spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast
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
no dataupdated 20:58
Dénia — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
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: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
The level moves some 12 centimetres and counts for nothing. The cape current does count: the Xàbia Red Cross explicitly warns against swimming round Cap de Sant Antoni to Cova Tallada without a motor, above all between 12:00 and 18:00 when the wind gets up. Off the nose the flow speeds up, and inside the cave the water breathes with the swell.
shelter
You are under the vertical wall of Cap de Sant Antoni, and the shore here faces north and northeast. The cape cuts Xaloc (SE) and everything from the south, so in a southerly blow this side can be glassy. Gregal (NE) and Llevant (E), though, hit the wall square on, the swell rebounds off the rock and there is no lee under the cliff.
conditions
You do not shoot here, whatever the weather. The point sits at 0.167 E, east of the 0°08'10" meridian and therefore inside the Reserva Marina del Cap de Sant Antoni; Decreto 19/2015 art. 3.1.b closes spearfishing outright. With a gun go south of Cap de la Nau: Granadella, Portitxol, Moraig. Diving here without a gun is fine.
hazard
The ban first: the whole shore from Cova Tallada to the tip of the cape lies inside the reserve, Decreto 19/2015. Second, the cave itself: a through-going sea cavity with no mobile signal and no lifeguard, only 112. Do not enter the flooded part, it is a cave-diving objective, not a breath-hold spot. In summer there is a queue of snorkellers and kayaks.
access
You walk in on the coastal path, from Les Rotes on the Dénia side or from the Xàbia side, through pine and down rock steps. Trekking shoes and plenty of water are mandatory and the descent is not for beginners; in season you must carry the printed GVA permit and your ID. The easy option is to arrive by kayak from the water.
Rocky ground below the cape; rich grounds, exposed to the E; RESPECT the Cap de Sant Antoni Marine Reserve (no-take).
The tide is 12 centimetres, forget it. There is no real current here, the bay is shallow and closed in. Something else muddies it: the propellers of the Baleària ferries lift sand in the entrance channel, and after an autumn downpour the town's storm drains put a brown layer over the stone that holds for half a day and clears with the first offshore wind.
shelter
This is the town front just south of the harbour mole, facing north and northeast. The mole and the port itself kill any westerly chop, so with Ponent it goes mirror-flat. Gregal (NE) comes straight in through the open mouth of the bay and Llevant (E) at an angle, but over flat rock the surf builds sooner than on the deep capes.
conditions
The best day comes with Ponent or Llebeig: it blows off the land and over rock you see 6 to 8 metres. After a day of Gregal the sand-and-stone mix clouds up and you are left with 2 to 4 metres. This is the gentlest entry around, shallow and simple in relief, a sensible place to start. Legally it lies west of the 0°08'10" E meridian, outside the Cap de Sant Antoni reserve.
hazard
The big thing here is not the reserve, it is the port. Valencian port waters are closed to all fishing, outer anchorage and slipway zone included, Decreto 41/2013 art. 4.3. Dénia is the Baleària terminal for Ibiza, Formentera and Palma, with ferries year-round and several a day in summer: stay out of the entrance channel and keep your buoy in plain sight.
access
This is the easiest access in Dénia: promenade, free parking in the neighbourhood, fifty paces to the water. You get in over sand and small stones and put your fins on standing up. It is a three or four minute swim to the rock patch that matters, and behind it the Posidonia meadow starts at chest depth. Load the gun only in the water, never ashore.
Semi-urban rocky ground; easy entry, semi-sheltered from the Gregal, good for beginners.
