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
calmupdated 14:18
Faro — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
⛔ Banned here
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 1.0 m + swell period 6 s
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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Cabo de Santa Maria (Ilha da Barreta point) — ocean sideCabo de Santa Maria · Cabo de Santa Maria (ponta da Ilha da Barreta) — lado oceânico
borderline
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning before the sea breeze, summer to early autumn. At about 8 m this is the deepest of the shore-adjacent Faro points, so it is the one worth spending a genuinely flat day on rather than a marginal one.
tide
Slack water only, and preferably a neap. The cape sits right beside the system's main inlet, the Faro-Olhão bar, where the ebb runs about 0.8 m/s even on a neap and models give more than 3 m/s on a spring ebb — the jet fires seaward past the point and out over the ebb delta.
shelter
No shelter — a low sand cape with nothing on it, open from W through S. It is the southernmost point of mainland Portugal, so it takes the W/SW swell as it wraps along the coast before the rest of the Sotavento does.
conditions
Wants a settled spell: swell under ~0.5–1 m, light morning wind and slack water, all at once. Sand plus strong streams means the visibility goes the moment there is swell or a running tide. The levante (E) shuts it down.
hazard
Tidal streams first: a headland at the tip of a barrier island beside the system's main inlet, with an ebb delta that shifts — get caught on the ebb and you go offshore. Never solo, never on a spring tide, and ideally with a boat standing off. Be honest about the status too: there is no direct spearfishing report for this point, so you are scouting real geography, not following someone else's mark.
access
Ilha Deserta ferry from Faro, then a long walk down the island to the cape — no road, no infrastructure, nothing at the point itself. By boat is the sensible way in, and it lets you sit off the tip instead of swimming 600–800 m out. If you walk it, plan the return ferry.
The southernmost point of mainland Portugal; strong tidal streams. Point ~600–800 m offshore, ~8 m. No direct spearfishing report — promising but unverified.
Faro-Olhão bar, west jetty (Ilha Deserta) — ocean sideFaro-Olhão bar, Ilha Deserta · Molhe Poente da Barra de Faro-Olhão (Ilha Deserta/Barreta) — lado oceânico
borderline
best candidate for today
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning, before the sea breeze builds — summer mornings start calm and the wind fills in through the day. Summer to early autumn, water 20–24 °C, the warmest on the Portuguese coast. Spearfishing is banned nationally from sunset to sunrise.
tide
This is the field that can kill you here. The Faro-Olhão bar carries the biggest tidal prism in the Ria Formosa and it is ebb-dominated: on a neap the ebb runs about 0.8 m/s against roughly 0.4 m/s of flood, and models give over 3 m/s on a spring ebb. Dive the slack or the flood, never a spring ebb.
shelter
No natural shelter — flat sand coast facing SSW. The jetty is the only hard structure for kilometres and gives a partial lee in a levante (E) wind; beyond that you rely on the coast sitting in the lee of Cabo de São Vicente, which keeps Atlantic swell far smaller here than on the west coast.
conditions
Workable with W/SW swell under ~1 m and a light offshore N/NE morning. The easterly levante shuts it down: short steep chop and sand lifted off the bottom. Sand plus tidal stream means the water clouds as soon as there is swell or a running tide — the clear window is slack water in a flat summer spell.
hazard
The ebb jet first: it fires seaward through the inlet and out over the ebb delta, and a diver caught in it is carried offshore — slack or flood only. Then boat traffic: this is the main inlet to Faro and Olhão, the channel is worked constantly, so stay on the outer face and tow a flagged buoy. Legal: the navigation channel and everything inside the Ria Formosa are closed under Portaria 560/90 — do not work your way inward along the structure.
access
Ilha Deserta (Barreta) has no road: ferry from the Porta Nova pier in Faro, then walk across the island to the ocean side, or come by boat from Faro or Olhão. The island is uninhabited apart from one restaurant — no shop, no other infrastructure. Check the return ferry before you get in the water; there is no other way home.
