Do you need a license to spearfish in Astypalaia?

No. The old recreational licence is gone since 2014; check the current state sign-up before travelling.

Is spearfishing banned in May?

Yes. The national May spearfishing ban applies to Astypalaia under ΠΔ 373/1985.

What is the safest wind plan?

In NW meltemi, start with Maltezana or Vathy, then only consider exposed islets if the sea is clearly settled.

Can you shore dive Astypalaia?

Yes, several listed spots allow shore access, but the island is remote and windy, so inspect exits first.

Are the Natura 2000 areas full no-take zones?

Not automatically. They are protected marine advisory zones, so check local rules and boundaries before fishing.

Astypalaia spearfishing forecast — Greece

Astypalaia · Greece

8.3

wave 0.2 m head-on

visibility6m

Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 04:41

Sources & confidence

Sources: MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
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.

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 — 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

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

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Pera Gialos / Livadi (W)Sheltered water — Vathy & Livadi

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: The early hour before the swimmers is the only sensible window, because both beaches get busy. June is still tolerable, then wait for September and October, when Livadi empties out. Watch the Kalymnos ferry timetable and get clear of the harbour side before a ship comes in. Night hunting is banned.
tide: What actually works here is a weak along-shore drift towards the harbour, slowly dragging silt off the sandy bottom of Livadi across to the rocks. The level meanwhile swings ten to thirty centimetres — background, nothing more. In calm after a meltemi run the water at the walls can be noticeably colder than up top.
shelter: Both coves sit under the castle rock and open west and south-west. The fortress headland and the ridge behind Livadi shave off the northerly, which is why the height of the meltemi leaves this side the calmest one around. Any southerly or south-westerly swell, however, runs in unhindered right up to the sand.
conditions: A northerly is your day: the island covers the coves and along the rocky edges the water is clear. On south or south-west forget it — fifteen metres of depth with sand alongside, and the wave clouds the lot within an hour. After heavy rain the green valley of Livadi sends a brown plume out to sea; give it a day.
hazard: This spot carries more legal lines per square metre than any other: the old harbour still works and the Kalymnos ferries come in here, so three hundred metres off the moles and moored ships. Livadi is an organised beach with sunbeds — two hundred metres off swimmers. Divers visit a sunken vessel off Pera Gialos: take nothing.
access: The easiest entry on the island: twenty-five minutes on foot down from Chora, or park right on the waterfront. The bus serves both Livadi and the harbour. You get in off the sand and swim to the rocky edges of the bay — a couple of hundred metres along the shore, no boat needed.

Rock + sand 0–15 m; shore, W/SW — works on a N meltemi; port/Chora (200 m). Coordinate approximate.

Google Maps

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Maltezana / Analipsi bay	Sheltered bay and islets	0-20 m	Intermediate	Shore or boat	Main dive area with islet shelter. Check anchorage traffic before committing.
Vathy fjord	Deep enclosed inlet	0-25 m	Intermediate, remote	Shore or boat	Very sheltered in all winds, with deep water close in and a remote NE setting.
Koutsomitis / Kounoupa islets	Rocky islets and reef	5-25 m	Boat, settled weather	Boat	Clear-water islet ground with exposed crossing. Do not force it in wind.