Is the Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas reserve open to spearfishing?

No. The legal rule lists it as banned.

Which spot has the clearest boundary warning?

Cala Reona, because the east side is forbidden.

What conditions are worst?

East to southeast sea, with E-SE the worst direction.

What licence applies?

A Murcia spearfishing licence processed separately through CARM.

Cabo de Palos spearfishing forecast — Spain

Cabo de Palos · Spain

5.3

wave 0.8 m

visibility4m

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

Sources: IPMA · buoys · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 12:50

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC & IH buoys · Copernicus Marine · Sentinel-2
Method: spearo sea-state engine: 6-model consensus + 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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0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

no dataupdated 12:50

Cabo de Palos — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry

wave 0.8 mwind 30, gusts 41 km/hvisibility ~4 mwindow 15:00–21:00

today, best window 15:00–18:00

fish · Visibility 4 m · Water 27.1°C

confidence low · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

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 · today2026-09-09

07:39–20:20 · new moon

▲ 02:00▼ 09:00▲ 16:00▼ 22:00 · 0.2 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.36 m

Wave0.98 m

Wind30 km/h

Water27 °C

fish activity: moonrise 05:35 · moderate · moon overhead 12:40 · high · moonset 19:29 · moderate · moon underfoot 00:00 · high

Conditions window15:00–18:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.80 m · roughperiod 3.9 swind 30→41surge 0.1viz 4 m

0.80 mrough · up to ~1.60 · 312° at an angle

3.9 sswell moderate

30→41gusts 41 km/h

0.1weak surge

0.22m/s

4 mrecent swell

27.1°C5 mm + hood

▼22:00tide turn near

Atmosphere39 kmovercast

lowoff the lunar peaks

steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
strong wind 30 km/h, gusts 41 — caution
visibility ~4 m

confidence lowday

Open the seafloor map with entry points

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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.

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Cabo NegreteCabo de Palos

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: There is no road down to the water, so swimmers are rare and boats scarce — that is the cape's real value. Water runs from 14.7 °C in March to 25.6 °C in late August, and October gives the best balance of warmth and clarity at 21.6 °C. The wall drops deep, but scuba is banned for spearfishing across Spain: breath-hold only. Night is out, sunset to sunrise.
tide: Tide is ignorable here, 10–20 cm, and there is no tidal stream. Right at the point the water wraps the cape and speeds up over the depth step; nobody has published measurements for Negrete, so treat it as variable and plan your exit early, not on what breath you have left. After a storm the murky Portmán layer joins in.
shelter: A south-facing cape under Monte de las Cenizas, 307 m. The western flank looks into Portmán bay and holds the Levante; the eastern one, towards Cala del Barco, covers Poniente and Lebeche. A textbook flip spot: round the cape to the lee side and get to work. Do not confuse it with Punta Negrete, 4.5 km east in Calblanque — a different feature altogether.
conditions: The key risk here is not the wind but the neighbour: Portmán bay is filled with tailings from the Sierra Minera, and with a westerly or after a storm that load travels east, straight onto the cape. So with west swell and in the first days after a blow you stay away. The eastern flank towards Cala del Barco is markedly cleaner — hide there with Levante.
hazard: The Cabo de Palos reserve is some ten kilometres east, so here you are outside it. On land, though, the Portmán remediation is ongoing: works and fencing can close your approach. The cliffs are vertical and depth starts at the shore, and inside the park no motor navigation within 50 m of the coast. A buoy with the Alfa flag is compulsory, 250 m from swimmers is the Murcia rule.
access: Two ways in, both on foot. The coastal path from Portmán along the eastern side of the bay is the clearer one; the other drops down the Monte de las Cenizas tracks from the western sector visitor centre. Nobody has described the timings or the state of the track properly, so allow margin. Calblanque's summer driving restrictions apply here too.

Rocky cape toward Portmán; deep drop-offs, very exposed to the S, advanced.

