🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
visibility~1m
Nottoday
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
Sources:IPMA · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 02:28
Sources & confidence
Sources
IPMA · buoys · 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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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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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: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Carreiro do Mosteiro BeachHarbour cove / boat pier · Praia do Carreiro do Mosteiro
dangerous
best candidate for today
⛔ Banned here
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
May-September; ferries from Peniche run only in season. Mornings before the day-boats land the crowds. Water rarely above 18°C — 5 mm wetsuit.
tide
Tide not critical — deep cove by the pier; more water over the entry reef at high tide.
shelter
SE-facing cove, sheltered from the prevailing NW swell and wind by the island itself. The only sandy entry on Berlenga.
conditions
Diveable most of summer under NW swell — the island shields the cove. Visibility regularly 15+ m, sometimes 25 m. Only poor on the rare S/SE swell, which wraps straight in.
hazard
The real danger is boat traffic: the cove is the ferry and tour-boat pier. Stay close to shore, dive flag/buoy essential. Spearfishing is BANNED here (marine reserve).
access
One morning glance — and you know.
point your camera
≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
transparency ~9 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
Straight off the beach by the pier, right where the Peniche ferry lands (~30-50 min). Sandy entry, no rocks.
Snorkel / discovery-freedive only: all of Berlenga is a Nature Reserve, hunting banned everywhere. The entry reef holds wrasse, moray eels and sea bass.
High summer in a rare window only. Never solo: tunnels and caves demand a buddy and safety, no breath-hold inside alone.
tide
Slack water in flat calm; on any building swell the cave mouths become a trap, tide won't save you. Current timing is critical.
shelter
Almost no shelter: the open NW side of the island, full in the Atlantic swell and NW wind. No lee here.
conditions
Only in a rare calm window with swell under 0.5 m and light wind. The 4-6 m cave tunnels are for experienced freedivers and flat-calm seas only.
hazard
Entrapment in a tunnel/cave as swell builds is the dominant lethal danger; plus impact on granite and tour-boat traffic at the Gruta Azul. Spearfishing is BANNED.
access
No shore access — the north side drops sheer. Realistically boat/kayak from the island only. Scout from the water in calm before entering.
Scout from the water in flat calm. The famous cave zone (Gruta Azul, Furado Grande tunnel, Carreiro dos Cações, Ponta da França) is beautiful but expert terrain, not solo.
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.
,
.) There is no minimum age for the licence, but under-16s are exempt from holding one when fishing accompanied by a licence holder (art. 12.º n.º 2 al. b).
✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º n.º 1; ).
✓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 (, art. 8.º/3 + 3.º/5; DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 1 d).
✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver (, art. 4.º/2).
✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg (, art. 12.º/1).
✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too (, ; table).
✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g ( + EU Reg. 2019/1241; minimum-size table).
✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken (, art. 10.º + ).
✓Breath-hold only: spearfishing may be practised in apnea alone. Scuba, rebreather and hookah are banned; the speargun may not be powered by a detonating charge or by compressed gas (DL 246/2000, art. 9.º n.º 3 — o antigo art. 6.º foi revogado).
✓The catch may NOT be sold: displaying for sale, offering or selling recreational catch is prohibited — it is for the fisher, the household, or donation to charitable, scientific or museum institutions (DL 246/2000, art. 7.º).
✓A loaded speargun out of the water is an offence (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 2 f). Same article: no fishing closer than the legally set distance from concessioned beaches during the bathing season (n.º 2 d), nor in places closed for health or marine-traffic reasons (n.º 2 e). The exact metres come from the regulation and the capitania — check before you go.
✓Distances between people: at least 20 m from another spearfisher (, art. 6.º n.º 3) unless you agree otherwise; from a boat, 50 m from other vessels, divers and set gear (art. 6.º n.º 2); every vessel must keep 50 m from your signalling buoy and from boats flying flag Alfa (art. 7.º n.º 6). The figure that circulates — «30 m between hunters» — is wrong: 30 m is the distance to YOUR OWN buoy.
✓What you may take into the water: the CAPTURE gear on a spearfishing dive is the speargun, a shellfish knife, a gaff (puxeiro) and an arrelhada (, art. 3.º n.º 3). That is not a ban on everything else: art. 4.º n.º 1 expressly allows equipment for cold protection, for buoyancy, for protection or safety and for carrying the catch, and any other equipment that does not permit the direct capture of specimens. Bait and groundbait are PROHIBITED in spearfishing (art. 5.º n.º 3). You may not carry or keep a speargun and a breathing apparatus aboard at the same time, nor carry the gun ready to fire out of the water or in a zone where spearfishing is banned (art. 3.º n.º 6). On any recreational-fishing boat the whole crew wears a lifejacket (art. 4.º n.º 3).
