Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
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 Folkestone, 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 mapEnter from Shakespeare Beach at the foot of the pier wall. The beach is steep, so hold the wall in surge. Follow the wall over chalk boulders and ledges down to about 12 m. Currents can pull along the wall and out to sea, and the bay gets silty.
Google MapsRock ledges, shore entry. Coords approx.
Google MapsPier / harbour mole, shore entry. Stay clear of harbour traffic; entry may be restricted — check port rules. Coords approx.
Google MapsRock ledges, shore entry. Coords approx.
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.
Recreational spearfishing in the sea is legal in the UK without a licence — breath-hold only is the norm. Never spear salmon, sea trout or eels (Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975). Bass: catch-and-release only 1 Feb–31 Mar (rod and line), then 3 a day, 42 cm min. Check the local IFCA/Marine Scotland/DAERA rules — in Cornwall no spearfishing dusk to dawn or with scuba. No-take zones (Lundy, Lamlash Bay, Flamborough) are closed.
Folkestone has rock entry points such as Folkestone Harbour Arm, Copt Point and Samphire Hoe. Kent's Channel coast between Folkestone and Dover. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
June–September; chalk and runoff keep visibility short — best after a long calm spell.
7–8 °C in February, 17–19 °C in August — 7 mm in winter, 5 mm in summer.
Chalk reefs and groynes, visibility often 1–3 m; busy Channel shipping off Folkestone. No licence; bass rules apply.
Folkestone: Recreational spearfishing in the sea is legal in the UK without a licence — breath-hold only is the norm. Never spear salmon, sea trout or eels (Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975). Bass: catch-and-release only 1 Feb–31 Mar (rod and line), then 3 a day, 42 cm min. Check the local IFCA/Marine Scotland/DAERA rules — in Cornwall no spearfishing dusk to dawn or with scuba. No-take zones (Lundy, Lamlash Bay, Flamborough) are closed.