Google Maps

Cala GoleraCabo de Palos

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Cala Magre / Cala de los DentolesCabo de Palos

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: The approach keeps it empty even in August — the shuttle does not come here. On foot from Cala Reona it is 1.3 km in a straight line, twenty-five to thirty-five minutes on the path. The working hour is first light; in July and August the water reads 24–26 °C with a thermocline near 15 m. Night is out, and the Murcia licence is separate: 18+, medical certificate and insurance.
tide: The tide is the same 10–20 cm and changes nothing for hunting. Between Cala Arturo and Cala Cocón a weak drift runs along the shore once the wind has settled — you notice it hanging over the rocks and being quietly carried. No watercourse drains into these coves, so after a blow the water clears in about a day, faster than on the sandy beaches west of here.
shelter: This is the eastern sector of Calblanque, where the coast swings from south to south-east and east, between Cala Arturo and Cala Cocón. Levante comes in head-on, with nowhere to hide. Poniente and Lebeche, though, blow off the land here, held by Cerro del Atalayón and Cabezo de la Escucha. It mirrors Cala Salitrona: that one works with Levante, these with westerlies.
conditions: Come with a west or south-west wind. The coves are small and rocky, with tongues of gravel and sand: in calm you see far and read the bottom whole. With Levante it changes within the hour — the sea walks into the mouth and lifts sand from the patches between rocks, leaving you three metres. The name Dentoles tells you what to look for at the outer rocks.
hazard: The reserve enlarged by Decreto 31/2026 starts some seven kilometres north, past the port of Cabo de Palos — the line is close and worth checking on the CARM map before you drive out. A boat drop-off is illegal here: motorised entry into the park is banned, as is navigation within 50 m of the shore. No phone signal, rock entries, and a buoy with the Alfa flag is compulsory.
access: You come in on the dirt tracks of the park's eastern sector, past the La Boquera access control, then walk. The usual line is the coastal path from Cala Reona: the same one that links Cala Cocón, Cala Arturo and carries on to Playa de Calblanque. No 4x4 needed, but the last drop into each cove is over rock and boots are not a luxury.

Rocky coves SW of the cape; rich grounds, moderately exposed to the E-SE.

Cala ReonaCabo de Palos

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: The best window is September and October: water around 24 °C, fish active, almost nobody about. July and August are the reverse — dive boats and pleasure craft come out of the port from early on. You work at first light, which in August is 07:11. Night is banned across Spain, sunset to sunrise, and the Murcia spearfishing licence is only issued from 18.
tide: The tide is 10–20 cm and does not count. The real water movement comes from the cape: on the Bajo de Fuera and Seco de Palos banks the flow can be noticeable, and dive centres habitually blame mareas vivas — physically it is wind-driven drift, there are no tides of that size here. Close to shore in the cove it pulls moderately; swim into it first.
shelter: The cove sits on the outer, Mediterranean face south-east of Cabo de Palos, looking south-east and south. Levante comes in on the beam, but the cape itself cuts part of the sea from the north, so it holds better here than on La Manga. Poniente and Lebeche blow off the land: with westerlies this is the easiest point in the sector. The port lies a kilometre and a half north.
conditions: Westerlies give the best water of the season here: in May and June the whole Cabo de Palos zone runs 20–30 m of visibility at 18–21 °C. With Levante, and after a Mar Menor flush, the water goes green within hours — the bottom is mixed, sand, rock and posidonia, and the murk hangs over the clearings. July and August bring 26–28 °C and a thermocline around 15 m.
hazard: The line comes first. The Cabo de Palos reserve was enlarged by Decreto 31/2026, in force since 23 May 2026: cell C says in so many words Se prohíbe la pesca marítima de recreo submarina, cell A bans any fishing at all, and offshore the ban runs out to the Islas Hormigas. The cove sits right against the line: east and south of it you do not shoot.
access: The easiest access in the whole sector: tarmac from the village of Cala Reona, parking right by the beach, no 4x4 needed. The paths south also start here — to Cala Cocón, Cala de los Dentoles and Cala Magre if you want away from people. Entry is sand and stone and the working rock is a few minutes' swim; the port is a kilometre and a half off.

