Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
Sources & confidence
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.
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.
Safety gates
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Atlantic Beach, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
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.
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
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.
See all spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
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.
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 mapA 134 m Liberty ship 2 nautical miles off Atlantic Beach in 15 m — the closest reef to shore. On NC ocean artificial reefs spearfishing gear is lawful, but the recreational bag limit still binds.
Google MapsReefed repair ship about 10 nautical miles out, already in federal water, in 18 m. Sheepshead and black sea bass over the hull; beyond 3 miles the state reef rules no longer apply.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».
transparency ~5 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
Brazilian freighter that struck the wreck of the W.E. Hutton in 1943 and now lies scattered in 15-20 m off Bogue Banks. The low relief holds sheepshead, black sea bass, flounder and grey triggerfish, and the shallow depth makes it one of the friendlier local wrecks for freedive spearfishing.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appUpside-down tanker off Atlantic Beach, the hull standing about 9 m off a 27 m bottom. Famous for its sand tiger sharks — and sharks may not be speared in North Carolina.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appSOLO 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.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
Atlantic Beach has rock entry points such as Papoose, AR-315 Liberty Ship Reef and AR-330 "Indra". Atlantic Beach dives the upside-down Papoose, the Indra reef and the shallow AR-315 Liberty ship for amberjack, sheepshead and sea bass. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
Apr–Nov; Gulf Stream wrecks, but no striped bass or red drum by spear.
Warm on Gulf Stream wrecks, 20–28 °C; often gin-clear offshore.
Intermediate–advanced: wreck hunting offshore, no striped bass or red drum.
Yes — in Atlantic Beach almost certainly, but the licence is the STATE's, not a federal one: nearly every coastal state requires its own saltwater fishing licence, and several add a free registration or an extra endorsement on top (Florida's free State Reef Fish Survey for reef fish, Texas's saltwater endorsement, California's Ocean Enhancement Validation). Hawaii asks nothing of residents and charges visitors the NRMFL. What may be speared, and with what gear, is state law too — the price and the details depend on the state, so read the «Law» block below.
buoy Onslow Bay Outer, NC (217): 22.9° · wave 2.6 m/8 s · 42 min ago
