Fishing in Kiama, from the harbour breakwall to the Minnamurra River

Plan your Kiama fishing trip in a minute

Kiama gives you a lot of fishing in a small area. Destination Kiama lists seven shore spots in the municipality: the Minnamurra River, Kiama Harbour, Blowhole Point, Werri Beach, Crooked River, Black Head and Seven Mile Beach. Add the town beaches, a working charter fleet and several boat ramps, and you can fish somewhere different every day of a long weekend.

• Licence: $7 for 3 days, $14 for 1 month, $35 for 1 year or $85 for 3 years, bought online through Service NSW
• Under 18: no fee to pay
• On a charter: Kiama Charter Service says you don't need a personal licence on its boats
• Calmest water: the Minnamurra River estuary
• Easiest access: Kiama Harbour, with parking and a cafe close by
• Emergency: call 000

Destination Kiama says DPI Fisheries Officers regularly patrol Kiama's foreshores, waterways and boat ramps, so carry your licence receipt and know the bag and size limits before you wet a line.

Fish Kiama Harbour and the breakwall

Kiama Harbour, tucked in behind Blowhole Point, is where most visitors start. It is the town's working harbour: Kiama Charter Service leaves from here, and there is a boat ramp inside the harbour. The water inside the harbour is far calmer than the open rock platforms around it, which makes it the easiest place to fish with children.

Fishing Australia's Kiama guide names the harbour breakwall as a night spot for squid and trevally. Bring a torch, a squid jig and a light jacket, and keep clear of boats using the ramp.

The harbour is a 33-minute walk (2.7 km) or about 6 minutes by car from Kiama Ridge Waters. Open Kiama Harbour on Google Maps for directions, and see our Kiama Harbour guide and Kiama fish and chips for what else is there.

Try these Kiama fishing spots without a boat

Most fishing in Kiama is land-based. These are the spots Destination Kiama and Fishing Australia name, with the species Fishing Australia lists for each. Treat the species as a guide to what anglers commonly target, not a promise, and ask at a local tackle shop for what is biting this week.

Blowhole Point

The headland around the Kiama Blowhole is the town's most famous rock spot, listed for yellowtail kingfish and snapper. Fishing Australia advises fishing it only in low swell. It is also the most dangerous spot in this guide: read the rock safety section below before you go. Map

Easts Beach

This is the closest beach to the apartments, a 15-minute walk (1.3 km) away. Fishing Australia lists the gutters here for whiting and dart. It is a 350 m beach between Marsden Head and a southern headland, patrolled by council lifeguards over summer, so fish early or late and stay clear of swimmers. See our Easts Beach guide. Map

Bombo Beach

The long beach north of town, about 7 minutes' drive away, listed for tailor and Australian salmon. Fishing Australia says it fishes well in the cooler months, when an offshore wind grooms the surf and a high tide shows up the gutters. See our Bombo guide. Map

Cathedral Rocks

The rock stacks at Kiama Downs, listed for black drummer and luderick around the top of the tide with a moderate wash. This is exposed rock, so only fish it on a calm day. See our Cathedral Rocks guide. Map

Werri Beach, Gerringong

About 9 minutes' drive south. Destination Kiama lists it as a shore spot, and Fishing Australia suggests late evening on a rising tide. See our Werri Beach guide. Map

Seven Mile Beach, Crooked River and Black Head, Gerroa

Three spots close together about 15 minutes' drive south. Seven Mile Beach is listed for whiting and bream on a rising tide at dawn or dusk. The Crooked River mouth is listed for flathead and bream on the run-out tide. Black Head is the rocky headland at Gerroa, named by Destination Kiama as a shore spot. See our Seven Mile Beach and Gerroa guides. Map

Fish the calm water of the Minnamurra River

When the swell is up, head north to the Minnamurra River, about 12 minutes' drive from the apartments. The estuary is sheltered from the ocean, and Fishing Australia lists its sandy drop-offs for lure fishing for flathead and bream. It is the spot we would pick for families and anyone new to fishing.

You can fish from the banks around the river mouth at James Oates Reserve, which has parking, toilets, barbecues and a playground, or launch a kayak or small boat from the council ramps covered below. A low tide uncovers wide sandbanks inside the river mouth.

