Cozumel spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 13:33
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
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.
- current 0.86 m/s
- visibility ~7 m
The water column
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
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.
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.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
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».
What's in season,
what the law says.
- 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.
- Nassau grouper🚫 no-take🚫 Nassau grouper — protected (critically endangered): do not take, release. Slow-growing, forms spawning aggregations.
- ✓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.
- 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 Cozumel
Where can I spearfish in Cozumel?
Cozumel is a world dive benchmark (15–40 m visibility), but its entire west reef is a no-take national park: here you dive to look, not to hunt — a pure info-zone. Check today's forecast above and pick a calm-sea day, always with a marker buoy.
When is the best season in Cozumel?
Warm, clear reef water; best winter–spring (low sargassum). Sargassum Apr–Oct clouds the shore, hurricanes Jun–Nov. Many no-take parks — hunt outside them.
How cold is the water in Cozumel?
Warm, ~26–29 °C — rashguard or 2 mm. Clear reef water (10–40 m); sargassum Apr–Oct cuts visibility in places.
Is Cozumel good for a beginner?
Beginner-friendly: warm, clear reefs on calm days — ideal, but many no-take zones (hunt only outside the parks).
Do I need a licence in Cozumel?
In Cozumel spearfishing is legal but breath-hold only (freediving — NOM-017-PESC-1994 §4.5; no scuba/hookah), and an individual CONAPESCA permit is ALWAYS required, including from shore (the "from-the-beach, no permit" idea is a myth). Fish only (no lobster, conch or octopus — squid is the one exception), max 5 fish/day, and keep 250 m off swimmers and boats. Dorado, marlin, sailfish and roosterfish are reserved for rod-and-reel in the 50-mile belt — better not to spear them. Yucatán grouper closed season 1 Feb–31 Mar; totoaba is permanent no-take. See the guide.
Get the go / no-go verdict for Cozumel by email
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