Outer (SW) face of the west jetty, ~250 m off the head, clear of the bar channel. ~5.5 m. Spearfishing is banned inside the Ria Formosa and in the channel itself (Portaria 560/90).
Praia de Faro (Ancão peninsula) — surf zoneAncão peninsula · Praia de Faro (Península do Ancão) — zona de rebentação
borderline
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning, before the sea breeze and before the beach fills up. Summer to early autumn for water temperature, but that is exactly when the crowd is worst — on a busy August day there is no window at all.
tide
Slack water in a settled spell is the only time the visibility is worth the swim out. The Ancão inlet is just along the peninsula and, like every Ria Formosa inlet, it is ebb-dominated — do not let yourself drift that way on a spring ebb.
shelter
None at all — an open SSW-facing ocean front on the Ancão peninsula, pure sand with no structure of any kind. Only the regional lee of Cabo de São Vicente keeps the swell down.
conditions
Only on a flat summer morning: swell under ~0.5 m and light offshore wind. With no structure to hold fish and a sand bottom that clouds the moment there is swell or a running tide, this is not a target spot — at most scout it on a calm day. The levante (E) writes off the whole stretch.
hazard
This is Faro's city beach: lifeguarded and packed in summer, with swimmers everywhere — keep 50 m off any marked swimming zone and tow a flagged buoy. Then sand-coast rips and shorebreak on the way out, and a tidal stream that sets along the shore towards the inlet. Honest verdict: the weakest of the Faro points — no structure, busy, and the water clouds fast.
access
The only Faro spot you can drive to: over the bridge from the airport road onto the Ancão peninsula, then straight in off the beach. The point is about 500 m off the waterline — a long swim over featureless sand. The airport approach is directly overhead, so expect aircraft noise, not solitude.
Ocean front of Praia de Faro, ~500 m out. Sand, no structure — sea bass in the surf. ~4.7 m.
Praia do Farol / Ilha da Culatra — ocean frontIlha da Culatra, ocean front · Praia do Farol / Ilha da Culatra — frente oceânica
borderline
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning before the sea breeze, summer to early autumn. Robalo and sargo work the break, so the fish are in the wash rather than out deep. Sunset to sunrise is a national closed period.
tide
A higher tide gives you enough water to work in and softens the break; at low water you are crawling. The Faro-Olhão and Armona inlets sit either side of this island and both are ebb-dominated, so stay off the ends of the beach on a spring ebb.
shelter
No shelter of any kind — the open ocean front of a barrier island, straight sand, facing SSW. Nothing local blocks wind or swell; the only reason this stretch ever goes flat is that it lies in the lee of Cabo de São Vicente.
conditions
You need swell under about 0.5 m: in 1.5 m of water anything more turns the whole zone into whitewater and suspended sand. The window is a light offshore N/NE morning; the levante (E) kills it outright. Very shallow — this is surf-zone hunting, not depth hunting.
hazard
Shorebreak and the longshore set first — in 1.5 m of water even a small swell will roll you into the sand. Tidal streams pull hard towards the inlets at each end of the island. In season this is a bathing beach: keep 50 m off any marked swimming zone and tow a flagged buoy, and remember the lagoon side behind you is closed water under Portaria 560/90.
access
Ferry from Faro or Olhão to Farol or Culatra village, then a few hundred metres on foot across the island to the ocean beach. There is no road anywhere on Culatra. Check the return ferry before you get in the water.
Ocean (south) front of Ilha da Culatra, ~250 m out, beyond the surf line. Sea bass and bream in the break. Outside the lagoon the Ria Formosa ban does not apply. ~1.5 m.