The tide in Dénia moves about 12 centimetres, from 0.15 to 0.27 metres, so there is no window to plan around. What counts is the along-shore drift: after several days of settled Llevant you feel a clear pull along the slabs, and the shallow rock shelf holds sediment for another day after the sea has gone flat.
shelter
The rock shelf southeast of town faces northeast, with the Montgó massif at your back. Llevant (E) and Gregal (NE) come in head-on, and the whole 60-to-170-degree sector drops swell straight onto the slabs. Cap de Sant Antoni only covers you from Xaloc (SE); real calm comes with Ponent and Llebeig, blowing off the land.
conditions
Come on Ponent or Llebeig: the wind blows off the land, the water sits flat over the slabs and you see 8 to 12 metres. After a day of Llevant the sand and torn Posidonia lift and visibility drops to 2 or 3 metres. And the key point: you may only shoot at the western end, because the reserve starts on the 0°08'10" E meridian.
hazard
The law first: the eastern half of Les Rotes already falls inside the Reserva Marina del Cap de Sant Antoni, and Decreto 19/2015 art. 3.1.b bans recreational fishing in every mode, spearfishing included. The limit is the 0°08'10" E meridian and there is no marker ashore. Then the physical: urchins on the slabs and Pelagia jellyfish in summer.
access
From Dénia the Carretera del Barranc del Monyo runs right along the sea and you park on the verge, next to the water. You get in straight off slabs and cobbles, shoes are mandatory, and rock starts a few metres from shore. The road carries on to Platja de les Arenetes, but that is already reserve: do not take a gun there.
Rocky coast of Les Rotes; low rock drop-offs and Posidonia, sea bream and gilthead, exposed to the easterly.
The tide is negligible: twelve centimetres of travel. What you do feel is the water wrapping the nose: with settled Llevant the flow bends round Punta Negra and pulls towards Punta del Sard, and at 10 to 15 metres you read it on the buoy line. In flat calm there is nothing at all, the water just sits.
shelter
A stone nose between Platja de les Arenetes and Punta del Sard, jutting out further than its neighbours and therefore barer. It faces northeast: Gregal goes straight at the nose and Llevant runs along it. The shelter is the point itself, since in a northeasterly its south face stays calmer. Ponent lays the water down on both sides.
conditions
Do not come here with a gun in any wind. The longitude is 0.14938 E, east of the 0°08'10" meridian, so the spot falls inside the Reserva Marina del Cap de Sant Antoni, Decreto 19/2015 art. 3.1.b. The nearest legal rock of the same class is past Cap de la Nau: Granadella and Portitxol, about half an hour by road through Xàbia.
hazard
Legally it is simple: spearfishing is banned here, the spot is inside the reserve, and carrying a gun and breathing gear together in the boat is already a presumption of illegal fishing under Ley 5/2017 art. 14.5. In practice the Dénia dive centres work here under quota and permit, dive boats come to the point daily, and the sharp-rock entry cuts feet without booties.
access
Take the Les Rotes shore road to where the asphalt ends, then walk to the Punta Negra shingle; the parking is narrow and in summer there is no room. You get in over coarse cobbles and put your fins on in the water. Keep the landmark clear in your head: everything east of Punta del Sard is already closed water, and out there are no buoys and no sign.
Rocky point toward the cape; deeper drop-offs, exposed to E-SE swell.
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.
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».
Sin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011).
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · Mediterranean · 1 kg
Talla por PESO: mín. 1 kg (RD 560/1995, todos los anexos). No coger hembras con huevos.
Law
✓Spearfishing licence mandatory; the AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY issues it (not the State) and it is valid in the exterior waters of the whole coast. Free-diving only — scuba is banned (, art. 3).
✓Spearfishing catch may not be sold or traded — it is non-commercial fishing ().
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset to sunrise not allowed) — , art. 16.d.
✓Marker buoy MANDATORY: mark your position with a clearly visible buoy and stay within 25 m of it — , art. 15.
✓Never keep the speargun loaded out of the water — , art. 16.a.
✓Keep at least 300 m from professional fishing vessels that are working — , art. 12.b.
