Barra (Inhambane) · Mozambique

5.3

wave 0.5 m head-on

visibility4m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 17:21

Sources & confidence

Sources: 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.

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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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

BuddiesBarra (Inhambane)

no data

Decree 82/2021 (Regulamento da Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva): breath-hold spearfishing needs a recreational licence issued by the province where you fish (art. 10); spearfishing with scuba or any breathing apparatus other than a snorkel is banned (art. 21), and spearfishing is daytime only (art. 28). Keep 100 m from bathers, jetties and ports and, read literally, from coral, estuary and mangrove areas (arts. 26–27); mark your position with a buoy. Sharks, mantas, potato bass, red steenbras and turtles may not be taken (Annexes VII–VIII).

window: —

Reef, up to 10 m, near shore, by boat or a long swim. Close to shore and quite shallow, per the source. Mozambique rules: provincial recreational licence; no scuba and no night spearfishing; keep 100 m from bathers and ports. Coordinates from divespot.app, approx.

Google Maps

Mikes CupboardBarra (Inhambane)

no data

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

no targets this month

Law

Mozambique: breath-hold spearfishing needs a provincial recreational fishing licence (Decree 82/2021). Scuba spearfishing and night spearfishing are banned; keep 100 m from bathers, ports and (per Art. 27) corals, estuaries and mangroves; mark your position with a buoy. Sharks, rays, potato bass, red steenbras and turtles are protected. Marine parks (Maputo NP, Bazaruto) restrict or ban spearfishing.

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. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have 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.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; 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.