Rocky ground north of the cape; RESPECT the Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas reserve boundary (forbidden to the E).

Google Maps

Calblanque (Peña del Águila)Cabo de Palos

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: In summer you can only drive in until 09:00, so you leave in the dark: first light is 06:33 on 15 June. The shuttle runs on 27 and 28 June and from 4 July to 30 August 2026, 09:15–14:30 and 15:45–20:30. The best windows are May-June and September-October: water at 18.7 and 21.6 °C, and the summer access regime is off.
tide: The level moves 10–20 cm and there is no tidal stream. What there is, is the CARM's official warning of posibilidad de corrientes on the Calblanque beaches: wind drift, not tide, and on the sandy stretches you feel it. After settled Levante a greenish haze drags along the shore from the Mar Menor and La Manga side.
shelter: The name misleads: Peña del Águila is a 389 m summit seven kilometres inland, while the point sits on the Calblanque shore itself, 640 m from Punta Negrete. The coast runs west to east facing south and south-south-east, and the Hacho, Negrete and Parreño headlands cut it into pockets. Levante runs along the shore; N and NW blow off the land.
conditions: The good day is north and north-west: the wind comes off the land and in calm the water here is very clean. Levante, from the 90–210 sector and worst around 120, builds swell along the sandy beaches, and with the dunes behind them the murk holds for two days. With a westerly you add the outflow from Portmán bay, filled with mine tailings, eight kilometres away.
hazard: There is no marine ban in Calblanque: the PORN, Decreto 45/1995, covers land only. But sport fishing inside the park needs a comunicación previa filed with the DGPNAC in the first two months of the year. Eastward the shore abuts the reserve enlarged by Decreto 31/2026. There is no phone signal on the beaches, and entering the park by motorboat is banned.
access: In summer everything hangs on the shuttle from Parking Los Belones: 2 € one way, 3 € return; Línea 1 runs to Playa Larga and Negrete, Línea 2 to Playa Calblanque. Outside the regime you can reach the El Atochar public car park, but only between 08:00 and 09:00, and from 20:30 no vehicles are allowed in the beach zone. No water and no food inside.

Protected rocky coast of Calblanque, OUTSIDE the reserve; drop-offs and sand, sea bream and gilthead, exposed to the SE.

Google Maps

Punta Lengua de VacaCabo de Palos

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: —

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Punta Negra de PortmanCabo de Palos

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)

window: —

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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.

What's in season,
what the law says.

Minimum sizes by caladero (in the table below). Season depends on the species and place.

In season now

European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
two-banded seabream
Diplodus vulgaris · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
sharpsnout seabream
Diplodus puntazzo · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
salema / saupe
Sarpa salpa · Mediterranean · RD 560/1995 Anexo II
⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
bogue
Boops boops · Mediterranean · RD 560/1995 Anexo II
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
grey mullet
Mugil / Chelon spp. · Mediterranean · RD 560/1995 Anexo II
red porgy
Pagrus pagrus · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
striped red mullet
Mullus surmuletus · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus · Mediterranean · UE 2019/1241
Sin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011).
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · Mediterranean · 1 kg
Talla por PESO: mín. 1 kg (RD 560/1995, todos los anexos). No coger hembras con huevos.

