Auckland fishes two seas from one city: the Hauraki Gulf/TÄ«kapa Moana and the WaitematÄ Harbour to the east, and the Manukau Harbour and the west coast beaches to the west. LINZ predicts both sides directly, from the Auckland and Onehunga standard ports, and the Manukau side has the bigger tide: a mean spring range of 3.61 m at Onehunga against 2.86 m at Auckland.
Reports current for Thursday, 8 October
Every one of the 31 Auckland waters we cover has a live read this morning. 3 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better, and none is slow. Water runs 15 Ā°C to 16 Ā°C. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind.
Best right now: Mahurangi 4/5, Åmaha 4/5, Snells Beach 4/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The WaitematÄ Harbour and the inner Hauraki Gulf at the cityās edge, launched from council ramps such as Westhaven and Åkahu Bay, with the tide taken from LINZās Auckland standard port.
A beach town on the Årewa River, with council dinghy ramps on Marine Parade and MPIās WhangaparÄoa Peninsula closure beginning at the river.
A point on the Manukau Harbourās WaitÄkere shore with a restored 200-metre wharf, inside the set-net ban that MPI applies across the harbour entrance.
A Tasman Sea surf beach north-west of Auckland, fished from the sand and the rocks, closed to set nets and open to permit-holding drivers around low tide.
An east Auckland beach with two council ramps, and MPIās cockle closure at Umupuia Beach just along the coast.
The Manukau Harbourās standard tide port, with a council ramp at Orpheus Drive and two fishing bays on the NgÄ Hau MÄngere bridge to MÄngere Bridge.
A bay on Aucklandās south-eastern coast with an all-tide concrete ramp beside the jetty and regional parks on both sides.
A North Shore beach on the inner Hauraki Gulf with three council ramps on the Takapuna Beach Reserve.
A WaitematÄ peninsula suburb with two high-tide ramps at Raymond Reserve and a marine reserve on its western side at Waterview.
Aucklandās big west-coast harbour, launched from council ramps from MÄngere Bridge to the Manukau Heads, with a bar the harbourmaster warns can be dangerous.
A Kaipara Harbour settlement with a council ramp, tides that LINZ calculates from Port Taranaki, and the Kaipara bar between the harbour and the open sea.
An east Auckland suburb with all-tide council ramps at Half Moon Bay, set nets banned on the TÄmaki River and shellfish closures nearby.
A TÄmaki Drive beach with a small-boat council ramp beside the TÄmaki Yacht Club.
A North Shore suburb with council ramps from Torpedo Bay to Narrow Neck and shellfish gathering banned at Cheltenham Beach.
A peninsula ringed by council ramps from Gulf Harbour to Army Bay, where MPI closed the rock pools and inshore strip to invertebrate and seaweed harvest for two years from March 2026.
A WaitÄkere Ranges surf beach fished from the sand and the rocks, with no council ramp and set nets banned along the whole coast.
An east Auckland beach where MPI bans shellfish gathering, with a concrete council ramp reached from The Esplanade car park.
A west-coast surf beach south of the Manukau Heads, reached by permit-only beach driving and closed to set netting.
An East Coast Bays beach with its own LINZ tide station and a council boat ramp, a few kilometres south of the Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve.
A sandspit settlement between the Whangateau Harbour and Åmaha Bay, with a four-lane council ramp on the harbour side and a 2026 MPI shellfish closure along the open coast.
A bay at the base of the WhangaparÄoa Peninsula with three one-lane council ramps, on a shore MPI closed to shellfish gathering in March 2026.
A settlement on the southern Manukau Harbour with a LINZ tide port of its own and the closest council ramps at Glenbrook Beach.
A Hauraki Gulf island ringed since August 2026 by a one-nautical-mile MPI closure on mussels, pÄua and packhorse rock lobster, with Te Matuku Marine Reserve in its south-east corner.
A Franklin town on the southern reaches of the Manukau Harbour, with no council ramp of its own and a LINZ tide port beside it.
A sheltered harbour north of Auckland, with shore fishing at Mahurangi West and the Kawau Bay High Protection Area off Mahurangi East.
An East Coast Bays beach where the entire shore belongs to the Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve, so every kind of fishing is banned.
A North Shore beach suburb on the Hauraki Gulf with a boat and dinghy ramp at its beach reserve and the Murrays Bay tide station 2 km south.
A south Auckland suburb on the upper Manukau Harbour with two council foreshore ramps and its own LINZ tide port.
A North Shore beach between Castor Bay and Takapuna, with trailer-boat ramps at Milford Reserve and the Wairau Estuary and dinghy ramps along the beachfront.
A Kawau Bay beach with four council ramps, inside MPIās 2026 Kawau Bay shellfish closure and beside DOCās Kawau Bay protection areas.
The tip of the WhangaparÄoa Peninsula, with two council ramps, surfcasting at high tide and the Tiritiri Matangi Seafloor Protection Area starting at the shore.
Species activity across the covered waters, written for the southern year. Peak of the year: January.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for the dominant water type here, in degrees Celsius (estimated, not a reading).
