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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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.
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0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 16:39
Cavalaire-sur-Mer — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 0.8 m + swell period 5 s
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
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−10 m
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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
The cape itself: rock drop-off 8–30 m, scree and banks, seagrass around; bream, dentex, bass, leerfish passing in summer. Reached on foot along the coastal path, gear carried. Exposed to the south-east — the smallest SE swell makes it untenable. The Levant military zone is measured 5.5 km offshore.
Gigaro — pointe du Brouis (La Croix-Valmer)Cavalaire-sur-Mer
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—
The start of the corniche: red rock and scree 5–20 m, seagrass further out, shore entry off the beach. Bream, bass, octopus, dentex on the bank. Busy in summer — go early, and stay clear of the buoyed swimming zones.
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.
One morning glance — and you know.
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≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Bag: north of 48°N — 3/day (except 1 Feb–31 Mar: catch-and-release only); south of 48°N — 2/day year-round.
maigre (meagre)
Argyrosomus regius · 5–30 m · arrêté 2012
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m · arrêté 2012
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–15 m · arrêté 2012
black seabream
Spondyliosoma cantharus · 3–25 m · arrêté 2012
grey mullet
Mugil / Chelon spp. · 0–8 m · arrêté 2012
European conger
Conger conger · 5–40 m · arrêté 2012
striped red mullet
Mullus surmuletus · 3–30 m · arrêté 2012
common sole
Solea solea · 2–20 m · arrêté 2012
European hake
Merluccius merluccius · 10–40 m · arrêté 2012
Atlantic mackerel
Scomber scombrus · 0–20 m · arrêté 2012
Atlantic 20 cm (North Sea — 30 cm), Mediterranean 18 cm.
brown meagre / corb
Sciaena umbra · 5–30 m · 🚫 MORATORIUM (Med, until end 2033)
🚫 Mérou (5 spp.) and corb: TOTAL spearfishing ban in the French Mediterranean (mainland + Corsica), moratorium to end 2033. Size is irrelevant — not a legal target at all.
grouper (5 spp.)
Epinephelus marginatus, E. costae, E. caninus, Mycteroperca rubra, Polyprion americanus · 8–45 m · 🚫 MORATORIUM (Med, until end 2033)
🚫 Mérou (5 spp.) and corb: TOTAL spearfishing ban in the French Mediterranean (mainland + Corsica), moratorium to end 2033. Size is irrelevant — not a legal target at all.
red porgy
Pagrus pagrus · 10–40 m · arrêté 2012
common pandora
Pagellus erythrinus · 10–40 m · arrêté 2012
axillary seabream
Pagellus acarne · 10–40 m · arrêté 2012
two-banded seabream
Diplodus vulgaris · 1–15 m · arrêté 2012
sharpsnout seabream
Diplodus puntazzo · 2–20 m · arrêté 2012
annular seabream
Diplodus annularis · 1–15 m · arrêté 2012
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · 2–15 m · arrêté 2012
Law
✓No paid licence since 2009 (décret 2009-727), BUT since 12 Feb 2026 there IS a registration regime, and it differs BY BASIN (arrêté of 7 Nov 2025, version of 1 Apr 2026): Atlantic and Channel — only if you target the listed species; Mediterranean — everyone aged 16+; shore gathering (pêche à pied) is exempt ONLY while it does not target the listed species — target one and registration applies there too; the overseas territories — not yet required. Civil-liability (RC) insurance for spearfishing is mandatory too — a standalone policy or an FFESSM/FFPSA federation licence. Speargun (arbalète) — 16+.
✓Breath-hold only — any equipment that lets you breathe underwater is banned; you may not carry such equipment and a speargun/foëne on the same boat (bar a prefect's derogation), nor carry and use a speargun and an underwater scooter together; guns powered by a detonating charge, or by compressed gas the diver did not compress himself, are banned (CRPM art. R.921-90). A spearfisher may not: fish between the legal hours of sunset and sunrise; come within 150 m of vessels actively fishing or of gear marked by buoys; take animals from other people's nets and traps; use a light source; take crustaceans with a speargun or a foëne (hands only); keep the gun loaded out of the water (CRPM art. R.921-91 and R.921-92). Ports and marked bathing zones are closed by the LOCAL arrêté, not by a national act; a protected STATUS (Natura 2000, marine park) does NOT by itself ban spearfishing — the specific closures are on the map.
