Do you need a licence to spearfish on the Sunshine Coast?

Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence for normal tidal-water fishing, but you must follow gear, area, size and possession rules.

Can you spearfish on scuba in Queensland?

No. Queensland prohibits using underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel to catch fish.

Is Point Cartwright a good spearfishing spot?

It can be, with small swell and clean water. River current, boats and runoff are the main reasons to skip it.

Can you spearfish in Queensland fresh water?

No. Spearfishing is not allowed in fresh waters.

Are Great Barrier Reef green zones open to spearfishing?

No. Green zones are no-take, so fishing and spearfishing are prohibited.

Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) spearfishing forecast — Australia

Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) · Australia

5.3

wave 1 m

visibility4m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: IPMA · buoys · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 00:14

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC & IH buoys · Copernicus Marine · Sentinel-2
Method: spearo sea-state engine: 6-model consensus + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

updated 00:14

Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 1.0 m + hitting the shore

wave 1 mwind 15, gusts 35 km/hvisibility ~4 mwindow 06:00–09:00

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 4 m · Water 21.1°C

confidence high · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Thursday · today2026-09-10

05:51–17:38 · new moon

▼ 01:00▲ 07:00▼ 12:00▲ 19:00 · 1.9 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide0.10 m

Wave1.72 m

Wind12 km/h

Water21 °C

fish activity: moonrise 05:04 · moderate · moon overhead 10:50 · high · moonset 16:44 · moderate · moon underfoot 23:10 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 1.00 m · roughperiod 6.8 swind 15→35surge 1.2viz 4 m

1.00 mrough · up to ~2.00 · 125° at an angle

6.8 sswell moderate

15→35gusts 35 km/h

1.2weak surge

0.19m/s

4 mrecent swell

21.1°C5 mm + hood

▼12:00tide turn near

Atmosphere4 kmovercast

lowoff the lunar peaks

wave 1.0 m + hitting the shore
steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
just after high water

confidence hightwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Coming soon

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Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

Coolum — Point PerrySunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

Reef under the Point Perry lookout; boulders 2–6 m, bream, snapper. Sheltered on SW wind.

Google Maps

Granite Bay (Noosa NP)Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Moffat Head — Dickys ReefSunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Mooloolaba rock wall (ocean face)Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Noosa NP — Boiling Pot / Tea Tree BaySunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

Reef along the Noosa NP headland; clear water, 3–8 m, snapper, sweetlip. Walk-in from the coastal track.

Google Maps

Point ArkwrightSunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Point CartwrightSunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

Rocky headland reef at the Mooloolah mouth; ledges 3–8 m, snapper, sweetlip, kingfish. Watch the river current.

Google Maps

Shelly Beach (Caloundra)Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Sunshine Beach — rocky outcropsSunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

Look at the water
right now.

Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Noosa River mouth — live (NYRC)YouTube live — Noosa River mouth, Noosa Yacht & Rowing Club. Pinned by videoId (it rotates on a 24 h restart). Read the water before you go.camera: youtube ↗

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

coral trout
Plectropomus leopardus · 3–35 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 38 cm · bag 7 a day · Coral reef fin fish spawning closures on the GBR — two five-day windows a year (2026: 8–12 Oct and 6–10 Nov). · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
redthroat emperor (sweetlip)
Lethrinus miniatus · 8–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 38 cm · bag 8 a day · Coral reef fin fish spawning closures on the GBR — two five-day windows a year (2026: 8–12 Oct and 6–10 Nov). · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
spangled emperor
Lethrinus nebulosus · 3–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 45 cm · bag 5 a day · Coral reef fin fish spawning closures on the GBR — two five-day windows a year (2026: 8–12 Oct and 6–10 Nov). · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
red emperor
Lutjanus sebae · 15–45 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 55 cm · bag 5 a day · Coral reef fin fish spawning closures on the GBR — two five-day windows a year (2026: 8–12 Oct and 6–10 Nov). · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
Spanish mackerel
Scomberomorus commerson · 3–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 75 cm · bag 1 a day · East coast: north of 22°S closed 8–29 Oct and 6–27 Nov 2026, south of 22°S 1–21 Feb and 1–21 Mar. · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
giant trevally (GT)
Caranx ignobilis · 2–25 m · legal
no minimum size · bag 20 a day · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
mangrove jack
Lutjanus argentimaculatus · 1–20 m · legal
min 35 cm · bag 5 a day · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
blackspot tuskfish
Choerodon schoenleinii · 3–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 30 cm · bag 6 a day · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
grass emperor (grass sweetlip)
Lethrinus laticaudis · 2–25 m · legal
min 30 cm · bag 10 a day · ⚠️ Ciguatera area: QLD Health advises against eating large tropical reef predators, avoiding head, roe and liver, and eating no more than 300 g of an unfamiliar warm-water fish.
barramundi
Lates calcarifer · 0–8 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
58–120 cm · bag 5 a day · closed 1 Nov – 31 Jan · Barramundi may not be speared between 18:00 and 06:00 (QLD). · ⚠️ North of Gladstone is estuarine crocodile habitat; assess the site before entering the water.

off season: potato rockcod (potato cod) () · Queensland groper (giant grouper) () · humphead Maori wrasse () · barramundi cod () · red bass () · chinaman fish () · paddletail ()

