Angra do Heroísmo spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Angra do Heroísmo · Portugal
8.0
wave 1 m
visibility3m

Dive today — wave, wind and surge pounding.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 00:52

Sources & confidence

Sources
IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
Method
Model consensus, read per window
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine

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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.

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.

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0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app
calmupdated 00:52
Angra do Heroísmo — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 1 mwind 6 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~5 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 21.4°C
confidence medium · verdict for the selected day
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 · today2026-07-23
06:42–21:07 · waxing gibbous
▼ 03:00▲ 10:00▼ 16:00▲ 22:00 · 0.5 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.14 m
Wave0.94 m
Wind3 km/h
Water22 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:26 · moderate · moon underfoot 09:00 · high · moonrise 16:36 · moderate · moon overhead 21:20 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish ·
Hs 1.02 mperiod 6.2 swind 6→14surge 2.3viz 3 m
1.02 mup to ~2.04 · 57° at an angle
6.2 sswell moderate
6→14gusts 14 km/h
2.3pounding the rocks
0.11m/s
3 mrecent swell
21.4°C5 mm + hood
▲10:00tide rising
Atmosphere24 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
  • calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
  • flood — water rising
confidence mediumtwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

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−10 m

The water column

Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.

What it is

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

spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.

Now live: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

See all spots
−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

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

The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.

Entry points

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
Cinco Ribeiras natural poolsCinco Ribeiras, old port · Zona Balnear das Cinco Ribeiras
borderline
best candidate for today
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Summer (Jun-Sep) for warmest water (~22-24C) and best viz; morning before the thermal breeze.
tide
Tide not critical; pool entry slightly easier near high water.
shelter
SW coast: sheltered from N/NE winds by the Santa Bárbara massif. Open to S and SW swell.
hazard
MAIN HAZARD is the cave: entrance at 14 m, long galleries and tight corridors = entrapment risk. NEVER solo the cave. On the open wall, building swell and drift along the wall.
access
Road down to the leisure area, ramp and natural pool at the old port; enter via the pool then follow the underwater wall.

Terceira's premier dive site and the main SW freedive/hunt entry; lava arches and tunnels. Cave only with a buddy and surface support.

Google Maps
Negrito bathing areaSão Mateus da Calheta · Zona Balnear do Negrito
closed
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Summer, early morning before the wind; busy with bathers in peak season.
tide
Any tide; at low water the slabs are exposed — mind the slippery basalt.
shelter
Low south-facing coast, backed by the island to the north; sheltered from N winds, open to S swell.
hazard
Official bathing zone — hunting banned/inappropriate. Real danger: slippery slabs and shorebreak washing over them on exit as S swell builds.
access
Park by the Negrito fort; about a dozen sea-access stairs and ramps right at the water.

A swimming zone, not a hunting spot: use as a sheltered entry for freedive training/scouting, not for taking fish.

Google Maps
Silveira bathing areaAngra do Heroísmo waterfront · Zona Balnear da Silveira
closed
swell on the quarter today
window
Year-round for a calm entry; crowded in summer, best early morning.
tide
Tide irrelevant — stair-off-the-pier and ramp entry at any water level.
shelter
East side of Angra bay under Monte Brasil; sheltered from W/SW, the most protected entry in the area.
hazard
Blue Flag bathing zone — hunting banned. Real hazards minimal: boat traffic by the pier and the odd SE swell.
access
1.5 km from Angra centre; parking, showers, bar; enter by the old-port pier stairs or the ramp.

Not a hunting spot — it's a beach. The area's safest entry: gear check, breath-hold practice, scouting before the open coast.

Google Maps
Porto Martins bathing areaPorto Martins, east coast (Praia da Vitória) · Zona Balnear do Porto Martins
closed
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
Summer on W wind; morning before the easterly sea breeze picks up.
tide
Any tide; the sandy shallow dries out at low water — easier entry at mid-to-high tide.
shelter
East coast: sheltered from the prevailing W winds by the island; open to E/SE swell and wind.
hazard
Bathing zone with an artificial bay behind breakwaters — safe inside, hunting inappropriate. Outside: E swell hits the shore directly, shorebreak on the exit rocks.
access
Parking, bar, restaurants; enter from the sandy shallow or off the breakwater steps into deeper water.

Neighbouring municipality (Praia da Vitória), ~5 km / 10 min from Angra. Popular diver/snorkeler entry on the east coast — a fallback when the south is swell-blown. Scout from land first.

Google Maps

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.

One morning glance — and you know.

