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Kewalo Basin Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Kewalo Basin: Honolulu's small-boat harbor for commercial fishing, charter and cruise boats, where state harbor rules ban fishing from its piers, wharves and bulkheads.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 3:35 PM
Air / High
75 / 82 F
Wind
ENE 12 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 1612340, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
9
November 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Kewalo Basin sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 12 mph, falling pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 82. Tides: high 4:07 AM and 3:35 PM, low 11:08 AM and 9:06 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:21 PM-1:21 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Giant trevally (ulua)Fair

This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

Mahi-mahi (dorado)Fair

This band covers much of the season off the Southeast and in the Gulf. Search Sargassum lines and current edges, where bait collects.

Tomorrow: Similar at 82 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Nov 10, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Hawaii requires a fishing licence from age 9, from $5.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Hawaii licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing giant trevally (ulua) here? Check the size and bag limits with DAR before you keep anything. The season dates for Hawaii, read off the agency, are on the Hawaii seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 1612340 (Honolulu, HI). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Mon
HIGH4:07 AM2.3 ft
LOW11:08 AM0.4 ft
HIGH3:35 PM0.8 ft
LOW9:06 PM-0.0 ft
Tue
HIGH4:42 AM2.3 ft
LOW11:54 AM0.4 ft
HIGH4:08 PM0.7 ft
LOW9:33 PM0.0 ft

Honolulu tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp75 F
High / Low82 / 72 F
WindENE 12-27 mph
Pressure1016.6 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain24% cloud, 87%
Sunrise / Sunset06:39 / 17:51
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Kewalo Basin this week

The best day on Kewalo Basin this week looks like Tuesday Nov 10, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Nov 10 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
11:21 PM-1:21 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM
Minor period
6:45 AM-7:45 AM
Sun
06:39 to 17:51
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 15 mph
Rain chance
87%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Kewalo Basin: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Giant trevally (ulua) illustration

Giant trevally (ulua)

Best: night and low light (IGFA)

Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), ulua in Hawaii, is the largest of the Indo-Pacific Caranx jacks, a reef predator that in US waters is fished mainly around the Hawaiian Islands, from shore and from boats. This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

Mahi-mahi (dorado) illustration

Mahi-mahi (dorado)

Follows warm water; spawning timing varies by latitude

Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), also called dolphin or dolphinfish, is a fast-growing open-ocean fish of warm water, caught in US waters from Massachusetts to Texas, around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and from California to Hawaii. This band covers much of the season off the Southeast and in the Gulf. Search Sargassum lines and current edges, where bait collects.

When to come: the Kewalo Basin calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Giant trevally (ulua)
Mahi-mahi (dorado)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

7080JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Kewalo Basin today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Nov 8

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 14 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 14 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 83 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Hawaii requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Residents: no marine recreational license. Nonresidents: Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License (DAR). Kewalo Basin (HAR 15-212-121): no fishing from piers, wharves or bulkhead walls; no casting into the boat channel from the Waikiki side; no nets except scoop nets at the marginal reef. Species size, bag and season rules: see DAR's Hawaii Fishing Regulations.

Access

Kewalo Basin Harbor (HCDA), Kakaako, Honolulu. Fishing is not allowed from its piers, wharves or bulkhead walls.

About this water

A small-boat harbor in Kakaako, Honolulu, managed by the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

Fishing Kewalo Basin: the full guide

A working harbor run by HCDA

Kewalo Basin is managed by the Hawaii Community Development Authority under its harbor rules, Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 15-212. Berths along the front of the basin go first to commercial fishing boats, then to charter or cruise boats, then to pleasure craft.

Where fishing is banned

HCDA rules prohibit fishing from all piers, wharves and bulkhead walls in Kewalo Basin. Casting lines beyond the shallow marginal reef into the boat channel from the Waikiki side of the entrance channel is also banned, and nets are prohibited in the basin and channel except hand-held scoop nets for landing hooked fish at that reef.

Licenses for visitors

Hawaii has no marine recreational fishing license for residents, but nonresidents need a Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License, according to DAR. DAR also warns that harbors and other areas may restrict fishing even where the state regulations booklet does not list them, usually with signs at public access points.

Tides

Tide data on this page come from NOAA's Honolulu station.

Common questions

Can I fish from the harbor walls at Kewalo Basin?

No. HCDA rules prohibit fishing from all piers, wharves and bulkhead walls in the basin.

Do I need a fishing license in Hawaii?

Residents do not need a marine recreational license; nonresidents need a Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License.

Where do the charter boats berth?

Along the front of the basin, where charter and cruise boats rank second for berths after commercial fishing boats.

Is fishing good at Kewalo Basin right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Kailua Bay11 miKaneohe Bay12 miWahiawa Reservoir18 miWaianae Coast23 miWaimea Bay27 miKaunakakai56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 1612340 β€” Honolulu, HI
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 21.2930, -157.8620 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 7, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 7, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.