Ilha do BreuCabo Frio
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Cabo Frio spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.2
wave 0.9 m head-on
visibility2m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 14:05
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 14:05
Cabo Frio — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 0.9 m + swell period 5 s
wave 0.9 m head-onwind 18, gusts 37 km/hvisibility ~3 mwindow 15:00–18:00
today, best window 15:00–18:00
fish · Visibility 3 m · Water 22.8°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
06:26–17:22 · first quarter
▼ 02:00▲ 08:00▼ 14:00▲ 20:00 · 0.3 m
Hours (06→20)
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.02 m
Wave0.92 m
Wind18 km/h
Water23 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:33 · moderate · moon underfoot 06:10 · high · moonrise 11:46 · moderate · moon overhead 18:30 · high
Conditions window12:00–15:00
don't go fish
Hs 0.80 mperiod 4.9 s head-onwind 19→40surge 0.7viz 2 m
0.80 mup to ~1.60 · 82° head-on
4.9 sswell moderate
19→40gusts 40 km/h
0.7weak surge
0.19m/s
2 mrecent swell
22.7°C5 mm + hood
▼14:00tide turn near
Atmosphere39 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
- wind-wave — choppy surface
- long secondary swell (11 s) straight onshore
- low water — slack
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
Ilha dos PapagaiosCabo Frio
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Laje do PeróCabo Frio
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
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.
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
- fat snookState closed seasons: BA 15 May–31 Jul; ES 1 May–30 Jun; PR 1 Nov–31 Dec; SP — none.
- common snookState closed seasons: BA 15 May–31 Jul; ES 1 May–30 Jun; PR 1 Nov–31 Dec; SP — none.
- dusky grouper⚠️ Closed season 1 Nov–28 Feb (national). Size 47–73 cm. Vulnerable — go easy.
- gag grouper
- black grouper
- comb grouper
- snowy grouper⚠️ Closed 1 Sep–31 Oct (SE/S). Deepwater grouper.
- bluefish
- whitemouth croaker
- black drum
- lebranche mulletManaged by annual quotas/seasons. Min 35 cm; estuary bars may be restricted in season.
- king mackerel
- serra Spanish mackerel
- mahi-mahi
- greater amberjack
- crevalle jack
- silver porgy
- lionfishInvasive, spreading in NE Brazil. Culling encouraged. Venomous spines — careful; flesh edible.
- Atlantic goliath grouper🚫 Full moratorium since 2002, indefinite (CR, Portaria MMA 148/2022). Do not take, release it. Fine R$700–100,000 + gear seizure.
Law
- ✓A is required (category B – boat covers apnea spearfishing), issued on gov.br by the . Exempt: under-18 accompanied, men 65+/women 60+.
- ✓Apnea only: spearing on a tank/scuba is banned (artificial breathing apparatus prohibited — IBAMA rule).
- ✓Goliath grouper (mero, Epinephelus itajara): total moratorium since 2002, renewed (in force 2026+). Never a legal target — capture/transport/sale is an environmental offence.
- ✓Closed seasons (vary by state): true grouper & badejo in the N/NE 1 Aug–30 Sep; bluefish in the S/SE ~1 Dec–31 Mar; robalo reopens after 31 Jul (state-dependent). Mind minimum sizes.
- ⛔ 🚫 Goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) — indefinite moratorium (CR). Not a legal target: do not take, release.
- ⛔ Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini/zygaena) and angel sharks (Squatina spp.) — red list, take banned. Don't shoot.
- ⛔ Sea turtles, whales/dolphins, seahorses — protected, taking/disturbing prohibited.
Rules change and vary by state. Before heading out, check on gov.br (recreational licence, MPA) and the state closed seasons/sizes; apnea only, goliath grouper is banned.
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 Frio: spots, seasons and rules
MERO TOTAL MORATORIUM leads the Cabo Frio plan: goliath grouper is banned. The real draw is Região dos Lagos upwelling. NE wind can lift cold, clear water onto the islands and ledges, sometimes above 15 m visibility; SW wind tends to shut that down and green the water. Laje do Peró, Ilha do Breu and Ilha dos Papagaios sit in the stated 8 to 40 m local range, with grouper species, badejo, wreckfish-like reef fish, amberjack-type fish and olhete noted. Use the gov.br recreational licence route and apnea only.
TL;DR
- MERO TOTAL MORATORIUM: goliath grouper is not a legal target in Cabo Frio.
- This is upwelling water: NE wind can bring cold clear water and visibility above 15 m; SW often greens it out.
- Laje do Peró, Ilha do Breu and Ilha dos Papagaios are offshore spots with current, boat support and a visible float required.
Best spearfishing spots in Cabo Frio
This is offshore ledge and island diving, not casual beach entry. Current, boat cover and reserve-boundary awareness come first, especially near the Arraial do Cabo marine extractive reserve.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laje do Peró | Offshore ledge | Within the local 8 to 40 m range | Advanced because of current | Boat support | Best saved for cold clear NE windows. If SW greens the water, skip it. |
| Ilha do Breu | Rocky island | Ledge and drop water | Advanced | Boat, float and lookout | Strong structure, but no place to underestimate current. |
| Ilha dos Papagaios | Exposed island rock | Variable within the stated range | Intermediate to advanced | Boat | Use settled weather and checked protected-area limits. |
What conditions matter in Cabo Frio?
April to October is the clearer upwelling window in the local notes. NE wind usually helps cold water rise; SW often makes the water green. Good visibility does not make the offshore ledges beginner-friendly: current and boat logistics still decide the day. Nationally, use the gov.br recreational licence, apnea-only spearfishing, no stale fee figures, and check species seasons and sizes. Goliath grouper remains fully banned.
FAQ
Is Cabo Frio an upwelling spot?
Yes. NE wind can bring cold clear water; SW often makes conditions worse.
Do these spots need a boat?
Yes. The listed ledges and islands are offshore.
Do you need a licence?
Yes. Use the gov.br recreational fishing licence service.
Can you spearfish on scuba?
No. Brazil is apnea only for this use.
Can you spear goliath grouper?
No. It is under total moratorium.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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