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

Fri 16 Oct 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

Forecast updated 8:32pm ACDT

Save

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16 Oct

Today

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Today Tomorrow Sun 18 Oct

📍 Kingston SE

waxing crescent · 23%

Weather: Sunny Wind: E 101° · 13 km/h Swell: 0.9 m @ 11 s SW Water: 15.9 °C Pressure: 1025.3 hPa ↑ rising Faces west · Offshore: NE, E, SE · Onshore: SW, W, NW · Forecast wind: offshore

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:00 am

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind NE 14 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 15.9 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Now

Day Timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:59 am Last light 7:53 pm

High 3:15 am Low 8:45 am High 2:30 pm Low 8:00 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

5:00 pm → 6:00 pm

First light

5:59 am

Last light

7:53 pm

Sunrise

6:25 am

Sunset

7:27 pm

Moonrise

9:30 am

Moonset

12:12 am

High tide

3:15 am

Low tide

8:45 am

High tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

9°

↘︎

123°

6 km/h

1am

☁️

9°

→︎

98°

9 km/h

2am

☁️

9°

→︎

93°

10 km/h

3am

☁️

10°

→︎

86°

13 km/h

4am

☁️

10°

→︎

79°

15 km/h

5am

☁️

10°

→︎

72°

15 km/h

6am

☁️

10°

↗︎

65°

14 km/h

7am

☁️

11°

↗︎

66°

16 km/h

8am

☀️

13°

↗︎

64°

16 km/h

9am

☀️

16°

↗︎

56°

17 km/h

10am

☁️

19°

↗︎

55°

16 km/h

11am

☁️

21°

↗︎

46°

18 km/h

12pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

38°

18 km/h

1pm

☁️

21°

↗︎

44°

15 km/h

2pm

☁️

22°

↗︎

51°

14 km/h

3pm

☀️

22°

↗︎

60°

14 km/h

4pm

☁️

22°

→︎

70°

14 km/h

5pm

☁️

22°

→︎

82°

14 km/h

6pm

☁️

20°

→︎

110°

11 km/h

7pm

☀️

18°

↘︎

118°

11 km/h

8pm

☀️

17°

→︎

111°

12 km/h

9pm

☀️

16°

→︎

101°

13 km/h

Now

☀️

15°

→︎

84°

15 km/h

11pm

☀️

15°

→︎

71°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.9 m SW

12am

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1am

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

2am

0.9 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

3am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

4am

0.9 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

5am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

6am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

7am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

8am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

9am

0.8 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

10am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

11am

0.7 m

@ 8 s

↙︎

Slight

12pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

1pm

0.7 m

@ 9 s

↙︎

Slight

2pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

3pm

0.8 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

4pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

5pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

6pm

0.9 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

7pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

8pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

9pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Now

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

11pm

0.9 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Slight

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 15.9°

Tue

13 Oct

15.7°

Wed

14 Oct

15.6°

Thu

15 Oct

15.8°

Fri

16 Oct

15.9°

Sat

17 Oct

16.0°

Sun

18 Oct

16.3°

Mon

19 Oct

16.7°

Tue

20 Oct

16.7°

Wed

21 Oct

17.0°

Thu

22 Oct

16.9°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 13 km/h E (101°).

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 → 7:30 am

2h 30m

Good

7:00 pm → 9:00 pm

Good

5:00 pm → 6:00 pm

First light

5:59 am

Last light

7:53 pm

Sunrise

6:25 am

Sunset

7:27 pm

Moonrise

9:30 am

Moonset

12:12 am

High tide

3:15 am

Low tide

8:45 am

High tide

2:30 pm

Low tide

8:00 pm

Nearby Spots

Robe (Lake Butler Marina & Long Beach) 38.4 km

Species at This Spot