Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
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.
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: 1152 spots across 189 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 mapGranite-boulder kelp reef on the Atlantic seaboard below Camps Bay; hottentot, roman, cold clear Benguela water. Controlled zone — permit + bag limits apply.
Google MapsGranite kelp reef south of Camps Bay, cold Atlantic; hottentot, roman, crayfish (permit). Exposed to SW swell — dive it on light wind.
Google MapsClassic Atlantic kelp-forest reef, granite gullies 4-14 m. Per the DFFE zonation this entry falls inside the TMNP Karbonkelberg restricted (no-take) zone — all spearfishing is banned here; dive/look only. Hunt south of the boundary (Bakoven/Llandudno).
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».
Rules change. Before heading out, check with the DFFE (Marine Recreational Fishing brochure / permit) and the MPA managing authority (SANParks / CapeNature / Ezemvelo KZN / ECPTA / iSimangaliso).
Spearfishing in Cape Town is legal only with a DFFE recreational permit endorsed for spearfishing under MLRA 18/1998. Get it online at fishing.dffe.gov.za or through an authorised SAPO branch, and check the current fee at the point of issue. No fee figure is quoted here. The diving itself is breath-hold and snorkel only; scuba and hookah are banned. Estuaries are fully closed, the total daily cap is 10 fish, and MPA conditions can be stricter. On the Atlantic seaboard, Bakoven and Llandudno are the usable kelp-reef names here. Oudekraal is not: it sits inside the Table Mountain National Park Karbonkelberg restricted no-take zone. Expect cold Benguela water, kelp, hottentot, red roman, musselcracker and summer yellowtail, with visibility controlled by the Cape Doctor and winter north-west storms.
Cape Town's Atlantic seaboard is not a warm-water reef stroll. It is granite, kelp, cold upwelling and MPA boundaries. The three marks below are close together on the map but not equal legally. Oudekraal is included because it is a classic kelp-forest name and a common planning mistake; for spearfishing it is no-take. No formal safety rating is published for these marks, and some coordinates are approximate, so legal boundary and sea state come before habit.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakoven | Granite-boulder kelp reef | Around 8 m | Controlled zone, permit and bag limits apply | Atlantic seaboard below Camps Bay | Hottentot, roman and cold clear Benguela water are named here. Carry the correct permit endorsement and stay inside the daily cap. |
| Oudekraal | Kelp forest and granite gullies | 4-14 m | Hard no-take, dive and look only | TMNP Karbonkelberg restricted zone | All spearfishing is banned here. The practical hunting direction is south of the boundary, not inside Oudekraal. |
| Llandudno Rocks | Granite kelp reef | Around 8 m | Exposed to south-west swell | South of Camps Bay | Hottentot, roman and crayfish are named, with permit context. Dive it on light wind and respect lobster-specific rules. |
Yes. South Africa requires a recreational permit endorsed for spearfishing under MLRA 18/1998. It is for own use only; sale is banned. Buy it online at fishing.dffe.gov.za or through an authorised SAPO branch, and check the current fee there. The point is not the price but the endorsement. Without the spearfishing endorsement, a Cape Town kelp dive is not a legal hunting plan.
Use the DFFE online permit system or an authorised SAPO branch. The current fee belongs at the point of issue, so check the current fee at issue. That avoids stale permit pricing and keeps the legal action clear: get the recreational permit with the spearfishing endorsement before carrying a gun. Keep it with you, because Atlantic seaboard entries such as Bakoven and Llandudno are not remote enough to treat paperwork casually.
Oudekraal is the hard example here. It falls inside the Table Mountain National Park Karbonkelberg restricted no-take zone, and all spearfishing is banned at that entry. MPA conditions can also restrict carrying a speargun, so check the managing authority before assuming transit is fine. The national estuary ban is separate and absolute: do not spearfish in river mouths or the V&A basin. False Bay is warmer, but this article stays on the Atlantic seaboard.
The Atlantic side works on Benguela water and wind timing. A moderate south-easter, the Cape Doctor, can upwell cold clear water with 15 m or more visibility, but a sustained blow turns the water green. Winter north-west storms shut it down. The cold floor matters: below 9 degrees is very cold, and below 12 calls for caution. Wear a proper suit and do not let clear water talk you into a swell-exposed entry.
Cape Town kelp forest targets include hottentot, red roman, black musselcracker and summer yellowtail. Species rules still matter. Red roman has a 30 cm minimum in the species table, hottentot 22 cm, white musselcracker 60 cm and kob 40 cm. Galjoen is not no-take, but it is closed from 15 October to the end of February, with its own tight limits. Elf / shad is closed from 1 September to 30 November. Great white shark, whale shark, sawfishes, coelacanth, brindle bass and potato bass are zero-possession or fully protected.
Yes. You need a DFFE recreational permit endorsed for spearfishing under MLRA 18/1998.
Buy it online at fishing.dffe.gov.za or through an authorised SAPO branch. Check the current fee there; no fee figure is quoted here.
Bakoven and Llandudno are the Atlantic kelp options here. Oudekraal is no-take.
Oudekraal falls inside the TMNP Karbonkelberg restricted no-take zone, where all spearfishing is banned.
Expect cold Benguela water. Moderate south-easter can make it clear; sustained wind turns it green, and winter north-west storms shut it down.
The national spearfishing rule gives a daily cap of 10 fish total.
Red roman is listed at 30 cm. Yellowtail is listed as legal with no minimum size supplied in the species table.
No. Breath-hold and snorkel only; scuba and hookah are banned for spearfishing.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Cape Town, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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transparency ~15 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