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Android beta — QR code
point your camera
≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Meagre, Mullet · coming soon: Octopus (Sep)

In season now
  • Robalo (sea bass)
    <4 m · end of ebb → start of flood · dawn/dusk
    Prime target. Shy of light — pick early/twilight windows.
  • Sargo (white seabream)
    1–5 m · flood (rides the surf onto the reef) · dawn
    Dominant reef target. Visibility matters more than time of day.
  • Dourada (gilthead bream)
    1–4 m · flood over sand/weed · dawn
    Very skittish — static ambush.
  • Salema
    0–2 m · — · daytime
    Easiest target at 0–6 m. ⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
  • Tainha (mullet)
    0–2 m · — · —
    Extremely wary; murky water HINDERS it. Opportunistic, in calm coves.
  • Corvina (meagre)
    1–6 m (marginal) · — · twilight
    Near the Tagus mouth, NOT on the Guincho rocks. Adults mostly at 5–75 m. ⚠️ CLOSED 1–30 June (defeso).
  • Santola (spider crab)
    1–10 m · low water (reef shelf exposed) · calm morning (≤force 2)
    Carapace ≥12 cm. Peaks Jul–Aug. CLOSED 15.02–15.06. Limit 2 kg/day.
Law
🦀 spider crab open (season 16.06–14.02)
  • ✓Spearfishing licence required (16+), daily/monthly/annual (~€25/yr). Speargun = licence required.
  • ✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required.
  • ✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset→sunrise not allowed). Artificial light as a means of finding/attracting fish is banned — a torch for safety only.
  • ✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver.
  • ✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg.
  • ✓Invertebrates (including spider crab) — 2 kg/day total.
  • ✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too.
  • ✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g.
  • ✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken.
  • ⛔ Grouper (Epinephelus) — fully protected, capture PROHIBITED.
  • ⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus) — protected.

Rules change. Before heading out, check with DGRM / ICNF / Capitania and the defeso table.

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. At Cabo Raso/Arriba a 0.5 m rise in swell makes a boulder exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer here.
  • Headland rip: at Cabo Raso there is 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.
  • Nortada (Jun–Sep): wind builds from midday — be out of the water by ~11:00; 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.
Local guide · Angra do Heroísmo

Spearfishing in Angra do Heroísmo: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-20 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Angra do Heroísmo is Terceira's old harbour town, set in a south-facing bay the island shelters from the prevailing north swell. That flips the usual island logic: the water opens on a north wind, which blows offshore here, with the south swell down under a metre. Three of the four shore entries are official bathing zones where hunting is banned, useful only as sheltered training and scout entries. The real hunt is off Cinco Ribeiras, a wall dive with lava arches and a cave, high solo risk and no place to dive alone.

TL;DR

  • Angra sits in a south-facing bay on Terceira, tucked behind the island from the north swell that batters the rest of the Azores, so here you dive on a north wind and a small south swell, not the other way round.
  • Three of the four easy entries are official bathing zones (Silveira, Negrito, Porto Martins) where you don't hunt; they are sheltered doors for a gear check, breath-hold work or a scout, not places to fire a gun.
  • Cinco Ribeiras on the southwest coast is the one real hunting entry: in over the old-port pool, out along the wall to the lava arches, clear of swimmers. High solo risk, and the cave at 14 m is never a solo dive.
  • National DGRM rules apply, with the Azores' own regional specifics worth confirming: licence from 16, apnea only, daylight only, Alfa buoy within 30 m; grouper and seahorses protected, meagre closed through June.

Best spearfishing entries around Angra do Heroísmo

Only one of these is a hunting entry. Cinco Ribeiras on the southwest coast is Terceira's premier dive site, where you go in over the old-port pool and follow the wall out to the arches and tunnels. The other three, Silveira, Negrito and Porto Martins, are official bathing zones, better used as sheltered doors for training and scouting than as places to hunt. Silveira is the safest and calmest of them; Porto Martins is the east-coast fallback for the days a south swell shuts the Angra side down.

