Today — right on the edge.
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Galveston, 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.
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.
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 mapGranite jetty at the entrance to the Galveston channel in 6 m. Sheepshead and flounder — in Texas spear and gig may only take nongame species.
Google MapsSansom-Yarbrough Boat Ramp gives shore access 7.4 km from Galveston. Mapped by Texas GLO as a pier. The pin sits at 29.366 N / 94.816 W on the chart. Expect no more than about 4 m of water.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
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».
All 367 spots → · Region: Texas · spearo.app — All countries
buoy Galveston, TX: 25.1° · wave 0.8 m/6 s · 38 min ago
Seawall Beach Urban Park gives shore access 2.2 km from Galveston. Mapped by Texas GLO as a beach. The marked spot lies about 90 m from the waterline. Maximum depth is around 2.0 m.
Google MapsStewart Beach is a shore entry about 2.7 km from Galveston. The pin sits at 29.303 N / 94.768 W on the chart. The marked spot lies about 70 m from the waterline. Depths reach about 2.0 m. Open water shows only over a narrow sector, to the south-east.
Google MapsShore access point TAMUG Fishing Pier, roughly 2.6 km from Galveston. Texas GLO lists the site as a pier. Marker position: 29.313° N, 94.820° W. The deepest water here is close to 12 m.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appConcrete and culvert relief in 16 m. Red snapper and grouper; Texas state waters run out to 9 nautical miles, so state rules still apply here.
Google MapsThe shallowest nearshore reef off Galveston at 13 m — freedivable on a calm day. Red snapper and sheepshead; WARNING: red drum may not be speared in Texas.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appSOLO 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.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
Spearfishing Galveston is a legal-filtered Gulf dive. The structure is real: Galveston South Jetty gives granite for sheepshead and flounder, GA-220 Big Mans Reef is the shallow nearshore artificial reef, and GA-189 Mitchell's Reef adds concrete and culvert relief. The water can be murky from Gulf currents and sediment, so wait for settled weather and avoid the east-through-south bad sector, especially southeast swell. The catch is Texas law. Texas law says spear and speargun may take nongame fish only, while gamefish such as red drum, spotted seatrout and cobia are pole-and-line only. Treat sheepshead and flounder as the conservative spear targets, and do not assume red snapper is spearable unless the current state or federal rule clearly says so.
All three listed marks are yellow-safety structure dives with no local no-take polygon hit. The legal filter is stricter than the habitat: do not turn every fish on a reef into a spear target.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galveston South Jetty | Granite jetty | Jetty rocks and edge, qualitative only | Intermediate current-aware dive | Jetty access by local conditions and boat or shore planning | The backbone Galveston mark for sheepshead and flounder. Current, boat traffic and visibility decide whether it is sensible. |
| GA-220 Big Mans Reef | Nearshore artificial reef | Shallowest nearshore reef in the local set | Intermediate boat dive | Boat entry off Galveston | The easiest reef-style objective in the data. Good for a freedive plan only when the water has settled enough to identify fish clearly. |
| GA-189 Mitchell's Reef | Concrete and culvert reef | Artificial reef relief, qualitative only | Intermediate boat dive | Boat entry off Galveston | A structure option when the nearshore reef line is clear. Keep Texas nongame-only spearing rules in mind before the first drop. |
The local aspect points southeast, with the bad sector from east through south and southeast worst. Galveston water often carries sediment, so a single calm morning may not be enough. Check buoy 42035, the Pleasure Pier camera and recent wind. If you cannot identify fish confidently, the legal and safety answer is to wait.
The Texas Gulf has limited natural hard bottom near shore, so granite jetties and artificial reefs create much of the usable habitat. South Jetty offers the shore-linked structure, while Big Mans and Mitchell's are reef-program style boat marks. They can hold fish, but they also concentrate current, anglers and boat movement.
The Galveston-specific legal note is the driver: spear nongame fish only. Sheepshead and flounder are the conservative targets. Red drum, spotted seatrout and cobia are gamefish and pole-and-line only. Red snapper is marked season-set and limit-sensitive, and federal reef-water rules can differ, so do not plan to spear it unless the current rule for your exact water and season is explicit.
Carry the Texas fishing license and saltwater endorsement. The legal devices rule is central because Texas law distinguishes nongame spearing from gamefish angling. Powerhead language is also restrictive in local notes, and federal reef-water exceptions should not be guessed from a dock conversation. Galveston rewards a short legal target list and a clean identification standard.
No. The local Texas legal note treats red drum as a gamefish, so it is pole-and-line only.
Sheepshead and flounder are the conservative targets because Texas spearing is limited to nongame fish.
No. It has useful granite structure, but current, boat traffic, anglers and visibility make it an intermediate call.
Southeast is the worst direction, with east through south swell in the bad sector.
No local no-take polygon is flagged, but Texas species and legal-device rules still limit what can be speared.
