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 Bodega Bay, 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 mapShore access point Doran Beach, roughly 2.9 km from Bodega Bay. The pin sits at 38.307 N / 123.055 W on the chart. Depth is at least around 3 m. Bodega Head SMR, a no-take zone, lies about 770 m away; confirm its boundary on site.
Google MapsA rocky cape sheltering the cove, 4–15 m: solid lingcod and rockfish structure. WARNING: the surf here is notoriously lethal and has swept people off the rocks — enter only on absolutely flat days.
Google MapsFort Ross: you go in from the shore, some 26 km from Bodega Bay. The pin sits at 38.509 N / 123.236 W on the chart. Depth is at least around 8 m. Bottom type: reef. Tides are mixed, with two unequal highs a day.
Google MapsA reef flanking a rocky point about 5 km north of town, 3–12 m: rockfish, cabezon and lingcod in bull kelp. North of the Bodega Head SMR. This stretch is a known white shark route in autumn.
Google MapsA grey-boulder reef fringing a pocket beach, 3–12 m: rockfish, cabezon and lingcod in bull kelp. It lies north of the Bodega Head SMR and south of the Russian River SMCA — a legal corridor between two zones.
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».
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.
Spearfishing Bodega Bay is a cold, exposed Sonoma Coast plan built around bull kelp, boulder reef and patience. The three reef choices sit north of the harbor rather than inside it: Shell Beach reef, Duncans Point and the south point reef at Portuguese Beach. They sit outside the Bodega Head and Russian River protected hits described here, but those MPAs are close enough that a diver should verify boundaries before hunting. Bodega Bay water visibility depends on a flat ocean and manageable upwelling, with NOAA station 46013 only 24 km away for swell context. If Duncans has surf, do not negotiate with it.
These are shore-oriented rock and kelp entries, but none should be treated as casual. The local safety fields are yellow, access detail is sparse, and one site is explicitly notorious for surf.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shell Beach reef (Sonoma Coast) | Grey-boulder reef beside a pocket beach | Rock and kelp reef; exact depth not stated | Intermediate, only on settled ocean days | Pocket-beach shore approach | A rockfish, cabezon and lingcod check north of Bodega Head SMR and south of Russian River SMCA. Verify MPA lines first. |
| Duncans Point / Duncans Landing | Rocky cape sheltering Duncans Cove | Cape reef; exact depth not stated | Advanced shore judgment | Shore approach at Duncans Landing when flat | Duncans surf is notoriously dangerous. Flat days only, and skip it if the exit is not clean. |
| Portuguese Beach south point reef | Rocky point reef in bull kelp |
All 367 spots → · Region: California · spearo.app — All countries
| Rockfish and lingcod reef; exact depth not stated |
| Intermediate to advanced |
| Shore approach about 3 miles north of town |
| A flanking reef north of Bodega Head SMR with rockfish, cabezon and lingcod. Do the same MPA boundary check before entering. |
Bodega needs a flat ocean, not just a light breeze. The coast faces the west and northwest energy that closes shore exits, and Bodega is an upwelling coast. Long-period swell from the bad sector can leave the beach looking tempting while the reef is still washing. Check the Horseshoe Cove camera and NDBC 46013, then make the entry decision from the rocks.
Rockfish, cabezon and lingcod fit Bodega better than the warmer-water California list. California halibut, white seabass, sheephead and yellowtail exist in the broader California list, but this shoreline is mainly cold reef and kelp. Giant sea bass, garibaldi and salmon are no-take, and red abalone is closed until April 1, 2036.
Use a California sport fishing license and check current ocean regulations before targeting groundfish. The MPA network is the main spatial issue: State Marine Reserves are no-take, and State Marine Conservation Areas vary by zone. These reefs sit near Bodega Head SMR and Russian River SMCA, so if a boundary is uncertain, do not hunt there.
No. The useful reefs are exposed, cold and surf-sensitive, with Duncans specifically flagged as dangerous.
They are not presented here as inside an MPA, but nearby Bodega Head and Russian River MPAs still need a boundary check. Verify boundaries before hunting.
Rockfish, cabezon and lingcod are the core reef targets here.
No. The California protected note says red abalone is closed until April 1, 2036.
NOAA NDBC 46013 is about 24 km from Bodega Bay, making it useful for swell and wind context.
buoy Bodega Bay, CA: wave 1.5 m/9 s · 48 min ago