Faro/Ancão artificial reefArtificial reef off Ancão · Recife Artificial de Faro/Ancão
borderline
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning, before the sea breeze fills in and while the crossing is still comfortable. Summer to early autumn: 20–24 °C, and the spring/summer recruitment pulse puts bogue, horse mackerel and Pagellus seabream over the modules.
tide
Dive the slack. Even 4 km out you feel the streams that feed the Ria Formosa inlets, and past 20 m you cannot afford to be fighting water on the way up.
shelter
None — open sea about 4 km off the Ancão barrier, with nothing between you and the swell. The only thing working for you is the coast sitting in the lee of Cabo de São Vicente, which keeps Atlantic swell far smaller here than on the west coast.
conditions
You need a genuinely settled day: swell under ~0.5 m and light wind, because you dive this off a boat with no shore to run to. The levante (E) chop makes the crossing miserable and stirs the water. Best visibility is slack water in a flat summer spell.
hazard
Depth first: the reef groups lie at about 20–22 m — deeper than the ~18 m charted at the published position, and past breath-hold range for most people. Experienced freedivers only, never solo, and treat every ascent as a blackout risk. You are 4 km from any shore with no shore exit, so a boat with someone on it is not optional. Add current over the reef and a long way home if the wind gets up.
access
Boat only, about 4 km offshore of the Ancão barrier — there is no shore entry and nothing here you can swim to. Navigate to the published position, 36°59.25'N 008°00.43'W. The system is 52 reef groups of concrete cubes spread over roughly 12.2 km² of sand, deployed in phases from 2002, with the groups reported at about 20–22 m. Leave someone on the boat.
Published reference position of the Faro/Ancão artificial-reef system, ~4 km offshore. EMODnet gives ~18 m here, but the reef groups themselves are reported at ~20–22 m — past breath-hold range for most, experienced only.
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.
In season now: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Octopus, Mullet
In season now
Robalo (sea bass)
<4 m · end of ebb → start of flood · dawn/dusk
Prime target. Shy of light — pick early/twilight windows.
Sargo (white seabream)
1–5 m · flood (rides the surf onto the reef) · dawn
Dominant reef target. Visibility matters more than time of day.
Dourada (gilthead bream)
1–4 m · flood over sand/weed · dawn
Very skittish — static ambush.
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
Easiest target at 0–6 m. ⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
Polvo (octopus)
1–6 m · high water · twilight
Peaks in autumn. Spot the den by the pile of shells. Don't take egg-bearing females. Min. weight 750 g (DGRM).
Tainha (mullet)
0–2 m · — · —
Extremely wary; murky water HINDERS it. Opportunistic, in calm coves.
Santola (spider crab)
1–10 m · low water (reef shelf exposed) · calm morning (≤force 2)
Carapace ≥12 cm. Peaks Jul–Aug. CLOSED 15.02–15.06. Limit 2 kg/day.
Law
🦀 spider crab open (season 16.06–14.02)
✓Spearfishing licence required, daily/monthly/annual (~€25/yr). Speargun = licence required. (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º + 12.º-A; fees in , .) There is no minimum age for the licence, but under-16s are exempt from holding one when fishing accompanied by a licence holder (art. 12.º n.º 2 al. b).
✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º n.º 1; ).
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset→sunrise not allowed). Artificial light as a means of finding/attracting fish is banned — a torch for safety only (, art. 8.º/3 + 3.º/5; DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 1 d).
✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver (, art. 4.º/2).
✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg (, art. 12.º/1).
✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too (, ; table).
✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g ( + EU Reg. 2019/1241; minimum-size table).
✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken (
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. At Cabo Raso/Arriba a 0.5 m rise in swell makes a boulder exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer here.
Headland rip: at Cabo Raso there is 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.
Nortada (Jun–Sep): wind builds from midday — be out of the water by ~11:00; 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 Faro
Where can I spearfish in Faro?
Faro has rock entry points such as Faro-Olhão bar, west jetty (Ilha Deserta) — ocean side, Faro/Ancão artificial reef and Praia do Farol / Ilha da Culatra — ocean front. Faro, on the sotavento, is the Ria Formosa barrier-island coast: sandy, sheltered, low on rock and estuarine with modest clarity. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Faro?
The country's longest season: good May to October and workable in the shoulder months. The south coast is sheltered from the dominant swell and has the best visibility.
How cold is the water in Faro?
