Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and surge pounding.
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 Gisborne, 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 mapRocky point north of Wainui; snapper, kingfish and cray on the East Cape's swell-rich coast.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
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».
Rules as of now — 26.10.2026 00:02 (Pacific/Auckland)
The 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 appRocky Sponge Bay islet south of Wainui; cray holes and snapper close to town.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appReef off the Pines end of Wainui Beach; snapper and butterfish, dive the settled windows.
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.
Rules change and are regional. Before heading out, check with MPI (regional fishing rules / the NZ Fishing Rules app), DOC (marine reserves) and local notices (rāhui/mātaitai).
Spearfishing in Gisborne is a clean-window hunt, not a guaranteed beach activity. The city faces open East Cape swell, and the named places sit around Wainui, Makorori and Sponge Bay. When the sea settles, snapper, kingfish, butterfish and crayfish are realistic targets. New Zealand does not require a recreational sea-fishing licence, but the Central MPI area applies from Cape Runaway through this coast, and any marine reserve or rāhui closure must be checked before diving.
These three entries are close to town but open to swell. Choose them after a settled period and keep a simple route back to shore.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Makorori Point | Rocky point | Nearshore reef and wash edge | Intermediate | Shore entry north of Wainui | Makorori is the north-of-Wainui option for snapper, kingfish and crayfish. It needs low swell because the point sees East Cape energy directly. |
| Wainui Reef (Pines) | Beach reef | Shallow reef off the Pines end | Intermediate | Beach and reef entry at Wainui | Wainui Reef is named for snapper and butterfish. It is the spot to watch after the swell drops, but it turns poor quickly when surf returns. |
| Sponge Bay Island | Rocky islet | Close-in rock and cray holes | Intermediate | Short shore approach south of Wainui | Sponge Bay Island brings cray holes and snapper close to town. Keep the swim short and avoid pushing it when the bay is carrying surge. |
Gisborne wants a quiet easterly coast and water that has had time to clear. The exposure is east to south-east, so swell from that sector can ruin both safety and visibility. Early starts can help with wind, but they do not cancel swell. If Wainui is breaking heavily, the reef is not a spearfishing shortcut.
None of the three named Gisborne spots is marked as protected, but New Zealand's marine reserves are absolute no-take zones, and rāhui, mātaitai or taiāpure closures can apply with little notice. Check DOC's marine reserves map and any local notice before diving new water on this coast. A reserve or rāhui boundary is a hard stop, not a rough guide.
MPI Central area rules set a combined daily bag limit of 20 finfish per fisher, with individual species limits inside it such as a 27 cm snapper minimum and a 75 cm kingfish minimum. Rock lobster has separate tail-width rules, pāua taken by divers must be taken free-diving, not on scuba, and crayfish only by hand or a hand-held loop.
Treat both as compact sessions. Carry a float, avoid spearing into surfer traffic, and keep fish secured away from the body. Gisborne can look friendly from the beach while the reef edge is still moving. If the first few duck-dives show brown water or surge, leave the gun unloaded and turn the session into a swim check.
No sea-fishing licence is needed, but MPI Central area rules and local closures still apply.
MPI lists a combined daily limit of 20 finfish per fisher, excluding specified baitfish and freshwater eels.
Yes, treat any DOC marine reserve as no-take, and check the DOC map and local rāhui notices before diving new water on this coast.
The named local species are snapper, kingfish, butterfish and crayfish around Wainui, Makorori and Sponge Bay.
Skip it when east or south-east swell is running, visibility is poor, or surfers and swimmers make float control difficult.
