Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
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 East London, 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.
Open the seafloor mapOpen-coast rock reef at Cove Rock (eGqili), SW of the Buffalo Harbour on the West Bank; bronze bream, galjoen, shad and garrick. Rocky shore entry — needs a low swell.
Google MapsReef off Gonubie point north of the city; blacktail, kob and garrick, warm gamefish water. Seaward of the Gonubie mouth.
Google MapsRocky reef off the Nahoon point, seaward of the estuary; kob, garrick and bronze bream. Nahoon estuary is no-spear.
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 DFFE (Marine Recreational Fishing brochure / permit) and the MPA managing authority (SANParks / CapeNature / Ezemvelo KZN / ECPTA / iSimangaliso).
East London is where the Eastern Cape starts to feel properly warm and gamefish-oriented. Nahoon Reef, Gonubie Point, and Cove Rock offer rocky reef water for kob, garrick, bronze bream, blacktail, galjoen, and shad, but the conditions can change fast. The city has river mouths, open coast, and a southwest-buster problem when wind works against the Agulhas current. Add the local-rule uncertainty between Nahoon Point and Gonubie Point, and the sensible approach is conservative: confirm the boundary, avoid estuaries, and dive only when the sea is clean and low.
Each mark is seaward of an estuary or harbour influence. That distinction matters because the Buffalo, Nahoon, and Gonubie mouths are not hunting water. If runoff is visible or a local restriction is unresolved, the speargun stays out of the water.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nahoon Reef | Rocky reef off Nahoon point | Seaward reef outside the estuary | Intermediate with rule checks | Point-side shore approach | Kob, garrick, and bronze bream are listed. The Nahoon estuary is no-spear, and the Nahoon-to-Gonubie rule question needs confirmation before diving this stretch. |
| Gonubie Point | Reef north of the city | Warm-water point reef | Intermediate open-coast dive | Point approach seaward of the Gonubie mouth | Blacktail, kob, and garrick are the listed fish. Stay outside the mouth and avoid river-stained water after rain. |
| Cove Rock (eGqili) | Open-coast rock reef southwest of Buffalo Harbour |
| Rock reef and shore ledges |
| Intermediate, low-swell only |
| Rocky shore entry on the West Bank side |
| Bronze bream, galjoen, shad, and garrick are named here. The rocky shore entry needs a low swell and a planned exit. |
East London faces a bad sector from east through south-southwest, with southerly energy especially important. A strong southwest buster against the Agulhas current can build steep, dangerous seas. River-mouth runoff after rain is the second filter; if the water is brown, skip the dive.
A SANParks brochure is noted as referencing a Nahoon-Point-to-Gonubie-Point restriction. The same stretch is also widely cited for spearfishing, so the exact current rule must be checked locally before diving. Until confirmed, treat the affected water as restricted and do not spear there.
The named fish include kob, garrick, bronze bream, blacktail, galjoen, and shad. Kob has a 40 cm minimum, garrick has a 70 cm minimum, and galjoen has a 35 cm minimum with a two-fish bag and a 15 October to end-February closure. Shad closes from 1 September to 30 November.
The MLRA recreational permit endorsed for spearfishing is required. DFFE online and authorised SAPO branches are the permit routes, with the fee checked when buying. Spearfishing is breath-hold and snorkel only; scuba and hookah are banned. Estuaries are fully closed, including Buffalo and Nahoon.
No. Nahoon estuary is specifically no-spear, and all South African estuaries are closed to spearfishing.
No. The listed reef is seaward of the Gonubie mouth; do not enter or drift into estuary water.
A strong southwest buster against the Agulhas current can build steep seas, especially on the open coast.
No. Because a restriction is referenced for that stretch, confirm current local rules first and treat uncertainty as closed.
Yes. Carry a recreational permit endorsed for spearfishing under MLRA rules.