The mainland's warmest: ~16–23 °C in summer. A 3 mm suit in high summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months.
Is Faro good for a beginner?
The most accessible in the country: warm, clear, sheltered water with more good days — a good place to build water time on calm days. Even so, check the forecast and local hazards.
Do I need a licence in Faro?
Yes — in Faro, as everywhere on the mainland, you need a recreational fishing licence (DGRM); breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no night diving. See the guide for the details.
✓Breath-hold only: spearfishing may be practised in apnea alone. Scuba, rebreather and hookah are banned; the speargun may not be powered by a detonating charge or by compressed gas (DL 246/2000, art. 9.º n.º 3 — o antigo art. 6.º foi revogado).
✓The catch may NOT be sold: displaying for sale, offering or selling recreational catch is prohibited — it is for the fisher, the household, or donation to charitable, scientific or museum institutions (DL 246/2000, art. 7.º).
✓A loaded speargun out of the water is an offence (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 2 f). Same article: no fishing closer than the legally set distance from concessioned beaches during the bathing season (n.º 2 d), nor in places closed for health or marine-traffic reasons (n.º 2 e). The exact metres come from the regulation and the capitania — check before you go.
✓Distances between people: at least 20 m from another spearfisher (, art. 6.º n.º 3) unless you agree otherwise; from a boat, 50 m from other vessels, divers and set gear (art. 6.º n.º 2); every vessel must keep 50 m from your signalling buoy and from boats flying flag Alfa (art. 7.º n.º 6). The figure that circulates — «30 m between hunters» — is wrong: 30 m is the distance to YOUR OWN buoy.
✓What you may take into the water: the CAPTURE gear on a spearfishing dive is the speargun, a shellfish knife, a gaff (puxeiro) and an arrelhada (, art. 3.º n.º 3). That is not a ban on everything else: art. 4.º n.º 1 expressly allows equipment for cold protection, for buoyancy, for protection or safety and for carrying the catch, and any other equipment that does not permit the direct capture of specimens. Bait and groundbait are PROHIBITED in spearfishing (art. 5.º n.º 3). You may not carry or keep a speargun and a breathing apparatus aboard at the same time, nor carry the gun ready to fire out of the water or in a zone where spearfishing is banned (art. 3.º n.º 6). On any recreational-fishing boat the whole crew wears a lifejacket (art. 4.º n.º 3).
✓Where recreational fishing is closed altogether (, art. 8.º n.º 1): in marked shipyard zones (no exception) and in aquaculture establishments — in the LATTER only, fishing is possible when the concession-holder or owner formally authorises it; the shipyard bar has no such carve-out; within 100 m of the mouth of any marked sewage outfall; over beach-concession waters, to the extent the POOC sets; and in other zones closed by the port or maritime authority. For spearfishing and boat fishing specifically (n.º 2) the navigation channels of port and river bars, the approach channels and the buoyed channels are closed. There is NO «300 m from the beach» rule on the mainland — that number comes from Madeira's own act; on the mainland the distance is set by the POOC and by the capitania's edital.
✓The border rivers Minho and Guadiana: spearfishing is BANNED along both international stretches — bilateral Portugal-Spain agreements, art. 9.º n.º 3 (Minho, RAR 34/2023, in force since 26-05-2023) and art. 6.º n.º 1 (Guadiana, RAR 173/2025, in force since 07-12-2025), both reading «É proibida a pesca submarina». On the Guadiana it is also a serious offence (art. 19.º), and a 100 m strip alongside the Sapal de Castro Marim reserve is closed separately (art. 5.º). The stretches run from the confluence with the Trancoso / the Chança down to the closing line at each mouth.
✓On the other Portuguese-Spanish border river stretches (outside the TIRM and the Guadiana maritime-jurisdiction zone) — Decreto 30/88, art. 6.º n.º 1: harpoons, gigs, tridents and any blunt instrument used to take fish are prohibited (al. e), as is «a pesca ou caça subaquática» with artificial light, and night fishing (al. g).
Portugal
Spain