✓Where recreational fishing is closed altogether (, art. 8.º n.º 1): in marked shipyard zones (no exception) and in aquaculture establishments — in the LATTER only, fishing is possible when the concession-holder or owner formally authorises it; the shipyard bar has no such carve-out; within 100 m of the mouth of any marked sewage outfall; over beach-concession waters, to the extent the POOC sets; and in other zones closed by the port or maritime authority. For spearfishing and boat fishing specifically (n.º 2) the navigation channels of port and river bars, the approach channels and the buoyed channels are closed. There is NO «300 m from the beach» rule on the mainland — that number comes from Madeira's own act; on the mainland the distance is set by the POOC and by the capitania's edital.
✓The border rivers Minho and Guadiana: spearfishing is BANNED along both international stretches — bilateral Portugal-Spain agreements, art. 9.º n.º 3 (Minho, RAR 34/2023, in force since 26-05-2023) and art. 6.º n.º 1 (Guadiana, RAR 173/2025, in force since 07-12-2025), both reading «É proibida a pesca submarina». On the Guadiana it is also a serious offence (art. 19.º), and a 100 m strip alongside the Sapal de Castro Marim reserve is closed separately (art. 5.º). The stretches run from the confluence with the Trancoso / the Chança down to the closing line at each mouth.
✓On the other Portuguese-Spanish border river stretches (outside the TIRM and the Guadiana maritime-jurisdiction zone) — Decreto 30/88, art. 6.º n.º 1: harpoons, gigs, tridents and any blunt instrument used to take fish are prohibited (al. e), as is «a pesca ou caça subaquática» with artificial light, and night fishing (al. g).
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 · Berlengas
Spearfishing in Berlengas: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing in the Berlengas must start with legality. The archipelago is the Berlengas Nature Reserve, a UNESCO marine reserve with no-take zones and restricted spearfishing. The main island entries are flagged as protected water, so do not frame Carreiro do Mosteiro, the fort coves or the cave zone as hunting spots. Use them only for non-take freediving where allowed, and verify current boundaries before leaving Peniche.
TL;DR
Berlengas is a reserve-first article: do not treat it as a list of hunting spots.
The archipelago has no-take protection and restricted spearfishing; check ICNF, DGRM and the harbour authority before carrying a gun.
Carreiro do Mosteiro and the fort coves are water references for freediving or snorkel, not capture recommendations.
Berlengas water entries that are not hunting spots
This is not a best-spots list for shooting fish. It is a legality-first reference for protected water on Berlenga Grande. The red/scout cave zone is intentionally excluded.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Praia do Carreiro do Mosteiro
Harbour cove and sandy entry
Deep cove beside the pier
Easy non-take freedive, boat awareness required
Boat from Peniche, entry beside the landing beach
Sheltered from NW swell by the island, but busy with ferries and tour boats. Do not use it as a spearfishing spot.
Fort of São João Baptista coves
Granite coves by the causeway
Shallow to mid rocks
Intermediate non-take freedive
Walk from the island to the fort causeway, then enter from the rocks
Clear, scenic water for observing fish. South or SW swell makes the sharp-rock exit unsafe.
What matters most before diving Berlengas?
Law and exposure. The Berlengas are protected reserve waters, with total-protection areas and restricted spearfishing. Boat access from Peniche only works in settled seas. Carreiro is the sheltered SE-facing entry; the fort coves are also lee-side in NW swell. The NW cave coast has almost no shelter and carries cave, surge and tour-boat risk. A flagged buoy is still essential for any freedive.
FAQ
Is spearfishing allowed in the Berlengas?
Do not assume it is. The reserve has no-take areas and restricted spearfishing; verify current rules with ICNF, DGRM and the harbour authority.
Is Carreiro do Mosteiro a spearfishing spot?
No. Treat it as a protected harbour-cove reference for snorkel or non-take freediving, with heavy boat traffic.
Why is the cave zone not listed?
Gruta Azul and Furado Grande are red/scout terrain with cave entrapment, surge and boat risks.
When is the water best?
Usually in the May to September boat season during calm weather, especially on the lee side of the island.
Which Portugal rules still apply?
License from age 16, breath-hold only, daylight only, flagged buoy within 30 m, minimum sizes and daily catch limits.
Portugal