Law

✓Spearfishing licence mandatory; the AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY issues it (not the State) and it is valid in the exterior waters of the whole coast. Free-diving only — scuba is banned (, art. 3).
✓Spearfishing catch may not be sold or traded — it is non-commercial fishing ().
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset to sunrise not allowed) — , art. 16.d.
✓Marker buoy MANDATORY: mark your position with a clearly visible buoy and stay within 25 m of it — , art. 15.
✓Never keep the speargun loaded out of the water — , art. 16.a.
✓Keep at least 300 m from professional fishing vessels that are working — , art. 12.b.
✓The state act (, art. 16) bans, for spearfishing: a loaded gun out of the water; explosive/electric points and lamps (hand torches excepted); underwater scooters; night — from sunset to sunrise. Plus art. 12 b), d), e): 300 m from professional fishing vessels, light as an attractant, poisons/explosives. A ban in a PARTICULAR reserve, port or beach comes from that place's OWN instrument (the reserve's order, the autonomous community's rules, the port authority) — see the no-take zones on the map and your community's rules.
✓Min. sizes by ( + + EU 2019/1241): sea bass 42 cm (rec.) / 36 cm / 25 cm Mediterranean / 22 cm Canaries; gilthead bream 20 cm and white seabream 23 cm in the Mediterranean (EU 2019/1241); grouper 45 cm. See your zone's species card.
✓Only species in Annex I of may be taken; keeping, landing or transporting undersized specimens is prohibited.
✓The licence needs a medical fitness certificate for free-diving and civil-liability insurance (or a federative licence, which includes it). Mandatory in the Basque Country/Murcia/Asturias/Galicia; the federative licence covers it in Galicia/Balearics/Cantabria; the Canaries and Andalusia do NOT require it for the individual licence (a responsible health declaration). Minimum age generally 16 (14 in Andalusia).

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 Cabo de Palos: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Cabo de Palos is legality-first. The Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas marine reserve is listed as closed to spearfishing, and Cala Reona must be treated as a boundary spot with the east side forbidden. Use only outside-reserve coast such as Calblanque, Cala Magre / Cala de los Dentoles or Cabo Negrete when conditions allow. The legal split is Murcia plus Mediterranean species sizes.

Best legal spearfishing spots near Cabo de Palos

These shore-entry zones should only be used with settled sea, a visible buoy and confirmed local limits.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Calblanque (Peña del Águila)	Protected rocky coast of Calblanque, OUTSIDE the reserve	Rock ledges and drop-offs	Intermediate	Shore entry with a clear exit route	Outside-reserve rocky coast with sand and bream. Avoid SE swell. Confirm RMIP boundary.
Cala Magre / Cala de los Dentoles	Rocky coves SW of the cape	Shore rock in shallow water	Intermediate	From the cove, away from bathing areas	Rocky coves southwest of the cape. Moderate E-SE exposure. Murcia licence required.
Cala Reona	Rocky ground north of the cape	Shore rock in shallow water	Intermediate	Shore entry with a clear exit route	Rock north of the cape. Only with clear boundary awareness. East side forbidden by reserve.
Cabo Negrete	Rocky cape toward Portmán	Deep rocky ledges	Advanced	From the outer shore rock, outside port waters	Deep rocky ledges toward Portmán. Advanced, south-exposed. Check zone and sea state.

Cabo de Palos spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

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The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Best legal spearfishing spots near Cabo de Palos

Conditions and season essentials

Setúbal · Arrábida

Alentejo

Algarve

Madeira

Azores

Spain

Galicia

Cantabrian coast

Andalusia (Atlantic)

Andalusia (Med)

Murcia

Levante

Catalonia

Balearics

Canaries

🇮🇹Italy

Liguria

Tuscany

Lazio

Campania

Calabria

Apulia

Sicily

Sardinia

Central Adriatic

Abruzzo

Emilia-Romagna

Northern Adriatic

🇬🇷Greece

Attica · Saronic

Peloponnese

Crete

Cyclades

Dodecanese

NE Aegean

Sporades · Evia

Ionian

Halkidiki & Thermaikos

Thrace · Kavala

🇫🇷France

Hauts-de-France

Normandy

North Brittany

West Brittany

South Brittany

Pays de la Loire

Charente-Maritime

Aquitaine (Arcachon)

French Basque Country

Occitania

Provence — Côte d'Azur

Corsica

🇹🇷Turkey

Marmara

North Aegean

İzmir

South Aegean

West Mediterranean (Turkey)

Central Mediterranean (Turkey)

Hatay (Gulf of İskenderun)

West Black Sea

Central Black Sea

East Black Sea

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.