Capo Vaticano · Italy

2.5

💧 Water should clear by Monday (~1d)

visibility1m

Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 💧 Water should clear by Monday (~1d)

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 03:47

Sources & confidence

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
Method: spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + 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.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app

MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 03:47

Capo Vaticano — solo, off the rocks

DON'T GO

don't go · wave 1.9 m (occasionally up to ~3.8 m)

wave 1.9 mwind 24, gusts 27 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 22.5°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.

Sunday · today2026-10-25

07:15–18:04 · full moon

▼ 03:00▲ 09:00▼ 15:00▲ 21:00 · 0.4 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.37 m

Wave1.04 m

Wind5 km/h

Water22 °C

fish activity: moonset 06:19 · moderate · moon underfoot 11:50 · high · moonrise 17:23 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

don't go fish

Hs 1.88 m · roughperiod 6.1 swind 24→27surge 7.3viz 1 m

1.88 mrough · up to ~3.76 · 298° at an angle

6.1 sswell moderate

24→27gusts 27 km/h

7.3pounding the rocks

0.19m/s

1 mrecent swell

22.5°C5 mm + hood

▲09:00tide turn near

Atmosphere14 kmprecip 0.2 mm

moderatemoonset

wave 1.9 m (occasionally up to ~3.8 m)
steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
dawn/dusk

confidence lowtwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

More spots

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Italy map →

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Feedback

Help us make it better

What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.

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

FormicoliCapo Vaticano

dangerous

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

window: The 500 m from used beaches is measured from the water's edge, and here the shore is 40 m from the mark: in bathing season do the arithmetic before getting in. With Ponente in the forecast the useful window shortens by itself, long before sunset. The orders are online on the website of the Capitaneria responsible. The afternoon wind often closes the day before the light does.
tide: Between the shore and five metres of water there are 580 m, and no tide shifts that line appreciably. Swell from the west moves more water in ten minutes than the tide moves in six hours. At Capo Vaticano the local currents depend more on the shape of the bottom than on the hour. If the current is faster than your easy pace, it is already too much.
shelter: The coast here runs NE–SW and opens to the west: that is what decides which forecast to read. In Ponente the detached rocks break the swell but hand it back confused, and that crossed sea tires you more than a clean wave. At Capo Vaticano the old rule holds: watch the sea for ten minutes, then decide. A metre of long swell from the west is worth more than two metres of short chop raised inshore.
conditions: The useful band lies between the 530 m of the ten-metre line and the 1000 m of the twenty: that strip is where you work. With 200 m reached about 4300 m out, the limit of the day is set by your breath and not by the distance. At Capo Vaticano it pays to come out feeling you stopped early. Even green water is workable; white streaks are suspension that will not clear.
hazard: In Ponente the passage between the shoal and the coast becomes the most dangerous part of the route. Marked set nets are left alone: getting caught in a net on breath-hold is the most dangerous thing in the whole day. At Capo Vaticano floating lines are seen late: keep an eye above you as well. A day given up is never a mistake.
access: In Ponente the crossing out to the shoal is worth thinking about twice, because on the way back you will have it against you. With the shore 40 m away and five metres of water at 580 m, the band to cross is a short one. At Capo Vaticano many accesses cross private property: if it is signed, look for another one. Leave the place as you found it.

Offshore rocky bank; grouper and dentex, long swim, calm only.