SpotTypeDepthLevelAccessNotes
Zona Balnear das Cinco RibeirasLava-pool entry to a reef wall (old port, SW coast)Wall and lava arches off the old-port pool; the cave mouth sits at 14 m, with visibility to 25-30 m on a flat dayAdvanced, high solo riskRoad down to the leisure area at the old port, with a ramp and a natural pool; enter via the pool, then follow the underwater wall out.Terceira's premier dive site and the one genuine hunting entry here: work the wall out to the lava arches and tunnels, well clear of the pool swimmers. It earns its rating. The cave runs into long galleries and tight corridors where you can snag, so it is never a solo dive, and the open wall can grow swell and drift once the south comes up.
Zona Balnear do NegritoBasalt-slab bathing area (São Mateus da Calheta)Flat basalt slabs at the shore, a calm entry on flat seasIntermediate, bathing zone, no huntingPark by the Negrito fort in São Mateus da Calheta; about a dozen stairs and ramps drop straight to the water.An official bathing zone, so you don't hunt inside it. Its use is as a quieter, sheltered entry for freedive training or scouting the ground. Watch the exit, where the basalt slabs turn slick and a building south swell can wash shorebreak over them.
Zona Balnear da SilveiraBlue Flag bay beach (Angra waterfront)Sheltered bay entry off the old-port pier, the most sheltered entry in AngraEasy, sheltered fallback entry1.5 km from the centre of Angra, with parking, showers and a bar; in by the old-port pier stairs or the ramp.A Blue Flag bathing beach on the east side of the bay under Monte Brasil, so hunting is banned, but it is the safest entry in the area. This is the place for a gear check, some breath-hold work or a scout before you commit to open coast. Little to worry about beyond boat traffic by the pier and the occasional southeast swell.
Zona Balnear do Porto MartinsBreakwater bathing bay (Porto Martins, east coast)Sandy shallow inside the breakwaters; deeper off the breakwater stepsIntermediate, east-coast scout and fallbackParking, a bar and restaurants in Porto Martins, about 5 km and ten minutes east of Angra in the Praia da Vitória municipality; in from the sandy shallow or off the breakwater steps.A bathing zone with an artificial bay behind breakwaters, calm and safe inside, not a place to hunt. Its value is the swap: when a south swell shuts the Angra side down, this east coast can still be diveable on a west wind. Scout from land first, and mind the shorebreak on the exit rocks outside the walls.

When can you spearfish in Angra do Heroísmo?

Summer is the anchor, June to September, when the water sits warmest at around 22 to 24 degrees and clears up; Cinco Ribeiras can give 25 to 30 metres on a flat morning. But the direction that matters here runs opposite to Madeira's north coast. Angra hides in a south-facing bay, sheltered behind Terceira and the Santa Bárbara massif, so the entries open on a north wind blowing offshore, with the south swell under about a metre. Each spot reads a little differently. Cinco Ribeiras wants a north or northeast wind and a small south swell. Negrito is much the same, a north wind and a low south swell over the basalt. Silveira, tucked under Monte Brasil, is workable almost any day and only cares about a direct south or southeast swell. Porto Martins is the odd one out on the east coast: it comes good on a west wind and a small east swell, so it fills in when the south is blown out. Early morning wins across all of them, before the thermal breeze sets in.

Can you hunt inside the bathing zones?

No. Three of the four entries, Silveira, Negrito and Porto Martins, are official bathing zones, one of them a Blue Flag beach, and firing a gun inside them is off the table. What they give you is safe access, a sheltered door to check gear, train breath-hold or scout the ground before the open coast. The one place that reads as a hunting entry is Cinco Ribeiras, and even there you go in over the old-port pool and work the wall and lava arches outside it, keeping clear of swimmers. The cave that makes the site famous is also what makes it dangerous. The mouth at 14 metres leads into galleries and tight corridors, so leave the cave to a buddy dive with surface support.

What fish and rules apply in Angra do Heroísmo?

It fishes as sheltered island ground: reef fish over the volcanic walls, with structure around the islets and the drop-offs the bay is known for. The sizes here are the national DGRM figures for Portugal, and the Azores can set their own regional specifics, so treat them as the baseline and confirm the local nature-park and Capitania rules before you dive. White seabream is 17 cm, sea bass 36 cm, gilthead 19 cm, black seabream 23 cm, and octopus 750 g; meagre is 42 cm and closed nationwide through June. Grouper and seahorses are protected, so leave them. You need a spearfishing licence from age 16, it is apnea only and daylight only, and the Alfa flag buoy stays within 30 m. The national daily cap is 15 kg of fish and cephalopods, not counting your single biggest fish, with invertebrates capped at 2 kg.

FAQ

Where can you spearfish in Angra do Heroísmo?

Cinco Ribeiras on the southwest coast is the one genuine hunting entry, in over the old-port pool and out along the wall to the lava arches. Silveira, Negrito and Porto Martins are bathing zones, better used as sheltered training or scout entries than as places to hunt.

Can you hunt inside the bathing zones?

No. Silveira, Negrito and Porto Martins are official bathing zones, and Silveira is a Blue Flag beach, so hunting is banned inside them. Use them as safe entries and take your fish off Cinco Ribeiras instead.

When is the sea calm enough at Angra?

Most of the year on the sheltered south side, and best in summer from June to September for warm, clear water. Because the bay faces south, it opens on a north wind with the south swell down under a metre; a direct south or southeast swell is what shuts it.

Which entry is safest for a first dive here?

Silveira, on the Angra waterfront under Monte Brasil. It is a Blue Flag bay, the calmest and most protected entry in the area and the natural place for a gear check or a scout, though you cannot hunt inside it.

Do I need a licence to spearfish here?

Yes. A Portuguese spearfishing licence from age 16, apnea only, daylight only, with an Alfa buoy within 30 m. Grouper and seahorses are protected, and the Azores may set their own regional details worth checking.

Sources

Region: Azores

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