✓The state act (, art. 16) bans, for spearfishing: a loaded gun out of the water; explosive/electric points and lamps (hand torches excepted); underwater scooters; night — from sunset to sunrise. Plus art. 12 b), d), e): 300 m from professional fishing vessels, light as an attractant, poisons/explosives. A ban in a PARTICULAR reserve, port or beach comes from that place's OWN instrument (the reserve's order, the autonomous community's rules, the port authority) — see the no-take zones on the map and your community's rules.
✓Min. sizes by ( + + EU 2019/1241): sea bass 42 cm (rec.) / 36 cm / 25 cm Mediterranean / 22 cm Canaries; gilthead bream 20 cm and white seabream 23 cm in the Mediterranean (EU 2019/1241); grouper 45 cm. See your zone's species card.
✓Only species in Annex I of may be taken; keeping, landing or transporting undersized specimens is prohibited.
✓The licence needs a medical fitness certificate for free-diving and civil-liability insurance (or a federative licence, which includes it). Mandatory in the Basque Country/Murcia/Asturias/Galicia; the federative licence covers it in Galicia/Balearics/Cantabria; the Canaries and Andalusia do NOT require it for the individual licence (a responsible health declaration). Minimum age generally 16 (14 in Andalusia).
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 Dénia
Where can I spearfish in Dénia?
Dénia has rock entry points such as Les Rotes, Cova Tallada (Cap de Sant Antoni) and La Marineta Cassiana. Dénia marks where sand turns to rock. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Dénia?
Long season (May–October) and warm water; summer is the most reliable, mornings before the breeze. The tide is negligible — what matters is the wind, the thermocline and the nearby ports and sandy stretches that cut visibility.
How cold is the water in Dénia?
Warm for the Mediterranean: ~14–27 °C. A 3 mm suit in summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months. The thermocline chills the bottom here too.
Is Dénia good for a beginner?
Accessible: warm, often calm water, good for gaining experience. Watch the boat traffic near ports and the thermocline at depth; buoy always.
Do I need a licence in Dénia?
Yes — in Dénia you need a recreational sea-fishing licence (issued by the autonomous community); breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no night diving. See the guide.
✓There is no fixed national catch cap (, art. 5 delegates it to the communities); the standard is 5 kg/person/day, with 1 specimen allowed not to count (Canaries — Decreto 182/2004, art. 38.3; Murcia; Galicia; Basque Country). Protected species have per-piece quotas.
✓Only a harpoon is allowed — hand-held or mechanically propelled, with one or several points (, art. 14.1). Carrying spearfishing gear and underwater breathing equipment aboard AT THE SAME TIME is prohibited (art. 14.2) — an offence in itself, even if you dived on a breath hold.
✓Spain is not one jurisdiction. The licence is issued by a coastal autonomous community, and you must comply with the rules of the administration on whose littoral you are in the water: «debiendo cumplir la normativa establecida por la administración en cuyo litoral se realice la actividad» (, art. 13). Interior waters — inside the straight baselines: bays, coves, rías, the whole coastal strip — are the community's competence; exterior waters are the State's. So the age, the days of the week, the distances and the are found in your community's act, not in the state one.
•Valencian Community: three separate licences (inland, maritime, spearfishing); applied for at the Generalitat Valenciana with Cl@ve; Law 5/2017. Confirm the exact procedure page at gva.es.
✓No-take zone: Cap de Sant Antoni marine reserve (Xàbia–Dénia) — spearfishing banned (see zones).
✓Valencian Community: spearfishing from age 16 and with proven physical fitness (Ley 5/2017, art. 12.1); only a mechanically propelled harpoon is allowed (art. 14.2); autonomous or semi-autonomous diving equipment is prohibited, and having spearguns and that equipment aboard at the same time is PRESUMED to be the illegal practice (art. 14.5). The catch may never be authorised for sale (art. 11.2). There is no «300 m around an artificial reef» radius in this law — that ban lives in each reef's own authorisation.
⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus) — protected (RPE).
Rules change and are REGIONAL. Before heading out, check with the competent autonomous community (licence) and the min-size table in force.
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