Bancos lejos del PNCancún
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Banks far from the park and swim buffers, 10–20 m, by boat; lionfish only on the reef. Coords approximate, check your water entry.
Google MapsCancún spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
8.2
wave 0.6 m head-on
visibility5m
Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 13:32
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 13:32
Cancún — solo, off the rocks
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.6 m head-onwind 13, gusts 32 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 12:00–21:00
today, best window 12:00–15:00
fish · Visibility 7 m · Water 29.3°C
confidence high · 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
06:17–19:30 · first quarter
▲ 05:00▼ 12:00▲ 19:00▼ 23:00 · 0.2 m
Hours (06→20)
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.22 m
Wave0.60 m
Wind8 km/h
Water29 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:33 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:20 · high · moonrise 14:03 · moderate · moon overhead 19:40 · high
Conditions window12:00–15:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish
Hs 0.56 mperiod 5 s head-onwind 13→32surge 0.9viz 5 m
0.56 mup to ~1.12 · 115° head-on
5 sswell moderate
13→32gusts 32 km/h
0.9weak surge
0.14m/s
5 mrecent swell
29.3°C5 mm + hood
▲19:00tide turn near
Atmosphere41 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
- calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
- visibility ~5 m
confidence highday
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
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
- mutton / dog snapperReef snapper on the edge & drop-offs; work the reef rim on the current, best at dusk/night. Warm months. Mexican rule sets no minimum size.
- red grouperGrouper on reef ledges & holes — stalk slowly along the bottom. ⚠️ Yucatán closed 1 Feb–31 Mar; off-season take sparingly (vulnerable). Mexican rule sets no minimum size.
- crevalle jackFast crevalle jack on the reef edge, by day — shoot on the current, quick. No minimum size in the rule.
- great barracuda⚠️ Big barracuda/reef predators in the Caribbean — ciguatera risk. Eat small ones, avoid big reef fish.
- lionfishInvasive — culling ENCOURAGED year-round. Tucks under ledges / in reef shade and lets you get close. Venomous spines — handle with care; excellent eating.
off season: hogfish (Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun)
Not a target — don't shoot
- Nassau grouper🚫 no-take🚫 Nassau grouper — protected (critically endangered): do not take, release. Slow-growing, forms spawning aggregations.
Law
- ✓A /SADER recreational-sport fishing permit is required (online via E5CINCO; day/week/month/year). Apnea only — spearing on scuba is banned.
- ✓One speargun (band or pneumatic), no hooks/tridents; 5 fish/day; barred within 250 m of swimmers or commercial gear.
- ✓Reserved to rod-and-reel sport fishing (do NOT spear, conservative rule): marlin, sailfish, swordfish, tarpon, roosterfish and dorado. Lobster, conch and octopus are outside sport fishing.
- ✓Grouper (mero) closed season to 31 Mar (Gulf/Yucatán focus). Marine ANPs (APFF Islas del Golfo — Espíritu Santo, Balandra) are no-take cores: do not shoot.
- ⛔ 🚫 Sport spearfishing is fish-only: lobster, conch (caracol) and octopus may NOT be speared (squid is the sole exception). §4.2.
- ⛔ 🚫 Totoaba, sea turtles, marine mammals and corals — no-take (). Inside the national parks (Cabo Pulmo, Cozumel, Puerto Morelos, Revillagigedo) all hunting is banned.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with CONAPESCA/SADER (E5CINCO permit), CONANP (no-take marine ANPs) and NOM-059; apnea only.
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 Cancún: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing in Cancun is not a general reef hunt. The only useful reference here is offshore banks, by boat, far from the National Park and bathing buffers, in about 10-20 m. On reef, the conservative rule is lionfish only. Do not shoot over coral, in snorkel areas or near uncertain boundaries. Carry the CONAPESCA/SADER permit, hunt breath-hold only, and skip any bank whose legal position cannot be verified.
TL;DR
- Cancun is legality-first: use only offshore banks away from the National Park and swimmer buffers.
- On reef, treat lionfish as the only conservative speargun target; do not turn snorkel or coral areas into hunting spots.
- Mexico requires the CONAPESCA/SADER permit, apnea only, one speargun, five fish per day and no reserve hunting.
Best spearfishing option in Cancun
The best Cancun call is often restraint. Park water, coral, tourism boats and swimmers shape the decision before fish do.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banks far from the National Park | Offshore banks by boat | 10-20 m | Intermediate | Boat access, outside park and swim buffers | Use only with a clear position outside reserves. On reef, lionfish only; do not shoot coral or protected species. |
When are conditions best for spearfishing in Cancun?
Use an offshore bank only with low sea, clear water, manageable current and a boat that can watch the float. Morning helps with traffic, but it does not solve an unclear park boundary. In Cancun, check the protected-area map first, swimmers second and conditions third. The Mexico baseline is unchanged: individual CONAPESCA/SADER permit, apnea only, one band or pneumatic speargun, five fish per day, 250 m from swimmers or commercial gear, and no shooting in National Park water, ANP cores, coral areas or uncertain polygons.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Cancun?
Only on offshore banks clearly away from the National Park and swimmer buffers.
Can you spear on the reef?
Treat lionfish as the reef exception only within authorised programs using pole spear / Hawaiian sling. Do not shoot coral, protected species or snorkel areas.
Do you need a CONAPESCA permit?
Yes. The individual recreational-sport fishing permit is required.
Is scuba spearfishing allowed?
No. Spearfishing is apnea only.
What if the park boundary is unclear?
Do not hunt there. Move to a clearly legal offshore bank.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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