Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and surge pounding.
Sources:IPMA · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 02:29
Sources & confidence
Sources
IPMA · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus
Method
spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + 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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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
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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: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Galapinhos beachGalapinhos / Galápos beaches · Praia dos Galapinhos
dangerous
⛔ Banned here
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Only early morning / shoulder season — in summer the beach is packed and car-closed.
tide
Tide secondary; lower water widens the entry zone.
shelter
Sandy crescent in an amphitheatre of limestone cliffs, sheltered from N and W; some of the calmest water on mainland Portugal.
conditions
Clear and diveable most days; sand bottom with rocky edges holding life, but it is a protected swimming beach.
hazard
Main danger is the steep loose trail down and back up with gear; the water is calm, but it is a no-hunting zone and a busy swimming beach.
access
On foot only ~30 min on a steep trail from the Creiro car park, or seasonal bus; cars closed 07:00-19:30 in season (Arrábida sem Carros).
Voted Best Beach in Europe 2017, a benchmark for visibility, but hunting is banned by marine-park law. People come to watch fish, not shoot. ⚠️ Real, documented beach (Wikidata Q49324260, Galapinhos at 38.4839,-8.9684). Coords 38.484,-8.97 are ~0.13km off, effectively on the beach/water - acceptable. HAZARD DISHONEST: the steep trail and busy-beach notes are fine, but 'it is a no-hunting zone' is buried as a minor aside. Spearfishing is banned across the ENTIRE Luiz Saldanha Marine Park (caca submarina expressly prohibited), so this is not a legally usable spearfishing spot - the ban is the dominant fact, not a footnote.
One morning glance — and you know.
point your camera
≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Portinho da ArrábidaPortinho cove by Forte de Santa Maria
dangerous
⛔ Banned here
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Early morning before the crowds and boats; summer warm but packed.
tide
Tide not critical in this cove; high water gives a cleaner entry.
shelter
Deep cove under the high limestone cliffs of Serra da Arrábida, sheltered from N and W winds; almost always calm by Atlantic standards.
conditions
Diveable almost any day except rare S/SE swell; viz 10-15 m on calm days. But this is a marine-park no-spearfishing zone.
hazard
Main danger is boat and dive-boat traffic: a busy tourist cove, fly a float and never surface under boats. And it is a protected zone where hunting is banned.
access
Road to Portinho closed to cars 07:00-19:00 in season; on foot or seasonal bus from the Creiro car park. Entry off the sand in the cove.
Postcard cove and a classic dive-baptism spot, but spearfishing is illegal here (Luiz Saldanha Marine Park). Scout/freedive only. ⚠️ Real, well-documented cove (Praia do Portinho da Arrabida). COORDS WRONG: given 38.4754,-8.9844 sits ~0.9km SW out on the headland/open sea; the actual beach shoreline is ~38.480-38.482N, -8.977--8.979W (multiple sources: Google/beachatlas/gps-coordinates). HAZARD DISHONEST: boat traffic is real but the spearfishing ban is downplayed as a tail-end aside. The whole beach is inside the Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park where underwater fishing (pesca/caca submarina) is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED park-wide (ICNF / 2005 Management Plan) - you cannot legally spearfish here at all, so listing it as a 'spearfishing entry spot' is fundamentally misleading, not just a 'no-hunting zone'.
Figueirinha beacheastern park edge, Sado mouth · Praia da Figueirinha
dangerous
⛔ Banned here
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning; easterly wind usually builds chop by midday.
tide
DANGEROUS nuance: at low tide the sandbar uncovers and the tidal currents at the Sado mouth strengthen — do not swim toward the channel.
shelter
Wide sandy beach at the mouth of the Sado estuary, facing NE; sheltered from ocean swell by the headland but exposed to easterlies and estuary current.
conditions
Calm in settled weather, but a sandy bottom and turbidity from the estuary outflow make it poor for hunting even without the ban.
hazard
Main danger is the Sado-mouth tidal current and the shipping channel to the east; plus it is a protected swimming beach, hunting banned.
access
Easy entry off the sand, large car park off the N379-1; in summer cars limited by the Arrábida sem Carros scheme.
