/h

10pm

☁️

12°

←︎

284°

12 km/h

11pm

☁️

13°

↖︎

295°

14 km/h

Hourly Swell

Building 2.1 → 3.5 m SW

12am

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1am

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2am

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

3am

2.1 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

4am

2.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

5am

2.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

6am

2.7 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

7am

2.8 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

8am

2.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Solid

9am

3.0 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Heavy

10am

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

11am

2.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

12pm

2.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

1pm

3.0 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Solid

ground

2pm

3.1 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

3pm

3.2 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

4pm

3.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

5pm

3.3 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

6pm

3.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

7pm

3.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

8pm

3.5 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

9pm

3.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

10pm

3.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

11pm

3.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Heavy

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 13.7°

Mon

31 Aug

13.5°

Tue

1 Sep

13.6°

Wed

2 Sep

13.6°

Thu

3 Sep

13.7°

Fri

4 Sep

13.7°

Sat

5 Sep

13.7°

Sun

6 Sep

13.8°

Mon

7 Sep

13.8°

Tue

8 Sep

14.0°

Wed

9 Sep

14.1°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 28 km/h W (257°).

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

First light

6:03 am

Last light

6:17 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:51 pm

Moonrise

—

Moonset

9:20 am

High tide

2:08 am

Low tide

8:50 am

High tide

1:08 pm

Low tide

7:39 pm

Species at this spot

Mulloway (Jewfish)
Australian Salmon
Southern Calamari (Squid)
King George Whiting
Australian Herring
Gummy Shark
Black Bream
Yellowfin Whiting (Sand Whiting)