Baleal spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Baleal · Portugal
8.1
wave 0.8 m head-on
visibility4m

Dive today — wave, wind and surge pounding.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 01:34

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 01:34
Baleal — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.8 m head-onwind 8 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~5 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 21.3°C
confidence high · 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
06:29–20:58 · first quarter
▼ 04:00▲ 10:00▼ 17:00▲ 23:00 · 1.1 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.11 m
Wave0.84 m
Wind7 km/h
Water22 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:11 · moderate · moon underfoot 08:40 · high · moonrise 16:24 · moderate · moon overhead 21:00 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish ·
Hs 0.82 mperiod 5.5 s head-onwind 8→14surge 2.4viz 4 m
0.82 mup to ~1.64 · 324° head-on
5.5 sswell moderate
8→14gusts 14 km/h
2.4pounding the rocks
0.28m/s
4 mrecent swell
21.3°C5 mm + hood
▲10:00tide rising
Atmosphere21 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
  • calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
  • flood — water rising
confidence hightwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points

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

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code
point your camera
−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
Baleal Island rocky pointWest/south rocky tip of Baleal island · Ilha do Baleal (ponta rochosa)
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
Early morning in summer (Jun–Sep) before the N sea-breeze; water 16–19°C.
tide
Mid-tide on the push; low tide exposes rock and the pull strengthens.
shelter
The rocky tip faces W/NW and is barely sheltered from the dominant Atlantic swell. Only an E/SE (offshore) wind gives any lee.
hazard
Strong current — locals on DeeperBlue warn flatly 'the current can be really strong there, be careful'. Plus shorebreak on the exit rocks. Solo you can drift off the exit fast.
access
From Baleal village across the island to the rocky tip, scramble down the rocks. Slippery rock entry/exit.

Documented spearfishing mark on limestone reef, but the strong current makes it solo-dangerous — scout from land first, enter only flat-calm and with a buddy.

Google Maps
Baleal South beach (Meia Praia)South cove sheltered by the island/tombolo · Praia do Baleal Sul (Meia Praia)
dangerous
best candidate for today
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Early morning before the surf/swimmer crowd; summer for water but busy. Shoulder season is quieter.
tide
High/mid-tide — low tide goes shallow and sandy; the reef margins fish better with more water.
shelter
The south side of the tombolo sits in the lee of the dominant N/NW swell and the nortada — this is the 'calm' family side. Open to S/SW swell.
hazard
Strong currents noted here too, and in summer surfers/swimmers are in the water — watch for boards and never shoot near people. Sandy cove bottom — fish are on the rocky margins, not the sand.
access
Park in Baleal, walk straight in off the sandy beach on the south side of the tombolo — the easiest entry in the area.

The safest entry at Baleal: gentle sand entry, the island cuts the main swell. Hunt the rocky margins by the rocks, away from the bathing/surf zone; in summer it's a lifeguarded beach (1 Jun–15 Sep). ⚠️ Place is real (Praia do Baleal Sul, officially also 'Meia Praia'). TWO problems. (1) Coords mislocated: official playocean/bandeiraazul coords are 39.371938,-9.338484; claimed 39.3686,-9.3372 is ~370m too far S (lands off the beach proper, toward the inland/south end). (2) HAZARD INACCURATE — claim asserts 'strong currents noted here too', but this is the SHELTERED side: playocean states 'Sea waters are serene due to the natural protection provided by Peninsula do Baleal.' The strong-current warning appears copied from the exposed island side and does not apply here; the maxSafety=yellow downgrade is driven by a hazard that the sources contradict. The swimmer/surfer + sandy-bottom-vs-rocky-margins notes ARE honest.

Google Maps
Cova da Alfarroba beachLong sandy beach SE of the headland · Praia da Cova da Alfarroba
closed
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
Early morning before the nortada; in summer it's lifeguarded (1 Jun–15 Sep).
tide
High tide for less shorebreak over the sand; low tide leaves a long foamy zone.
shelter
Long open Atlantic sandy beach facing west — essentially unsheltered. A touch calmer in E/SE (offshore) wind.
hazard
Shorebreak and rip currents on an exposed sandy beach — the classic long-Atlantic-beach risk. Swimmers and surfers in summer; hunting here is essentially inappropriate.
access
Off the main Peniche road turn onto Estrada do Baleal; park by the beach, walk in off the sand.

A Blue-Flag lifeguarded beach — essentially a bathing zone, not a hunting spot; keep it as a calm fallback for snorkel/training in flat conditions, not a productive mark.

