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
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.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Culebra, 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.
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.
⛔ Banned here
Open the seafloor mapReef 3–12 m — WARNING: Luis Peña Channel NO-TAKE; dive/info only, no hunting. Estimated. The marker is inside Reserva Natural Canal de Luis Peña (Culebra), a restricted area; check what may be taken there before spearing. Marker position: 18.322° N, 65.325° W.
Google MapsIsland reef 3–15 m — WARNING: NO-TAKE; dive/info only. Estimated. The entry lies within Reserva Natural Canal de Luis Peña (Culebra), an area with restrictions; know its limits before you shoot. Survey soundings near the mark run from 17 m to 20 m.
Google MapsIsland reef, 3–15 m — inside a regulated reserve — verify access. Grouper, snapper. The pin sits at 18.342 N / 65.255 W on the chart. Reserva Natural Canal de Luis Peña (Culebra), where all taking is banned, starts some 4.3 km from here.
Google MapsReef, 3–12 m — legal (outside reserves). Lionfish, lobster (by hand only), snapper. Open-water site: swell arrives unbroken from the ocean, so dive it only when the sea is flat. The tidal range is small.
Google MapsIsland reef 3–18 m — regulated (Culebra NWR); verify landing/take. Estimated. Coordinates of the entry: 18.311 N, 65.232 W. Survey soundings near the mark run from 1.3 m to 22 m.
Google MapsDrop-off wall, 3–15 m — legal (outside reserves). Hogfish, lobster (by hand only), grouper, snapper.
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.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with the DRNA (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales) and the federal NOAA rules (50 CFR 622).
Culebra is the place where clean water can mislead a spearo. The island has Puerto Rico's best water, but the Luis Pena Channel is no-take and the famous Carlos Rosario side is not a hunting recommendation. Start with the legal map: DRNA licence, apnea only, no scuba, no shoreline shots, and no hunting inside the channel or other closed water. Dewey and the ferry dock sit in sheltered Ensenada Honda, useful for logistics, not for skipping the boundary work. For hunting, look outside the no-take channel toward Punta Soldado and Cayo Yerba first, then treat Culebrita and Cayo Norte as regulated-access questions.
The safest way to read Culebra is to separate reference reefs from hunting reefs. Carlos Rosario and Cayo Luis Pena matter because they mark the no-take channel. Punta Soldado and Cayo Yerba are listed as legal outside reserves. Culebrita and Cayo Norte are island or regulated reserve marks where access and take need confirmation.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Rosario (Canal Luis Pena) | Reef in the no-take channel | 3-12 m | Dive-info only, no hunting | West Culebra planning reference; estimated mark | This is not a spearfishing recommendation. Luis Pena Channel is no-take, and Carlos Rosario is dive/info only. Use it only as a no-hunt reference so divers know exactly where not to hunt. |
| Cayo Luis Pena | Island reef in no-take water | 3-15 m | Dive-info only, no hunting |
| Boat; estimated mark in the channel area |
| Another no-hunt reference. The first Puerto Rico no-take area is the central legal fact for Culebra, and this cay sits inside that warning. Keep the gun unloaded here. |
| Punta Soldado (south Culebra) | Drop-off wall | 3-15 m | Intermediate | South Culebra; outside reserves | The main outside-reserve hunting name on the island list. Plan around hogfish, lobster by hand only, grouper and snapper. Grouper identification matters because Nassau and goliath are closed year-round. |
| Cayo Yerba / Impact (southeast) | Reef | 3-12 m | Accessible to intermediate | Southeast Culebra; outside reserves | A shallower legal-outside-reserve reef mark, listed for lionfish, lobster by hand only and snapper. It is a better Culebra hunting reference than the famous no-take west-side snorkel reefs. |
| Culebrita | Island reef in Culebra NWR context | 3-18 m | Intermediate, access-dependent | Boat; verify landing and take restrictions | Culebra NWR may restrict landing or take around Culebrita. Do not assume landing or take is allowed just because the water looks open. Verify access before turning it into a hunting plan. |
| Cayo Norte | Island reef inside regulated reserve area | 3-15 m | Intermediate, access-dependent | Boat; verify access and reserve status | Cayo Norte sits inside a regulated reserve and requires an access check. That makes it a conditional planning mark, not a default spearfishing spot. |
The Puerto Rico rules do not soften because Culebra looks remote. A DRNA recreational fishing licence is required, tourists included, through the DRNA Oficina de Permisos. The age threshold is 13. Spearfishing is freedive-only; scuba is banned. The spear is used more than 30 m, or 100 ft, off the coast, and night spearfishing is only for lionfish. Nassau grouper and goliath grouper are closed year-round. Parrotfish and queen conch are protected, and lobster is not speared.
Carlos Rosario is useful to a spearo for one reason: it tells you where the no-hunt conversation starts. The Luis Pena Channel is no-take, the first in Puerto Rico, and Carlos Rosario is dive/info only. Cayo Luis Pena carries the same message. These are not gray-area spots. Use them to orient the map, then move the hunting plan outside the channel and away from restricted cays.
Culebra's legal problem is not lack of fishable water; it is too much famous water inside protected or regulated areas. Hunt outside the channel and west, and remember that many Culebra NWR cays restrict landing or take. That applies to how you plan a boat day. A captain, a pretty lee and clear water do not replace a boundary check. If access or take is uncertain, make it a dive day.
Culebra is marked sheltered and is described as having Puerto Rico's best water, but it has its own bad direction. The bad sector is 200 to 320 degrees, with west around 260 degrees the worst. That means the leeward choice can change with swell wrap. Ensenada Honda is sheltered for ferry and logistics, while the hunting decision belongs on the exposed reef you actually plan to dive.
For a real Culebra hunting plan, start with outside-reserve water. Punta Soldado gives a south-island wall from 3 to 15 m. Cayo Yerba gives a southeast reef from 3 to 12 m. Both still require the national species filter: lionfish, snapper and legal reef fish are one conversation; Nassau grouper, goliath grouper, parrotfish, queen conch and speared lobster are not.
Yes, but not in the Luis Pena Channel no-take area or restricted reserve water. You need a DRNA licence and must freedive.
For hunting, start with Punta Soldado and Cayo Yerba. Carlos Rosario and Cayo Luis Pena are no-take reference points, not spearfishing spots.
Do not hunt inside the no-take Luis Pena Channel. Many Culebra NWR cays restrict landing or take, so verify access before planning any hunting.
Culebra often has the best water in Puerto Rico, but there is no fixed rating. Watch west and southwest-to-northwest swell, especially around 260 degrees.
Yes. The Puerto Rico DRNA recreational fishing licence requirement includes tourists and is handled through the DRNA Oficina de Permisos.
No. Nassau and goliath grouper are closed year-round. Parrotfish and queen conch are protected, and lobster is not a spear target.