See our Minnamurra guide for the village, and note that the Minnamurra Rainforest is upstream in Budderoo National Park, not on the estuary.

Know what fish you can catch in Kiama

Kiama sits on a coast of rock headlands, surf beaches, an estuary and offshore reefs, so the catch changes with where you fish. This table draws on what the local charter operators state for their own trips and on Fishing Australia's spot guide.

Fishing Australia adds that summer and autumn are the main game fishing months, when warm water pushes baitfish close to the cliffs, and that strong southerly swells make the deep rock shelves dangerous. Bag and size limits apply to most of these species: check the NSW DPI recreational fishing rules, which Destination Kiama links to from its fishing page.

Book a Kiama fishing charter

A charter is the easiest way to reach Kiama's reefs, and it takes the gear and the licence off your list. All three operators below work out of Kiama or come to you, and you book by phone or through their sites. Trips run weather permitting, so keep a back-up day free.

Launch from a Kiama boat ramp

Kiama Council looks after the ramps below, and there is also a ramp inside Kiama Harbour. Check the swell and the tide before you tow, and log on with Marine Rescue NSW on VHF channel 16 or the free Marine Rescue NSW app before you head out.

Rock fish safely or not at all

Kiama's rock platforms are beautiful and deadly. Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald has described Kiama, particularly Blowhole Point, as the second-most deadly place for rock fishing in NSW, with 11 rock fishing deaths in 15 years.

Kiama is a declared high-risk rock fishing area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016. The declared areas cover the rock platforms in seven areas: Minnamurra Headland, Kiama Downs, Kiama Central, Kiama South, the Kiama Coast Walk, Gerringong and Gerroa. Anyone fishing from the rock platforms in the declared areas must wear an approved lifejacket, and NSW Police and DPI Fisheries can issue on-the-spot fines. The NSW Government's rock fishing lifejacket law page has the Kiama declared areas map, and council's rock fishing safety page has local safety advice.

In October 2025 Surf Life Saving NSW and Kiama Council announced a 14-month trial of AI cameras at the Kiama Blowhole, which alert the Surf Life Saving NSW State Operations Centre when they detect an emergency.

• Check the swell, wind and tide forecast before you leave, and walk away if it looks wrong when you arrive.
• Watch a few sets of waves break over the platform before you set up.
• Never turn your back on the ocean.
• Wear a lifejacket and non-slip footwear.
• Never fish alone, and tell someone where you are going.
• If someone is washed in, call 000 straight away.

Get your NSW fishing licence before you go

Anyone 18 or over fishing in NSW waters, salt or fresh, needs to pay the NSW recreational fishing fee unless an exemption applies. Under 18s are exempt, and so are holders of some pensioner concession cards, but not Seniors Cards or Health Care Cards: check the NSW DPI exemption list if you think you qualify.

• 3 days: $7
• 1 month: $14
• 1 year: $35
• 3 years: $85

Buy it online through Service NSW and keep the receipt with you while you fish. On a charter, ask the operator whether its exemption covers you. Kiama Charter Service says its boat is licensed by NSW Fisheries, so guests don't need their own licence.

Gather bait the local way

Fishing Australia describes three ways anglers gather fresh bait around Kiama. Pump pink nippers on intertidal sand flats at low tide, and keep them alive in shallow seawater or on a damp sponge. Catch poddy mullet in a legal clear plastic trap in shallow estuary margins. On the beaches, drag a fish frame through the receding wash to bring up beach worms, then pinch them out. Check the DPI rules on bait traps and limits before you start.

Stay near the water at Kiama Ridge Waters

Stay at Kiama Ridge Waters and you can fish a different spot each morning. Easts Beach is a 15-minute walk and Kendalls Beach 16 minutes, the harbour is about 6 minutes by car, and the Minnamurra River and Gerringong ramps are both within about 12 minutes' drive.

Each apartment has secure garage parking for two cars, room for the rods, a full kitchen with oven and gas cooktop, and a BBQ for cooking the catch. If you plan to bring a boat trailer, ask us before you book. If friends are coming too, book several apartments for a fishing group. If the dog is coming, most of our apartments take pets, with a $200 cleaning fee: see pet-friendly accommodation in Kiama.

Browse the three-bedroom apartments in Kiama or check availability. Check-in is from 3pm and check-out is by 10am, so an early start on your last day still works.