The park's easternmost beach — easy access but turbid and hunting is illegal. Listed as a landmark, not a shooting spot. ⚠️ Real Blue Flag beach (Praia da Figueirinha, ~38.4836,-8.9425). Coords 38.4843,-8.945 are ~0.2km off, on the beach - acceptable. The Sado-mouth tidal current / sandbar hazard IS accurate (documented Policia Maritima rescues of people swept off the sandbar). BUT same legality problem: it sits in the marine park where spearfishing/pesca submarina is prohibited, and the text frames 'hunting banned' as a tail-end add-on rather than a disqualifying fact for a spearfishing spot.
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.
,
.) There is no minimum age for the licence, but under-16s are exempt from holding one when fishing accompanied by a licence holder (art. 12.º n.º 2 al. b).
✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º n.º 1; ).
✓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 (, art. 8.º/3 + 3.º/5; DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 1 d).
✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver (, art. 4.º/2).
✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg (, art. 12.º/1).
✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too (, ; table).
✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g ( + EU Reg. 2019/1241; minimum-size table).
✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken (, art. 10.º + ).
✓Breath-hold only: spearfishing may be practised in apnea alone. Scuba, rebreather and hookah are banned; the speargun may not be powered by a detonating charge or by compressed gas (DL 246/2000, art. 9.º n.º 3 — o antigo art. 6.º foi revogado).
✓The catch may NOT be sold: displaying for sale, offering or selling recreational catch is prohibited — it is for the fisher, the household, or donation to charitable, scientific or museum institutions (DL 246/2000, art. 7.º).
✓A loaded speargun out of the water is an offence (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 2 f). Same article: no fishing closer than the legally set distance from concessioned beaches during the bathing season (n.º 2 d), nor in places closed for health or marine-traffic reasons (n.º 2 e). The exact metres come from the regulation and the capitania — check before you go.
✓Distances between people: at least 20 m from another spearfisher (, art. 6.º n.º 3) unless you agree otherwise; from a boat, 50 m from other vessels, divers and set gear (art. 6.º n.º 2); every vessel must keep 50 m from your signalling buoy and from boats flying flag Alfa (art. 7.º n.º 6). The figure that circulates — «30 m between hunters» — is wrong: 30 m is the distance to YOUR OWN buoy.
✓What you may take into the water: the CAPTURE gear on a spearfishing dive is the speargun, a shellfish knife, a gaff (puxeiro) and an arrelhada (, art. 3.º n.º 3). That is not a ban on everything else: art. 4.º n.º 1 expressly allows equipment for cold protection, for buoyancy, for protection or safety and for carrying the catch, and any other equipment that does not permit the direct capture of specimens. Bait and groundbait are PROHIBITED in spearfishing (art. 5.º n.º 3). You may not carry or keep a speargun and a breathing apparatus aboard at the same time, nor carry the gun ready to fire out of the water or in a zone where spearfishing is banned (art. 3.º n.º 6). On any recreational-fishing boat the whole crew wears a lifejacket (art. 4.º n.º 3).
✓Where recreational fishing is closed altogether (, art. 8.º n.º 1): in marked shipyard zones (no exception) and in aquaculture establishments — in the LATTER only, fishing is possible when the concession-holder or owner formally authorises it; the shipyard bar has no such carve-out; within 100 m of the mouth of any marked sewage outfall; over beach-concession waters, to the extent the POOC sets; and in other zones closed by the port or maritime authority. For spearfishing and boat fishing specifically (n.º 2) the navigation channels of port and river bars, the approach channels and the buoyed channels are closed. There is NO «300 m from the beach» rule on the mainland — that number comes from Madeira's own act; on the mainland the distance is set by the POOC and by the capitania's edital.
✓The border rivers Minho and Guadiana: spearfishing is BANNED along both international stretches — bilateral Portugal-Spain agreements, art. 9.º n.º 3 (Minho, RAR 34/2023, in force since 26-05-2023) and art. 6.º n.º 1 (Guadiana, RAR 173/2025, in force since 07-12-2025), both reading «É proibida a pesca submarina». On the Guadiana it is also a serious offence (art. 19.º), and a 100 m strip alongside the Sapal de Castro Marim reserve is closed separately (art. 5.º). The stretches run from the confluence with the Trancoso / the Chança down to the closing line at each mouth.