Law

•Spearfishing in Australia is governed by STATE law, not federal: the licence, the gear, the closed areas, the sizes and the all differ between NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, WA and TAS. Below is your state's pack; cross into the next state and the rules change at the border.
✓Federally listed species are protected everywhere in Australia, in every state and in Commonwealth waters: white and whale sharks, sawfish, marine turtles, marine mammals and the other listed marine species — never shoot, disturb or take them (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
•Marine park zoning applies ON TOP of the state's fishing rules: / Sanctuary / Preservation zones are full no-take, and on the Great Barrier Reef the marine park zoning sits on top of the Queensland rules. Check the boundaries on the managing agency's zone map before you enter the water.
•Two prohibitions coincide in every state we ship a city in: rock lobster may not be taken with a spear or any puncturing device, and all inland (fresh) waters are closed to spearfishing. Abalone may not be speared either. Source: the state fisheries recreational guides.
•QLD: on the material published at qld.gov.au no general is required in tidal waters — but no verbatim confirmation could be found on an official page, so treat this as guidance and check with Queensland DPI. A SIPS permit is needed only in the listed stocked impoundments, and spearfishing is banned in fresh water anyway.
•QLD gear (per qld.gov.au): spear and speargun (bow-propelled spear included) are permitted gear in tidal waters; underwater breathing apparatus may not be used to take fish — snorkel only. A is allowed for shark defence only, never as a method of take. Barramundi may not be speared at night, between 18:00 and 06:00.
•QLD places: spearing is allowed in selected tidal locations only — closed-water restrictions apply, and in fresh water spearfishing is prohibited outright. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning sits on top of the state rules: no fishing in the green and pink zones. Check the boundaries on the GBRMPA map.
•QLD sizes and seasons: coral trout 38 cm (bag 7 across all trout), redthroat emperor 38 cm (8), spangled emperor 45 cm (5), red emperor 55 cm (5), Spanish mackerel 75 cm (1). Snapper and pearl perch are closed 15 Jul – 15 Aug; east-coast barramundi 1 Nov – 31 Jan; the reef spawning closures run five days in October and five in November.

Safety protocol

Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

Spearfishing in Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba): spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing on the Sunshine Coast is best approached as a conditions check across several headlands rather than a single secret spot. Point Cartwright gives ledges near the Mooloolah River mouth, Coolum Point Perry has boulders that can shelter in SW wind, and Noosa National Park offers clear-water reef when the walk and swell are manageable. Queensland rules apply: no general recreational licence covers spearfishing, underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel cannot be used to catch fish, and fresh and closed waters are off limits.

TL;DR

Sunshine Coast spearfishing is a headland-and-river-mouth plan, with Point Cartwright the most direct Mooloolaba option.

Coolum Point Perry can work in SW wind; Noosa National Park needs a walk-in plan and very small swell.

E to SE swell, shore break and Mooloolah River current are the main visibility and safety problems.

Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence for spearfishing, bans it in fresh and closed waters, and does not allow scuba for taking fish.

Sunshine Coast spearfishing spots near Mooloolaba and Noosa

This coast changes fast with swell direction. A spot that is clean at dawn can be milky by late morning if sea breeze, river flow or beach surge builds. Check the Noosa river cameras where useful, watch the Mooloolah mouth, and keep a no-take mindset for any green zone or signed closure.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Point Cartwright	Rocky headland reef at a river mouth	Ledges around 3-8 m	Intermediate, current-aware	Shore entry near the Mooloolah River mouth	The closest Mooloolaba option, with snapper, sweetlip and kingfish potential around ledges. The river mouth is the catch: current, boat movement and dirty runoff can turn a good-looking headland into a poor dive.
Coolum - Point Perry	Boulder reef below the lookout	About 2-6 m	Accessible in small swell	Walk-in from Coolum headland access	A compact reef for bream, snapper and small reef fish. It is often more comfortable in SW wind, but E to SE swell wraps into the stones and makes both visibility and exits worse.

Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

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Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Sunshine Coast spearfishing spots near Mooloolaba and Noosa

Setúbal · Arrábida

Alentejo

Algarve

Madeira

Azores

Spain

Galicia

Cantabrian coast

Andalusia (Atlantic)

Andalusia (Med)

Murcia

Levante

Catalonia

Balearics

Canaries

🇮🇹Italy

Liguria

Tuscany

Lazio

Campania

Calabria

Apulia

Sicily

Sardinia

Central Adriatic

Abruzzo

Emilia-Romagna

Northern Adriatic

🇬🇷Greece

Attica · Saronic

Peloponnese

Crete

Cyclades

Dodecanese

NE Aegean

Sporades · Evia

Ionian

Halkidiki & Thermaikos

Thrace · Kavala

🇫🇷France

Hauts-de-France

Normandy

North Brittany

West Brittany

South Brittany

Pays de la Loire

Charente-Maritime

Aquitaine (Arcachon)

French Basque Country

Occitania

Provence — Côte d'Azur

Corsica

🇹🇷Turkey

Marmara

North Aegean

İzmir

South Aegean

West Mediterranean (Turkey)

Central Mediterranean (Turkey)

Hatay (Gulf of İskenderun)

West Black Sea

Central Black Sea

East Black Sea

🇭🇷Croatia

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.