Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding.
Sources & confidence
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.
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Crescent Head, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
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: 3016 spots across 406 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 mapBig Hill is one of the headlands around Crescent Head that anglers use: it has fewer spots and takes more swell than its neighbours, but the walk in is easier. Around 2.5 to 9 m by bathymetry.
Google MapsA thin finger of rock and reef sticking out from the Goolawah beaches south of Racecourse, with white sand on its northern side. Local fishing writers list it among the area's headlands. Around 6 to 12.5 m by bathymetry.
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 as of now — 25.10.2026 15:31 (Australia/Sydney)
All 461 spots → · Region: NSW North Coast · spearo.app — All countries
transparency ~24 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
The headland at the southern end of Goolawah beach. Anglers fish the first point in the bay and the far tip, a long walk out, for tailor and drummer. It lies south of the amended Crescent Head spearfishing closure line. Around 2.5 to 8 m by bathymetry.
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.
Rules change and vary BY STATE. Before heading out, check with your state's fisheries (NSW DPI, Fisheries QLD, VFA, DPIRD WA, PIRSA, NRE Tas, NT Fisheries) and the marine-park zoning map.
Crescent Head has rock entry points such as Big Hill Point, Delicate Nobby and Racecourse Head. Crescent Head faces east-south-east and is open from the north-east round to the south. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
Autumn–winter (Apr–Aug) — clearest warm EAC water; catch the SW wind.
Summer 22–26 °C — 2–3 mm suit; winter 18–20 °C — 3–5 mm. Warm EAC.
Easy–moderate: warm, accessible water; watch the swell on the headlands.
Crescent Head is in NSW. Yes — NSW requires a Recreational Fishing Licence (~AUD 35/yr), and the eastern blue groper has been protected from the spear since 1969. Spearfishing on scuba is banned everywhere, rock lobster may never be speared, and marine-park sanctuary/green zones are no-take. See the guide for the state-by-state detail.