✓On the other Portuguese-Spanish border river stretches (outside the TIRM and the Guadiana maritime-jurisdiction zone) — Decreto 30/88, art. 6.º n.º 1: harpoons, gigs, tridents and any blunt instrument used to take fish are prohibited (al. e), as is «a pesca ou caça subaquática» with artificial light, and night fishing (al. g).
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 · Arrábida
Spearfishing in Arrábida: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Arrábida is a hard legality case: do not plan to spearfish inside the Prof. Luiz Saldanha Marine Park. The ban covers the whole marine area of the park, not only the full-protection cores (RCM 141/2005, art. 34(1)(q)). Portinho da Arrábida, Galapinhos and Figueirinha beach may look ideal because the south-facing bays are calm and clear, but they are protected waters inside the park-wide ban. The park's marine limit ends at the east pier of Praia da Figueirinha (Decreto Regulamentar 11/2003, Annex I), so the stretch from that pier east towards the Outão hospital is outside the park. There the national rules apply instead, but this water is at the Sado mouth, next to the Setúbal port channel, so this article lists no recommended hunting spot there either.
TL;DR
Spearfishing is banned in the whole marine area of the Arrábida Nature Park, which holds the Prof. Luiz Saldanha Marine Park (RCM 141/2005, art. 34(1)(q)).
Portinho, Galapinhos and Figueirinha beach are inside the park and protected/red, so there are no recommended Arrábida hunting spots.
The park's marine limit ends at the east pier of Praia da Figueirinha (Decreto Regulamentar 11/2003, Annex I). The water from that pier east towards the Outão hospital is outside the park, so the park ban does not apply there; national rules still do.
Legal alternatives are indicated west of Cabo Espichel, outside the park, such as Foz, Bicas and Meco.
Recommended spearfishing spots in Arrábida
None. Every listed Arrábida water entry is protected/red in the Luiz Saldanha Marine Park context. The stretch east of the Figueirinha east pier is outside the park, but it is not listed as a spot: it has strong Sado-mouth tidal current and the Setúbal port channel. The empty table is intentional: protected water should not be turned into a hunting recommendation.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
What matters most in Arrábida?
Legality comes before conditions. The bays are sheltered from NW swell by the mountain and can be calm, clear and tempting. Portinho has tourist and dive-boat traffic, Galapinhos has a steep trail, and Figueirinha has Sado-mouth current and a navigation channel nearby. But for spearfishing, the key point is the park-wide ban. The ban stops at the east pier of Praia da Figueirinha, where the park's marine limit ends; east of the pier, towards Outão, national rules apply. The local legal direction is west of Cabo Espichel, outside the park, where Foz, Bicas and Meco are exposed west-coast options.
FAQ
Can I spearfish at Portinho da Arrábida?
No. It is inside the Luiz Saldanha Marine Park, where spearfishing is banned throughout the park.
Is Galapinhos a spearfishing spot?
No. It is protected/red water and should not be treated as a hunting entry.
Is Figueirinha different?
The beach itself is not: it is park water. East of the Figueirinha east pier, yes: the park's marine limit ends at that pier (Decreto Regulamentar 11/2003, Annex I). So from the pier east towards the Outão hospital the park ban (RCM 141/2005, art. 34(1)(q)) does not apply. National rules still do: licence, no fishing near concessioned beaches in the bathing season (DL 246/2000, art. 14(2)(d)), and no spearfishing in the buoyed port channel (Portaria 14/2014, art. 8(2)). Expect strong Sado-mouth tidal current and ship traffic.
Where are legal alternatives?
The local direction is west of Cabo Espichel, such as Foz, Bicas and Meco, after checking current boundaries.
Do national rules still matter outside the park?
Yes. License from 16, breath-hold only, daylight only, flagged buoy within 30 m, minimum sizes and catch limits.
Portugal
