Grotta Azzurra / Monte OrlandoGaeta
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Cliffs and overhangs; sea bream and mullet in the shallows, the mount shelters the gulf side.
Google MapsGaeta spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
8.5
wave 0.4 m
visibility7m
Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 04:25
Sources & confidence
- Sources
- IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
- Method
- Model consensus, read per window
- Freshness
- Re-read every hour, per coast
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
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.
- 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.
- Wind & gusts
- Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
- Tide phase
- Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
- Water temperature
- Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
- Currents & outflow
- Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
- Rain runoff & air clarity
- Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
- 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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 04:25
Gaeta — solo, off the rocks
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.4 mwind 6 km/hvisibility ~9 mwindow 06:00–21:00
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 9 m · Water 28.3°C
confidence high · verdict for the selected day
Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.
Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.
Selected day
Windows, hours
and the day's trends.
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.
Thursday · today2026-07-23
05:52–20:31 · first quarter
▲ 05:00▼ 11:00▲ 18:00▼ 23:00 · 0.2 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.44 m
Wave0.30 m
Wind8 km/h
Water28 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:32 · moderate · moon underfoot 08:10 · high · moonrise 15:55 · moderate · moon overhead 20:30 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish
Hs 0.36 mperiod 3.4 swind 6→14surge 0.2viz 7 m
0.36 mup to ~0.72 · 255° at an angle
3.4 sswell moderate
6→14gusts 14 km/h
0.2weak surge
0.19m/s
7 mrecent swell
28.3°C5 mm + hood
▼11:00tide falling
Atmosphere40 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
- calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
- dawn/dusk
confidence hightwilight
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: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsThe seabed
Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
On the rock
The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.
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.
Entry points
Where to get in
off the rocks.
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 map
Punta StendardoGaeta
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Jagged rock and walls 5-15 m, rock-grass-sand bottom; sea bream, mullet.
Google MapsSerapo / Sant'Erasmo scogliGaeta
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Mixed rock under the cliffs; easy entry, open to the S/SW.
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.
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».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- European seabassmin. 25 cm · legal target
- Gilthead seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- White seabreammin. 23 cm · legal target
- Two-banded seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Sharpsnout seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Annular seabreammin. 12 cm · legal target
- Common dentexmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
- Red porgymin. 18 cm · legal target
- Common pandoramin. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
- Axillary seabreammin. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
- Blackspot seabreammin. 33 cm · legal target
- Striped seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- Black seabreammin. 15 cm · legal target
- Boguemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Salemamin. 15 cm · legal target
- Dusky groupermin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Wreckfishmin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Brown meagremin. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
- Greater amberjackmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
- Leerfishmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- Grey mulletmin. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
- Red scorpionfishmin. 15 cm · legal target
- Moray eelmin. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- European congermin. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
- Wrassemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Red mulletmin. 11 cm · legal target
- Atlantic bonitomin. 25 cm · legal target
- Common octopusmin. 450 g · legal target
- Cuttlefishlegal target · (verify against the norm in force)
Law
- ✓NO paid licence, but a free MASAF REGISTRATION is mandatory (recreational sea-fishing declaration, online via SIAN/SPID, annual) — it is not a «licence».
- ✓Free-diving only (16+): scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). A speargun may not be handed to under-16s.
- ✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only from dawn to sunset (art. 129e DPR 1639/68).
- ✓Distances (art. 129 DPR 1639/68): ≥500 m from beaches with bathers; ≥100 m from fixed gear/set nets and from vessels anchored outside ports.
- ✓Buoy MANDATORY (art. 130 DPR 1639/68): float with a red flag bearing a white diagonal stripe, visible ≥300 m; the diver stays within 50 m of the buoy/support boat.
- ✓The speargun may not be kept armed out of the water (art. 131 DPR 1639/68) — load only when submerged.
- ✓Hand-collecting crustaceans/molluscs is BANNED for the spearfisher (art. 128-bis): only cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish). No crab lane for Italy.
- ✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
- •Daily cap ~5 kg/person (or a single heavier fish) — set by a D.M. implementing Reg. CE 1224/2009, not by the DPR; max 1 grouper/day. Verify the current D.M. number.
- ⛔ Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) — TOTAL BAN: fishing, possession, transport, sale (D.M. 16/10/1998; EU-protected). Never touch.
- ⛔ Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio / naccarii) — capture BANNED (D.M. 3/5/89, D.M. 11/6/07).
- ⛔ Dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) — 45 cm, max 1 grouper/day (art.142 D.P.R.1639/68, amended by L.154/2016); fully BANNED in Sardegna & ALL .
- ⛔ Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) — MASAF RecFishing authorization only: season 16 Jun–14 Oct, 1 fish/outing, min 30 kg / 115 cm.
- ⛔ Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) — min 100 cm; seasonal closures, RecFishing declaration required.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with MASAF (registration) and the Guardia Costiera / Capitaneria di Porto; Sicily and Sardegna add regional tightening.
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.
Spearfishing in Gaeta: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing in Gaeta should be planned around Monte Orlando, not the nearest entry. Punta Stendardo has broken rock and 5-15 m walls over rock, weed, and sand. Grotta Azzurra/Monte Orlando is cliff and drop-off water, with the gulf side partly sheltered. Serapo/Sant'Erasmo is the convenient shore entry, but it is open to south and south-west sea. Choose the quiet side, not the easy walk.
TL;DR
- Gaeta is a headland decision: Stendardo is broken rock, Monte Orlando gives a gulf side.
- Serapo is convenient but open to S/SW; the bad sector is 155-245, worst near 225.
- No no-take overlay is listed, but beaches, nets, vessels, and harbour orders still matter.
Where can you spearfish in Gaeta?
These are yellow-caution headland references. None should be treated as easy in active S/SW swell.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punta Stendardo | Broken rock and walls | 5-15 m | Intermediate | Shore on the headland | Rock, weed, sand; seabream and mullet. |
| Grotta Azzurra / Monte Orlando | Cliffs and drop-offs | Shallow edges and walls | Intermediate | Shore, planned exit | Seabream and mullet; the headland shelters the gulf side. |
| Serapo / Sant'Erasmo scogli | Mixed rock below cliffs | Shallow rock | Accessible in calm sea | Convenient shore entry | Open to S/SW; convenience does not offset Libeccio. |
When are conditions best in Gaeta?
Avoid active south and south-west sea. Exposure is about 200 degrees, the bad sector is 155-245, and the worst direction is 225. Italy rules remain: free MASAF declaration, apnea only from age 16, no night spearfishing, buoy within 50 m, 500 m from bathers, 100 m from nets or anchored vessels, no sale, and about 5 kg daily catch.
FAQ
Do you need a license?
No paid license, but the MASAF declaration is mandatory.
Is Serapo easy?
Only in calm water; it is open to S/SW.
Can you fish near swimmers?
No. Keep 500 m from beaches with bathers.
Night spearfishing?
No. Dawn to sunset only.
What fish are cited?
Seabream and mullet around the headland.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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