Today — sit it out.
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
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.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Auckland, 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.
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 mapThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appExposed north-east tip of Rakino; kingfish and snapper hold in the tidal current, best worked on the change.
Google MapsRocky reef off Army Bay at the tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula; snapper and kingfish, gulf-clear on a NE.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appEasy shore entry into a rocky Whangaparāoa bay; snapper and kahawai along the edges, but no seaweed or invertebrate take within 200 m of shore (kina exempt).
Google MapsInner-gulf reef off the east side of Motuihe; snapper and john dory, but expect silty inner-harbour visibility.
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 appThe 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 appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appRegional-park bay at Whangaparāoa; easy rocky-point entries for snapper in sheltered gulf water.
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 appWest-coast headland at the north end of O'Neill Bay; butterfish, kina and crayfish in the rock, only in low swell.
Google MapsWest-coast rock reef by the Muriwai gannets; butterfish and cray, greener Tasman water — dive the calm.
Google MapsKelp gutters on the seaward side of Taitomo Island at the south end of Piha; butterfish and crayfish in the weed, west-coast swell — dive it only on flat, settled days.
Google MapsSOLO 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.
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».
Rules as of now — 25.10.2026 21:38 (Pacific/Auckland)
Spearfishing in Auckland starts with the New Zealand licence answer: there is no recreational sea-fishing licence. That does not mean casual take. MPI regional rules, marine reserves, mātaitai, taiāpure and rāhui still control the day. Around Auckland, the sheltered Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana has snapper and kingfish reef country, but Hauraki Gulf crayfish closures apply, and Te Matuku on Waiheke plus other reserves are no-take. Pāua are free-diving only (scuba is banned for pāua nationwide); crayfish are taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, and neither is speared. For Auckland, focus on Army Bay, Shakespear / Te Haruhi Bay and Maori Bay at Muriwai. Use Safeswim water-quality flags and the live harbour cams as a surface check, then confirm MPI and DOC boundaries before diving.
Auckland is split between sheltered gulf water and the rougher Tasman side. The three marks here are not given formal safety ratings, and some coordinates are approximate, so the table stays practical: coast, habitat, target species and the main caution. For Hauraki Gulf planning, snapper and kingfish are the fish story; crayfish closures and reserve boundaries are the legal story.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Bay (Whangaparāoa) | Rocky reef | Around 5 m | Gulf reef, approximate mark | Tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula | Snapper and kingfish are named here, with clearer gulf water on a north-east condition. Check local notices before any crayfish plan. |
| Shakespear / Te Haruhi Bay |
Rules change and are regional. Before heading out, check with MPI (regional fishing rules / the NZ Fishing Rules app), DOC (marine reserves) and local notices (rāhui/mātaitai).
| Regional-park bay and rocky points |
| Around 5 m |
| Sheltered gulf entry |
| Whangaparāoa regional-park shoreline |
| Easy rocky-point entries are part of the draw. Treat easy access as a reason to check people, reserves and water-quality flags, not as clearance. |
| Maori Bay (Muriwai) | West-coast rock reef | Around 6 m | Tasman side, dive only in calm water | Muriwai / Maori Bay rocks | Butterfish and cray are named, with greener Tasman water. The local note says dive the calm; crayfish rules still decide the take. |
No. New Zealand has no recreational sea-fishing licence, so there is no Auckland sea licence to buy for normal recreational spearfishing. The real control is MPI regional rules: sizes, daily limits, gear rules and local notices. The combined finfish daily limit is 20 unless a local notice is stricter. Freshwater trout and salmon are off-limits to spearguns, which matters if someone tries to generalise the no-licence answer beyond the sea.
Hauraki Gulf crayfish closures apply, so do not build an Auckland plan around taking crayfish in the gulf without checking the current MPI notice. The broader New Zealand rule is also strict: pāua are free-diving only, taking pāua on scuba is banned nationwide, crayfish are taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, and pāua/crayfish are not speared. For Army Bay, Shakespear and the outer gulf, think snapper and kingfish first, not a casual crayfish grab.
Marine reserves are no-take for all fishing and spearfishing. Te Matuku on Waiheke and other reserves are no-take, and the national rule says around 44 marine reserves are closed to fishing. Respect mātaitai, taiāpure and rāhui as well. A rāhui after a drowning is a cultural and sacred closure, not just a fisheries notice; do not dive through it.
The local marks are Army Bay and Shakespear / Te Haruhi Bay on Whangaparāoa, plus Maori Bay at Muriwai. Auckland also has island reefs such as Rangitoto, Motutapu and the outer gulf for snapper and kingfish, but reserve checks decide the final plan. The gulf is sheltered, while Maori Bay is a west-coast rock reef with greener Tasman water and a calm-day requirement.
Auckland has useful surface signals rather than a single magic visibility number. Safeswim provides live water-quality flags, and several YouTube harbour cams show Waitematā / Viaduct / Beach Haven water views. They help with rain, colour and wind, but they do not prove reef visibility at Army Bay or Muriwai. The city has no local buoy feed; combine camera read, wind direction, local water-quality flags and recent weather.
No. New Zealand has no recreational sea-fishing licence, but MPI regional rules and local notices still apply.
Hauraki Gulf crayfish closures apply. Check the current MPI notice before planning any crayfish take.
The city marks here are Army Bay, Shakespear / Te Haruhi Bay and Maori Bay, subject to reserves, rāhui and conditions.
Marine reserves are no-take. Te Matuku on Waiheke is named locally, and other DOC reserve boundaries must be checked before diving.
Use Safeswim flags, harbour cams, wind and recent rain as a first read. No local buoy feed is supplied for the city.
No. Recreational sea fishing does not require a licence, but rules are regional.
Pāua: no — having underwater breathing apparatus while taking pāua is banned nationwide, so pāua are free-diving only. Crayfish: MPI's rules set no scuba ban, but crayfish are taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, never speared.
The species table gives snapper at 30 cm. Check MPI regional rules before diving because local notices can be stricter.