Google Maps

Grotticelle / Praia i FocuCapo Vaticano

dangerous

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

window: Before the timing comes the compulsory declaration to MASAF: it is free, but without it you are not in order. At Capo Vaticano the bathing season changes the usable distances far more than the sea ever does. A shore oriented at 272° loses the sun before sunset: take it into account for the last descent. The last stretch, the 450 m out to ten metres of water, is the one you will swim tired: put it in the day's arithmetic.
tide: Even at springs the band out to five metres stays 320 m wide: the level does not change the route. The level barely moves: the 10 m contour stays 450 m from the shore at any hour of the day. Water pushing you towards the west, that is towards the open sea, is the signal to come out. With the shore 80 m from the mark, the alongshore current counts for more than any table.
shelter: In front of a cave or an arch the water breathes with the sea: with leftover swell the entrance pushes and sucks. The shore in front of the mark faces west, about 272°, so everything arriving from that sector gets in unobstructed. When the swell gets in, the whole coastal strip, 320 m wide here, lifts and the clarity goes. At Capo Vaticano whoever gets in first checks, whoever gets in out of habit is trusting yesterday.
conditions: At Capo Vaticano the clarity is built on the days without swell, not on the hours without wind. Here depth grows faster than distance: 400 m of swimming is worth twenty metres of water. If the thermocline is high, you see better below it than at the surface. Past 450 m from the shore it is the water that decides the day and not the willingness.
hazard: Inside caves and arches the water pushes and sucks: you do not go in alone. At Capo Vaticano, as along the whole Italian coast, the surface marker and the 50 m radius are not negotiable. Work out the way back with the tiredness already factored in. With 320 m out to five metres, the exit is short only if you decide on it in time.
access: Off a high wall the exit is a single point: remember that before you go any distance. The mark stands off the shore by about 80 m: here the access starts with a crossing. From the entry point to the shore there are 80 m, and they are the metres that weigh most on the return. At Capo Vaticano the best place is the one you can leave without hurrying.

Granite coves with quick depth; sea bream, sea bass, grouper. Very clear water.

Punta Capo Vaticano / faroCapo Vaticano

dangerous

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

window: The catch limit is 5 kg per person per day and the catch may not be sold. The orders of the Capitaneria responsible for Capo Vaticano can add seasonal prohibitions, and they outrank the general rule. With the 340 m that separate you from five metres of water, the return in daylight is planned from the start. Note the hour you will come out before you get in: from 80 m of shore the way back always looks shorter than it is.
tide: Tide tables here explain a local current more often than they choose an hour. The regime is microtidal: the level at Capo Vaticano moves less than half a metre even at springs. If the water carries you along the coast, come back inside the rock line. With Maestrale strengthening the inshore current picks up before the swell does.
shelter: The open sea lies to the northwest: in Maestrale the swell works straight onto the entry, while from the southeast you stay in the lee of the land. A headland gathers sea from a wide sector, so yesterday's swell counts for as much as today's wind from northwest. With the wind from the southeast at your back you can work; with the swell from the northwest in your face you look and go home. At Capo Vaticano the swell forecast matters more than the wind forecast on this stretch.
conditions: 310 m of swimming is all it takes to have twenty metres under you: the slope is steep and the bottom breaks away early. The 10 m contour runs about 310 m from the shore and is the practical reference for this entry. With Maestrale strengthening, the good window closes without warning. After three calm days the water at Capo Vaticano is a different water.
hazard: On the shoreline at Capo Vaticano the same national rules apply without discounts: breath-hold, daylight, marker in sight. In Maestrale the point becomes the worst place on this coast to get out of the water. Go down less deep than you could: the margin is the only real safety. The way back from 310 m out is longer than it looks once you are tired.
access: In Maestrale the only workable entry is the one on the opposite flank of the point. Between the coast and the mark there are 80 m of water, to be counted twice, out and back. At Capo Vaticano the return is planned on the afternoon swell, not on the morning one. If you do not fancy swimming the 310 m back from ten metres of water, do not go any further out.

Santa Maria di RicadiCapo Vaticano

dangerous

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

Scoglio del GodanoCapo Vaticano

dangerous

Ultra · 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

Spiaggia di CoccorinoCapo Vaticano

dangerous

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

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.

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».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Tropea: Maremeu Tropea AppartamentiWindy webcam (Tropea: Maremeu Tropea Appartamenti) — official webcams.windy.com player, plays inline. Read the water and surf before you go.camera: windy ↗Webcams provided by windy.com - add new webcam

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

European seabass
<4 m · — · dawn/dusk
min. 25 cm · legal target
Gilthead seabream
1–4 m · over sand/weed · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
White seabream
1–5 m · in the surf on the reef · dawn
min. 23 cm · legal target
Two-banded seabream
1–8 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Sharpsnout seabream
2–10 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Annular seabream
0–5 m · — · daytime
min. 12 cm · legal target
Common dentex
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
Red porgy
min. 18 cm · legal target
Common pandora
min. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
Axillary seabream
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
Blackspot seabream
min. 33 cm · legal target
Striped seabream
0–5 m · — · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
Black seabream
2–6 m · — · —
min. 15 cm · legal target
Bogue
min. 15 cm · legal target
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Dusky grouper
5–40 m · — · daytime
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Wreckfish
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Brown meagre
2–15 m · — · twilight
min. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
Greater amberjack
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
Leerfish
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
Grey mullet
0–2 m · — · —
min. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
Red scorpionfish
3–20 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Moray eel
1–15 m · — · twilight
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
European conger
2–25 m · — · night
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
Wrasse
min. 15 cm · legal target
Red mullet
min. 11 cm · legal target
Atlantic bonito
min. 25 cm · legal target
Common octopus
1–6 m · — · twilight
min. 450 g · legal target
Cuttlefish
legal target · (verify against the norm in force)

