Duncans Point / Duncans LandingBodega Bay
dangerousswell on the quarter today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky cape sheltering Duncans Cove; solid lingcod and rockfish structure. Notoriously dangerous surf — flat days only.
Google MapsBodega Bay spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
2.6
wave 1.4 m head-on
visibility2m
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 16:39
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 16:39
Bodega Bay — solo, off the rocks
don't go · wave 1.4 m (occasionally up to ~2.8 m)
wave 1.4 m head-onwind 13 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~3 m
today, best window 15:00–18:00
fish · Visibility 3 m · Water 14.2°C
confidence medium · 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.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
06:06–20:30 · first quarter
▼ 00:00▲ 07:00▼ 11:00▲ 18:00 · 1.4 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.30 m
Wave1.16 m
Wind21 km/h
Water14 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:28 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:50 · high · moonrise 15:13 · moderate · moon overhead 20:10 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
don't go fish
Hs 1.38 mperiod 6.2 s head-onwind 13→18surge 3.6viz 2 m
1.38 mup to ~2.76 · 195° head-on
6.2 sswell moderate
13→18gusts 18 km/h
3.6pounding the rocks
0.25m/s
2 mrecent swell
14.2°Cthicker suit + hood
▲18:00tide turn near
Atmosphere0 kmovercast
moderatemoonrise
- wave 1.4 m (occasionally up to ~2.8 m)
- wind 13 km/h
- flood toward high water
confidence mediumday
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 spotsThe 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
Portuguese Beach south point reefBodega Bay
dangerousswell on the quarter today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Flanking reef off a rocky point ~3 mi N of town; rockfish, cabezon, lingcod in bull kelp. North of the Bodega Head SMR.
Google MapsShell Beach reef (Sonoma Coast)Bodega Bay
dangerousswell on the quarter today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Grey-boulder reef fringing a pocket beach; rockfish, cabezon, lingcod. North of the Bodega Head SMR and south of the Russian River SMCA.
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.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Cameras · live
Look at the water
right now.
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».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- white seabass
- California halibut
- California yellowtail
- California sheephead
- kelp/sand bass
- rockfish
- lingcod
Law
- ✓California sport fishing licence (+Ocean Enhancement Validation south of Point Arguello). No separate spearfishing permit.
- ✓No take: giant sea bass, garibaldi, salmon; abalone closed to 2036. network: no-take, by zone. Lobster hand-take only.
- ⛔ 🚫 Giant (black) sea bass and garibaldi — fully protected, no take. Red abalone — fishery CLOSED until Apr 1 2036. Salmon — no spear.
- ⛔ 🚫 network: State Marine Reserve () — no-take; — varies (check the specific zone). Lobster — hand-take only. No spear within 100 yd of a stream mouth north of Ventura.
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.
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.
Spearfishing in Bodega Bay: spots, seasons and rules
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.
TL;DR
- Bodega Bay is exposed Sonoma Coast kelp and rock, with no sheltered easy mode once west swell arrives.
- Shell Beach, Duncans Landing and Portuguese Beach sit outside the local MPA hits, but close enough that boundaries must be checked.
- Duncans is specifically flagged for dangerous surf, so flat days only is not a cliche here; it is the entry rule.
- California requires a sport fishing license, and giant sea bass, garibaldi, salmon and red abalone are not take options.
Where are the Bodega Bay spearfishing reefs?
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 | 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. |
When does Bodega Bay water visibility improve?
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.
What fish make sense on the Sonoma Coast?
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.
Which California rules matter around Bodega Bay?
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.
FAQ
Is Bodega Bay a beginner spearfishing area?
No. The useful reefs are exposed, cold and surf-sensitive, with Duncans specifically flagged as dangerous.
Are the listed Bodega spots inside MPAs?
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.
What are the main Bodega target fish?
Rockfish, cabezon and lingcod are the core reef targets here.
Can you take abalone at Bodega Bay?
No. The California protected note says red abalone is closed until April 1, 2036.
What forecast source is closest?
NOAA NDBC 46013 is about 24 km from Bodega Bay, making it useful for swell and wind context.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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