Local guide · North Stradbroke (Point Lookout)Spearfishing in North Stradbroke (Point Lookout): spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-09-05 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing at North Stradbroke means working the Point Lookout headland on slack water and knowing exactly which side of a green-zone line you are on. Cylinder Beach is the sheltered corner and the easiest entry, the South Gorge gutters are the deeper boulder ground, and Amity Point is the bay-side dive when the ocean side is closed out. Shag Rock and Manta Bommie sit in a Marine National Park Zone, so they are look-only. Queensland allows snorkel only, never scuba, and the zoning plan applies on top of the state size and possession limits. Confirm the zone for your exact position before entering.
TL;DR
- Point Lookout is the best shore ground in southeast Queensland: Cylinder Beach is the sheltered 2-6 m corner, and the South Gorge gutters run 3-10 m over boulders.
- Current is the limiting factor rather than depth, so plan the swim around slack water and pick an entry with an obvious exit.
- Green zones sit close by. Under the Marine Parks (Moreton Bay) Zoning Plan 2019, a Marine National Park Zone prohibits all fishing, spearfishing included, and Shag Rock / Manta Bommie is one of them.
- Queensland is breath-hold only: no underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel, and a powerhead is permitted only for defence against sharks.
Where can you dive around North Stradbroke?
Point Lookout carries the good terrain and the strongest current; the bay side at Amity is the fallback in an east swell. Check the zone for your exact position, not for the beach name.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|
| Cylinder Beach | Sheltered reef corner below the headland | 2-6 m | Easy entry | Walk-in from a patrolled beach | Snapper, sweetlip and the odd kingfish are what gets reported. This is a patrolled beach, so keep well clear of swimmers and work the reef corner, not the open sand. |
| Point Lookout — South Gorge | Reef and gutters off the southeast point | 3-10 m | Intermediate, best on slack | Headland walk-in | Boulder gutters holding snapper and trevally. Current runs hard, so this is a slack-water plan, and green zones are close by. |
| Amity Point | Rocky reef with dumped car bodies off the point | 5-15 m | Intermediate bay-side dive | Shore entry on the bay side | The best-known shore dive on the bay side of Straddie. The Amity Banks zoning sheet covers this area, so confirm the zone before spearing. Crayfish, wobbegongs, octopus and stonefish are reported here: watch where you put your hands. |
| Shag Rock / Manta Bommie | Bommie inside a Moreton Bay Marine Park green zone | Boat or long-swim depths | No-take closure | Boat or a strong swim, look only | A Marine National Park Zone where all fishing, spearfishing included, is prohibited. Manta rays and turtles are the attraction, and manta rays are a protected species in Queensland. |
When does Point Lookout work?
The bad sector runs from about 20 to 160 degrees and is worst near 100 degrees, which is the whole east-facing arc of the point. A westerly holds the ocean side down and lets the gutters clean up, while anything with east in it pushes you to the bay side at Amity. Current matters more than swell: the flow across the point is strong, so the session is planned around slack. There is no visibility baseline recorded for the city, so the call is made from the headland.
Which water around Straddie is a green zone?
Under the Marine Parks (Moreton Bay) Zoning Plan 2019, a Marine National Park Zone prohibits all fishing, including spearfishing. Several sit around the island: Offshore North Stradbroke Island, Flat Rock, Amity Banks, Myora Reef, Wanga Wallen Bank and the Mirapool Islands offshore area, and Shag Rock with Manta Bommie is inside that green-zone system. Use the zone names rather than any distance from town, because the boundaries follow the zoning maps, not the coastline. Deadmans Beach and Frenchmans Beach sit beside the Point Lookout green-zone complex, so treat an unclear boundary as closed.
What are the Queensland gear rules?
Queensland permits a spear or speargun, including a bow for propelling a spear, in selected tidal water locations, and it is breath-hold hunting only: you cannot use underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel to catch fish. A powerhead is not permitted except for defence against sharks. All fresh waters are closed to spearfishing, and you cannot spearfish for barramundi between 6pm and 6am. Confirm licence and permit requirements directly with Fisheries Queensland; a Stocked Impoundment Permit applies in listed stocked freshwater impoundments, where spearfishing is banned in any case.
What can you legally spear at North Stradbroke?
Snapper, sweetlip, trevally, kingfish and mackerel are the fish reported off these rocks, and the numbers come from the Queensland limits table. Note the Queensland wording carefully: the published numbers are possession limits, not daily bag limits, and they include fish in your freezer at home. Grass emperor, the inshore sweetlip, is 30 cm with a limit of 10. Giant trevally has no size limit and sits in a combined limit of 20 across all trevally species. Spanish mackerel is 75 cm with a limit of one per person on the east coast. Snapper and pearl perch are closed in east coast tidal waters from 15 July to 15 August each year, and south of 22 degrees south Spanish mackerel is closed from 1 to 21 February and 1 to 21 March.
Which species are no-take in Queensland?
Queensland groper, potato rockcod, barramundi cod and humphead Maori wrasse are all listed as no-take, and so are the ciguatera-vector species red bass, chinaman fish and paddletail. Grey nurse sharks, hammerheads, white sharks, manta rays, sawfish and giant clams are protected as well, which matters at Manta Bommie in particular. The practical hazards are the ones divers mention themselves: hard current off the point, stonefish and wobbegongs on the Amity structure, and a coast filed at moderate shark risk.
FAQ
Can you spearfish at North Stradbroke Island?
Yes, in open tidal water outside the Moreton Bay Marine Park green zones, where a Marine National Park Zone prohibits all fishing, spearfishing included.
Can you spearfish at Shag Rock or Manta Bommie?
No. Both sit in a Moreton Bay Marine Park green zone, which is look-only, and manta rays are protected in Queensland.
Can you use scuba to spearfish in Queensland?
No. You cannot use underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel to take fish, so Queensland spearfishing is breath-hold only.
Do you need a licence to spearfish at Point Lookout?
Confirm current licence and permit requirements with Fisheries Queensland. A Stocked Impoundment Permit applies in listed stocked freshwater impoundments, and spearfishing is banned in fresh water anyway.
When is snapper closed in Queensland?
Snapper and pearl perch are closed in east coast tidal waters from 15 July to 15 August each year.
Are powerheads legal in Queensland?
Only for defence against sharks. A powerhead is not permitted for taking fish.
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