Law

✓NO paid licence, but a free MASAF REGISTRATION is mandatory (recreational sea-fishing declaration, online via SIAN/SPID, annual) — it is not a «licence».
✓Free-diving only: scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). The 16+ rule comes from a different act — D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 6 c. 5; handing a speargun to an under-16 is an offence (art. 13-octies c. 3 b, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only from dawn to sunset (art. 129e DPR 1639/68).
✓Distances (art. 129 DPR 1639/68): ≥500 m from beaches with bathers; ≥100 m from fixed gear/set nets and from vessels anchored outside ports.
✓Buoy MANDATORY (art. 130 DPR 1639/68): float with a red flag bearing a white diagonal stripe, visible ≥300 m; the diver stays within 50 m of the buoy/support boat.
✓The speargun may not be kept armed out of the water (art. 131 DPR 1639/68) — load only when submerged.
✓The spearfisher may NOT gather corals, crustaceans or molluscs — the second paragraph of the same article (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68; the same rule in D.M. 249/1987, art. 2). BUT cephalopods are EXCLUDED: octopus, cuttlefish and squid may be taken — the exception is kept in terms by the official guidance (circolare 6227201 of 23.07.1987). Mussels — up to 3 kg per person per day, but only with the Capo del Compartimento Marittimo's authorisation. The 5 kg daily cap counts EVERYTHING taken that day (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓You MAY carry a speargun and a breathing apparatus on the same boat — but at most ONE cylinder of up to 10 L per vessel, and using it to fish is prohibited (art. 128-ter DPR 1639/68). While you are down, at least one person must stay aboard ready to intervene, and there must be a rope long enough to recover the diver.
✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
✓The 5 kg/person daily cap IS in force and carries a fine: €500–3 000 up to 10 kg, €2 000–12 000 up to 50 kg, €12 000–50 000 above (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by Law 21 Apr 2026 no. 75). Exception: a single fish heavier than 5 kg. Recovery-plan species and bluefin tuna: +1/3 (c. 5).

⛔ Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) — TOTAL BAN: fishing, possession, transport, sale (D.M. 16/10/1998; EU-protected). Never touch.

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.

FAQ — spearfishing in Capo Vaticano

Where can I spearfish in Capo Vaticano?

Capo Vaticano has rock entry points such as Grotticelle / Praia i Focu, Punta Capo Vaticano / faro and Formicoli. Granite coves with quick depth and very clear water: the drop reaches about 53 m 400 m out at Coccorino. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

When is the best season in Capo Vaticano?

A long season and crystal water on the Costa degli Dei (Tropea, Capo Vaticano) and the Costa Viola. At Scilla and Bagnara the season matters little and the Strait current a lot: you dive on the slack, not by chance.

How cold is the water in Capo Vaticano?

Warm and clear: ~15–27 °C. A 3 mm suit in summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months. On the Costa degli Dei and the Costa Viola the water is often crystal, with deep drop-offs close in.

Is Capo Vaticano good for a beginner?

Intermediate to demanding: clear water and deep drop-offs right off the coast. At Scilla and Bagnara the real risk is the Strait current — dive only on the slack and never alone. Buoy always.

Do I need a licence in Capo Vaticano?

No — in Capo Vaticano there is no paid licence; a free MASAF declaration is mandatory (the recreational sea-fishing communication, online via SIAN/SPID, renewed each year), which is not a «licence». Breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no selling the catch. See the guide.

Full guide: spearfishing in Italy →

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Help us make it better

The water column

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

The seabed

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

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Capo Vaticano

Campania

Apulia

Capo Vaticano spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Capo Vaticano by email

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Help us make it better

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.

FAQ — spearfishing in Capo Vaticano

Campania

Apulia

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.