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.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

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 · Baleal

Spearfishing in Baleal: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing in Baleal is a shore dive off a small island tied to Peniche by a sandy isthmus, with a north-facing and a south-facing side. When one side takes the swell, the other is usually sheltered, but the constant hazard is the strong current running along the rocky fringe. So you pick the side in the lee and hunt the reef margins, where sea bass and white seabream sit. The best stretch runs from late spring into autumn, on low swell with clean water. A spearfishing licence is required.

TL;DR

  • Hunt only the rocky reef margins by the rocks, in flat calm and with a buddy, clear of the bathing zone. Praia do Baleal Sul (Meia Praia) is flagged red: it is a lifeguarded bathing beach with reports of strong current and, in summer, surfers and swimmers in the water over a mostly sandy bottom.
  • The island rocky tip is a scout-only mark: the current there can be really strong and the exit over the rocks closes out fast. Enter only flat-calm and with a buddy.
  • National rules: licence required, apnea only, a signalling buoy within 30 m, daylight only. Offshore, the Berlengas Nature Reserve has no-take zones where spearfishing is restricted.

Where can you spearfish in Baleal?

The south side, Praia do Baleal Sul (Meia Praia), sits in the lee of the dominant north and northwest swell that the island blocks, but it is a lifeguarded bathing beach and it is flagged red: there are reports of strong current and, from 1 June to 15 September, surfers and swimmers in the water, over a bottom that is mostly sand. It is not a spot to hunt casually. The fish sit on the rocky reef margins by the rocks, never on the sand, and always clear of the bathing zone, so never shoot near people. The island rocky tip is a documented mark on limestone reef, but it works only as a scout from land: the current there can be really strong, there is shorebreak on the exit rocks, and solo you can drift off the exit fast. Look at it from land first and enter only flat-calm and with a buddy. Cova da Alfarroba, further south, is a Blue-Flag sand beach, a calm fallback for snorkelling on flat days, not a productive mark. Offshore, the Berlengas archipelago is a UNESCO marine reserve with no-take zones where spearfishing is restricted.

How are the sea conditions and tides in Baleal?

The island splits the swell, so the first call is to pick the side in the shadow. The dominant swell comes from the north and northwest, with the nortada, and the island cuts that sea on the south side, which stays diveable and clears after calm days with no southerly. The exposed tip faces west-northwest and opens only with swell under about 0.8 m and a light offshore southeast wind; any swell build closes it out on the rocks. This is an upwelling coast, so expect cold-water snaps. On the tide, sea bass comes best on the turn from the end of the ebb to the start of the flood, and white seabream moves in on the flood. Before you go, check the Baleal and Lagide cameras for swell, wind and visibility on the sheltered corner.

When is the best time and what fish can you spearfish in Baleal?

Late spring into autumn is the best stretch, on settled, clearer water. The species and sizes are those of the Portuguese coast, not Baleal-specific rules. Sea bass, minimum 36 cm, is the main target on the reef margins, shy of light and best at dawn and dusk, in under 4 m, from June to October. White seabream, minimum 17 cm, is the steadiest reef fish, from April to September, when visibility matters more than the hour. You also see gilthead bream (19 cm, May to September), black seabream (23 cm, winter into early spring) and salema through most of the year in the first few metres; do not eat the head or guts of salema. Octopus shows in autumn, minimum 750 g. Meagre has a national closed season from 1 to 30 June, and grouper is fully protected.

FAQ

What fish can you spearfish in Baleal?

On the rocky reef margins you mostly take sea bass and white seabream: sea bass from June to October, white seabream from April to September. You also see gilthead bream, black seabream and salema, with octopus in autumn. Sizes are national: sea bass 36 cm, white seabream 17 cm.

Do you need a license to spearfish in Baleal?

Yes. The spearfishing licence is required from age 16, around 25 euros a year, and any dive carrying a speargun needs one. It applies to visitors and residents alike. Spearfishing is only allowed in apnea; confirm the current licence with DGRM.

What is the minimum size for sea bass in Portugal?

The minimum size for sea bass is 36 cm nationwide. Other minimums: white seabream 17 cm, gilthead bream 19 cm, black seabream 23 cm and meagre 42 cm; octopus is by weight, minimum 750 g. Check the DGRM table, because it changes.

How far from the beach can you spearfish in Portugal?

There is no single set distance. What the law fixes is the signalling buoy, which must stay within 30 m of the diver. On lifeguarded bathing beaches, spearfishing is closed during the bathing season and you never shoot near swimmers; the inshore limits are set by the local Capitania.

Is night spearfishing allowed in Portugal?

No. Spearfishing is only allowed in daylight, from sunrise to sunset. Using artificial light to find or attract fish is banned; a torch is for safety only.

Is scuba spearfishing allowed in Portugal?

Spearfishing is an apnea, freediving discipline; diving on compressed air is not part of the recreational activity. Confirm the current rules with DGRM before you go.

Sources

Region: Centre

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