✓Min. sizes are façade-specific (arrêté 26.10.2012 + EU 2019/1241): sea bass (bar) 42 cm Atlantic/Channel and 30 cm Mediterranean. In the Med, moratoria protect the grouper (×5) and the brown meagre (corb) — don't shoot them. Registration + catch declaration have applied since 12 Feb 2026 (arrêté of 7 Nov 2025 as amended 1 Apr 2026). See the species card and the guide.
✓EU Reg. 2023/2842 is in force in France: registration applies since 12 Feb 2026 (differently by basin) and catch declaration covers the species of the annex in force, and the annex ties each species to the basin where it must be declared (not every species in every basin): sea bass (bar), pollack (lieu jaune), blackspot seabream Pagellus bogaraveo (dorade rose), dolphinfish (dorade coryphène) and mackerel (maquereau). Bluefin tuna is NOT in that annex. Check your basin and your species against the annex in force. Basis: the arrêté of 7 Nov 2025 as amended 1 Apr 2026. There is NO postponement.
✓Marking the catch is MANDATORY: on the listed species you cut off the lower lobe of the caudal fin (arrêté 17.05.2011 as amended by the arrêté of 30.12.2021) — sea bass, bonito, cod, brown meagre (corb), dentex, dolphinfish, gilthead, blackspot seabream, swordfish, lobster, spiny lobster, pollack, saithe, meagre, marlins, mackerel, red porgy, red scorpionfish, white seabream, sole, wahoo, the FOUR tunas on the list (yellowfin, albacore, skipjack and bigeye), sailfish. Bluefin tuna is NOT on this list — it has its own regime. For shore spearfishing the mark is made AS SOON AS you get back to the shore. Specimens must be kept whole. Bluefin tuna — fishing is prohibited without an annual ADMINISTRATIVE authorisation, with a tag fitted immediately after capture and a declaration (arrêté 24.03.2026). Which body issues it is decided by the REGION WHERE THE VESSEL IS REGISTERED: the DIRM as a rule, and the DMLC for vessels registered in Corsica. Belonging to a federation changes only the SUBMISSION CHANNEL — the application goes through the federation — not the issuer, which remains the administration.
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 Cavalaire-sur-Mer
Where can I spearfish in Cavalaire-sur-Mer?
Cavalaire-sur-Mer has rock entry points such as Gigaro — pointe du Brouis (La Croix-Valmer) and Cap Lardier. The bay of Cavalaire itself is sand and seagrass: pleasant to swim, poor to hunt. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Cavalaire-sur-Mer?
Long season (May–October), best June to September. Provence/Côte d'Azur: rocky calanques, clear water. The mistral is the deciding factor: on its days the exposed capes kick up — hide in the lee coves.
How cold is the water in Cavalaire-sur-Mer?
Mediterranean: ~13 °C in winter, ~24–26 °C in summer. 3–5 mm in summer. Rocky calanques give clear water; but after the mistral a sharp thermocline and upwelling set in — deeper water is colder and murkier.
Is Cavalaire-sur-Mer good for a beginner?
Moderate: rocky calanques, clear water, but the mistral turns the exposed capes into a wall of waves. Beginner-friendly in the lee coves; in wind, hide.
Do I need a licence in Cavalaire-sur-Mer?
No paid licence in Cavalaire-sur-Mer — but third-party (RC) insurance is MANDATORY, and since 10/01/2026 a free EU registration + catch declaration (RECFishing app) applies from age 16. Breath-hold only (no scuba), buoy mandatory, no night; sizes by coast (bar 42 Atl. / 30 Med.), grouper and corb banned in the Med. See the guide.
⛔ 🚫 Mérou (5 spp.) and corb — total spearfishing ban in the Mediterranean (mainland + Corsica), moratorium to end 2033.
⛔ Grande nacre (Pinna nobilis) — full take ban (Habitats Dir. 92/43 Annex IV). Marine mammals, turtles, seahorses (Hippocampus), corals — do not touch.
⛔ Crustaceans (lobster, spiny lobster, spider crab, ormer/abalone) — harpoon/foëne PROHIBITED. By hand while freediving only, where species/size/season is open. Ormeau (Haliotis) — hand-take heavily restricted/seasonal, effectively closed in many zones.
Rules change. Exact distances from beaches/ports and seasonal closures are set by the local préfecture maritime — check its arrêté and the DIRM/OFB zone map before heading out.