SharkSmart

NSW Dept Primary Industries & Regional Development

About this app

Enjoy NSW beaches. Be SharkSmart.

The NSW Government’s SharkSmart app helps you stay informed before you hit the water in NSW. The app is part of the NSW Government’s Shark Management Program implemented by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Check the latest shark alerts, Surf Life Saving NSW drone patrol observations, and tagged shark detections to better understand shark activity along the NSW coast.
With greater awareness and knowledge of sharks and their behaviour, everyone can enjoy NSW beaches while reducing the risk of a shark encounter.
The SharkSmart app provides real-time alerts, beach conditions, species information and helpful resources to keep you informed at NSW beaches.
Stay SharkSmart with our App.

Alerts & Notifications
Receive alerts for tagged shark detections, shark sightings, Surf Life Saving NSW and Surfing NSW drone patrol observations, beach closures and other safety incidents. Customise notifications for alerts around you, by region, by time, or for your favourite beaches.
New beach arrival notifications remind you when you are near the coast, with a quick link to today’s conditions and safety information.
Daily Updates give you a snapshot of shark activity and alerts across NSW, or focused on beaches around you and your favourited beaches.

Beach Status
Check conditions before you go with beach status and at-a-glance information for beaches near you or in your favourites. See weather, tides, water quality, patrol information, safety advice, and other local conditions to help you plan your visit.

My Beaches
Save your favourite NSW beaches and get updates and alerts for the places you visit most. Manage your list, view beach details, daily conditions and recent shark alerts for each location.

Tagged Sharks
When a tagged shark is detected, tap through for richer detail than ever before, including when and where it was tagged, species information, recent detections, and the path the indicative shark has taken along the NSW coast. Data may include contributions from DPIRD and research partners.

Ask SharkSmart
Have a question about sharks, beach safety or the latest conditions at a particular beach? Ask SharkSmart is your AI assistant for SharkSmart-related questions. Get clear, helpful answers in a conversation-style experience, with links to relevant alerts, beaches and species where available.

Species
There are over 180 species of sharks in Australia, and the majority are relatively harmless. In terms of shark-human interactions, the three species responsible for almost all serious and fatal interactions are the white, bull, and tiger sharks, collectively referred to in NSW as the ‘target’ species of our Shark Management Program. Browse images and information on these target sharks, as well as non-target sharks and other marine animals that sting or bite, for education and identification.
Apple Watch Compatible
If you have an Apple Watch, the SharkSmart app includes a companion watch app that lets you receive SharkSmart alerts on your wrist. View alerts around you or set up notifications for a region, by time or for favourite beaches.

For more information visit: sharksmart.nsw.gov.au

Ratings and reviews

They broke it!! 🤨 This app used to work well but this latest update broke it. I need it to work as there are A LOT of sharks in my local beaches. You now can't select local beaches, it can't find my location and the alerts don't work. Guys, fix this quickly please. 🙏

A great app, it works well, and has plenty of well presented and useful information. A "must check" app before heading down to the beach for a surf. v4.02 fixes the problems in the previous release. Thanks for the update

Updated: new version is still a buggy mess - shame they couldn't be bothered putting some effort into it. seems like a waste doing the hard part (tagging & alerts) just to mess up the way people actually see those alerts. The developers should take out an Android phone and actually try using their own app - most of the problems are obvious. Makes me sad seeing all the easily fixed issues remain each release

What’s new

Update the alert banner to display the full alert message.