Read from the agency page named on each row, on the date shown, and calculated for 2026 from the rule as written: a date written as a day of the week is computed, not copied. Species with no published closure are not listed, which is not the same as open.
| Fishery | 2026 | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitebait season | Open 2026-09-01 to 2026-10-30 | Whitebaiting is allowed only from 1 September to 30 October inclusive, 5 am to 8 pm (6 am to 9 pm in daylight saving). The West Coast has its own gear rules, not different dates. | Department of Conservation, whitebaiting regulations, read 2026-10-07 |
| Coromandel scallop fishery (SCA CS) closed | Closed, no reopening date | All of the Coromandel scallop fishery, from Cape Rodney to Town Point near Maketu, is closed to scallop fishing; the last two open beds (Hauturu/Little Barrier and Colville Channel) closed in March 2023. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Kaipara Harbour: no scallops | Closed, no reopening date | MPI lists Kaipara Harbour as closed to taking scallops. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Scallop season, Auckland and Kermadec | Open 2026-09-01 to 2027-03-31 | Where scallop beds are not closed, the season runs 1 September to 31 March; 20 a day, 100 mm minimum. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Spiny rock lobster closed, Cape Rodney to Port Jackson | Closed, no reopening date | Since 1 April 2025 spiny (red) rock lobster may not be taken or possessed in the Hauraki Gulf area between Cape Rodney and Port Jackson. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Åmaha Bay, Kawau Bay and WhangaparÄoa rock-pool closure | Closed, no reopening date (part of the water) | Two-year closure from 12 March 2026: no invertebrates or seaweed from the rock pools and out to 200 metres, kina excepted. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Waiheke Island shellfish closure | Closed, no reopening date (part of the water) | Two-year closure from 7 August 2026 within 1 nautical mile of Waiheke: no mussels, pÄua or packhorse rock lobster. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| No shellfish gathering | Closed, no reopening date (part of the water) | Shellfish gathering is banned at Eastern Beach and Cheltenham Beach. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Whangateau Harbour: no cockles or pipi | Closed, no reopening date (part of the water) | No cockles or pipi may be taken in Whangateau Harbour. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
DOCās Hauraki Gulf Marine Park covers more than 1.2 million hectares, taking in the WaitematÄ, the Firth of Thames and the Coromandelās east coast, with over 50 islands. The Hauraki Gulf/TÄ«kapa Moana Marine Protection Act took effect on 25 October 2025 and added 19 areas, two marine reserve extensions, 12 high protection areas and five seafloor protection areas, from the MokohÄ«nau Islands to the Aldermen Islands. In a high protection area recreational fishing and taking any seafood are banned; in a seafloor protection area line fishing, spearfishing and hand gathering are allowed as long as the seafloor is not damaged. The older marine reserves stay closed to all fishing: Cape Rodney-Okakari Point (Goat Island), TÄwharanui, Long Bay-Okura, MÅtÅ« Manawa-Pollen Island and Te Matuku.
Spiny rock lobster has been closed from Cape Rodney to Port Jackson since 1 April 2025, and since March 2023 scallops have been closed across the whole Coromandel fishery (SCA CS), whose last open beds were around Hauturu/Little Barrier Island and the Colville Channel. From 12 March 2026 MPI closed the rock pools of Åmaha Bay, Kawau Bay and the WhangaparÄoa Peninsula, out to 200 m, to invertebrates and seaweed. Waiheke Island is closed to mussels, pÄua and packhorse rock lobster within 1 nautical mile from 7 August 2026, and Umupuia Beach to cockles. MPI also sets a reduced shellfish daily bag for the Auckland and Coromandel area, and an anchoring and seabed-contact fishing ban (to stop exotic caulerpa) along Aotea Great Barrier Islandās western coast, with Port Fitzroy exempt from the anchoring permit.
The west side runs on Onehungaās tide: LINZ refers Clarks Beach, Cornwallis, Waiuku, Weymouth, Anawhata, Piha Beach, Te Henga / Bethells Beach and Muriwai Beach to it, and publishes a daily table for Paratutae Island. Helensville and Shelly Beach, by contrast, are referred to Port Taranaki. Set netting is banned at the Manukau Harbour entrance between Taumatarea Point and Matakawau Point, at Muriwai Beach and at Karekare, where shellfish gathering is banned too.
Auckland Council lists its public ramps by area (central and Gulf islands, east, north, south and west) and asks boaties to check vessels and gear for pests before launching. In fresh water, Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game regularly stocks three lakes within an hour of the city and reports wild trout in the Mangatawhiri and Mangatangi reservoirs; trout need a Fish & Game licence.
It depends on the type. High protection areas allow no recreational fishing or seafood gathering at all; seafloor protection areas allow low-impact fishing such as rod and line, spearfishing and hand gathering. At the Mokohīnau Islands seafloor area set netting, potting and bottom longlining also need a permit. DOC publishes the maps and GPS files.
Not spiny rock lobster on the east coast: it is closed from Cape Rodney to Port Jackson, and from PÄrengarenga Harbour south to Cape Rodney as well. Waiheke Island is also closed to packhorse rock lobster for two years from 7 August 2026.
LINZ refers the west coast beaches to Onehunga, not to Auckland, so their high and low tides do not line up with the WaitematÄ. Our Piha and Muriwai Beach pages show the corrected times.
Yes for trout, which is managed by Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game; MPI says no licence is needed to fish in the sea.
The facts on this page were checked against these pages, from the agencies, park services and operators that manage the water on 7 October 2026; anything we could not verify was taken out.