BocachicaCartagena
borderlineswell on the quarter today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Southern bay canal, rock and structure 0–10 m, medium viz; tidal current. Coords approx.
Google MapsCartagena spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.3
wave 0.9 m
visibility4m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and surge pounding.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 12:38
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 12:38
Cartagena — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · strong wind 16 km/h, gusts 36 — caution
wave 0.9 mwind 16, gusts 36 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~5 m
today, best window 15:00–18:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 30.8°C
confidence low · 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
05:49–18:27 · first quarter
▼ 02:00▲ 06:00▼ 11:00▲ 19:00 · 0.3 m
Hours (06→20)
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.24 m
Wave0.80 m
Wind17 km/h
Water31 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:03 · moderate · moon underfoot 06:30 · high · moonrise 12:58 · moderate · moon overhead 18:50 · high
Conditions window12:00–15:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.92 mperiod 5.1 s head-onwind 13→36surge 2.9viz 4 m
0.92 mup to ~1.84 · 6° head-on
5.1 sswell moderate
13→36gusts 36 km/h
2.9pounding the rocks
0.36m/s
4 mrecent swell
30.8°C5 mm + hood
▲19:00tide rising
Atmosphere4 kmprecip 0.9 mm
moderatemoonrise
- strong wind 13 km/h, gusts 36 — caution
- current 0.36 m/s
- visibility ~4 m
confidence lowday
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
- lionfish✅ The only clearly-legal speargun target (Res 0549/2022 Art.5 — invasive/exotic). Culling encouraged (Armada + CORALINA). Edible; venomous spines — careful.
- snapper❓ The legality of spearing native species in Colombia is not confirmed in text (grey zone). Res 0549/2022 only authorises the speargun for invasives. Check AUNAP rules; in MPAs/Seaflower — banned.
- king/Spanish mackerel❓ The legality of spearing native species in Colombia is not confirmed in text (grey zone). Res 0549/2022 only authorises the speargun for invasives. Check AUNAP rules; in MPAs/Seaflower — banned.
- jack / trevally❓ The legality of spearing native species in Colombia is not confirmed in text (grey zone). Res 0549/2022 only authorises the speargun for invasives. Check AUNAP rules; in MPAs/Seaflower — banned.
- snook❓ The legality of spearing native species in Colombia is not confirmed in text (grey zone). Res 0549/2022 only authorises the speargun for invasives. Check AUNAP rules; in MPAs/Seaflower — banned.
- great barracuda❓ Native species — grey zone (see AUNAP). Large individuals — ciguatera risk.
- mahi-mahi❓ The legality of spearing native species in Colombia is not confirmed in text (grey zone). Res 0549/2022 only authorises the speargun for invasives. Check AUNAP rules; in MPAs/Seaflower — banned.
- Nassau grouper⚠️ On Colombia's Red List (EN/CR). No formal ban, but please release it.
- goliath grouper⚠️ On Colombia's Red List (EN/CR). No formal ban, but please release it.
Law
- ✓AUNAP sport-fishing permit (personal, non-commercial). KEY: the speargun is legal ONLY for exotic/introduced species → lionfish is the clearly legal target; for native species legality is a grey zone (consult AUNAP). Apnea, one band speargun, no night, no scuba.
- ✓PNN Tayrona (next to Santa Marta) = no-take: fishing banned since 1959, and additionally closed in Feb 2026. Spearing there is prohibited.
- ⛔ 🚫 Parrotfish (Scaridae) and surgeonfish — banned in San Andrés/Seaflower (CORALINA Res 369/2019). Don't shoot.
- ⛔ 🚫 Sharks and rays — directed take banned (Res AUNAP 0744/2012, 190/2013, 01743/2017). Release.
- ⛔ ⚠️ Goliath (E. itajara, CR) and Nassau grouper (E. striatus, EN) — Red List; release.
- ⛔ Queen conch (Lobatus gigas) and spiny lobster (Panulirus) — closed season + size, by hand only, no speargun; conch export banned.
- ⛔ 🚫 In (PNN Tayrona, Corales del Rosario, Malpelo, Gorgona, Utría, Old Providence) and across Seaflower, spearguns are BANNED for tourists.
Rules change. Before heading out, get the AUNAP sport-fishing permit; with a speargun the lionfish is the only clearly legal target — for natives consult AUNAP. PNN Tayrona is no-take.
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 Cartagena: spots, seasons and rules
In Cartagena, do not start with the fish. Start with access, zoning and wind: charter base, tidal Bocachica and Rosario/Baru under park rules. Cartagena is a big hub with a charter fleet and access to the islands. In. If the water overlaps a park, sanctuary or sensitive wildlife sector, keep the speargun out. Keep native reef fish off the list until AUNAP clears them; the invasive lionfish is the one explicit legal target.
TL;DR
- Cartagena: charter base, tidal Bocachica and Rosario/Baru under park rules.
- Northwest swell exposes this coast, so dawn counts; one webcam shows color and foam.
- Native reef fish stay uncertain until AUNAP says otherwise; only the invasive lionfish is an explicit target.
Where to look first in Cartagena
Use the list only after the local rule check. Bocachica only fishes cleanly when a northwest sea is small and the tide leaves an easy return, so check the webcam first. Parks and reserves stay out of the hunt.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bocachica | structure and rock | 0-10m | Accessible with a buddy | shore access with traffic awareness | Southern bay canal, rock and structure 0-10 m, medium viz. Turn it into scouting if wind rises. |
What is the practical day plan for Cartagena?
Start at dawn, read the exit first and keep it short. The worst sea is from NW; the coast is exposed, so dawn matters; 1 webcam link helps check color and foam. The legal check comes before fish choice. Treat native species as uncertain until AUNAP confirms them; invasive lionfish is the explicit legal target. Tayrona, Rosario, Seaflower and any park sector are treated closed without explicit authorization. Cartagena is more charter base than simple shore coast. Inside the bay and the Bocachica canal, water quality is medium; the canal itself is 0-10 m rock and structure with tidal current. The better clarity sits toward Rosario and Baru, but those islands fall inside PNN Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo. Stay outside Intangible Zones, confirm park rules and use Bocachica only when the current leaves a clean return. The lionfish allowance does not make native species automatic targets. For native reef fish, the same AUNAP check applies before any shot, especially around island edges.
FAQ
Does Cartagena require an AUNAP check?
Yes. The permit question goes to AUNAP, not to a beach rumor.
Can native fish be speared in Colombia?
The safe legal answer is lionfish; native species remain grey.
What protected areas affect Cartagena?
Tayrona, Rosario, Seaflower and other listed MPAs are treated as closed if zoning cannot be confirmed.
Can you spearfish at night in Colombia?
Keep it diurnal, with one band speargun and no scuba.
What conditions make Cartagena worth trying?
A northwest sea is the worst case on this open coast, so aim for dawn and use the single webcam to read color and foam.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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