Makorori PointGisborne
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky point north of Wainui; snapper, kingfish and cray on the East Cape's swell-rich coast.
Google MapsGisborne spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.3
wave 0.6 m
visibility4m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and noticeable surge.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 08:44
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 08:44
Gisborne — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · long secondary swell (9 s)
wave 0.6 mwind 12 km/hnoticeable surgevisibility ~6 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 6 m · Water 13°C
confidence low · 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
07:17–17:11 · first quarter
▲ 00:00▼ 06:00▲ 13:00▼ 19:00 · 1.1 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.48 m
Wave0.48 m
Wind17 km/h
Water13 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:48 · moderate · moon underfoot 06:50 · high · moonrise 11:44 · moderate · moon overhead 19:10 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.58 mperiod 8 swind 12→21surge 1.4viz 4 m
0.58 mup to ~1.16 · 145° at an angle
8 sswell moderate
12→21gusts 21 km/h
1.4noticeable surge
0.00m/s
4 mrecent swell
13°Cthicker suit + hood
▲13:00tide turn near
Atmosphere37 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
- long secondary swell (9 s)
- water 13°C — cold
- first hours of the flood — fish moving in
confidence lowtwilight
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
Sponge Bay IslandGisborne
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky Sponge Bay islet south of Wainui; cray holes and snapper close to town.
Google MapsWainui Reef (Pines)Gisborne
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Reef 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.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →What's in season,
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- snapper (tāmure)
- yellowtail kingfish (haku)
- blue cod (rāwaru)
- trevally (araara)
- butterfish/greenbone (marari)
- kahawai
- red rock lobster (kōura)⚠️ Crayfish (rock lobster) and pāua — free-diving only; taking them on scuba is PROHIBITED nationwide. Pāua/crayfish are not speared.
Law
- ✓There is NO — you may fish subject to MPI rules (sizes/limits/gear). Rules are REGIONAL (combined finfish daily limit 20, but local notices override stricter). Freshwater trout/salmon may not be speared.
- ✓Crayfish (rock lobster) and pāua — free-diving only; taking them on scuba is BANNED nationwide. Spearfishing is banned in marine reserves. Respect / and (incl. a after a drowning — a cultural/sacred closure).
- ⛔ 🚫 Crayfish (rock lobster) and pāua — taking them on SCUBA is banned nationwide (free-diving only). Combined finfish daily limit 20 (local notices override stricter).
- ⛔ 🚫 Protected under the Wildlife Act 1953: spotted black groper (Epinephelus daemelii), great white shark, giant manta, black/red coral, seahorses/pipefish. Trout/salmon (freshwater) — entirely off-limits to spearguns.
- ⛔ 🚫 Marine reserves (~44) — spearfishing and all fishing banned. Respect / and (incl. a after a drowning — a tapu/cultural closure, not only a fishing rule): don't dive.
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).
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 Gisborne: spots, seasons and rules
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.
TL;DR
- Gisborne is an exposed East Cape spearfishing town, with Wainui reefs, first-light coast and swell-rich water.
- Makorori Point, Wainui Reef and Sponge Bay Island are the named rock options close to town.
- Snapper, kingfish and crayfish are the local draw, but open E/SE swell often decides the week.
- The Central MPI area applies, with a 20 finfish combined daily limit and standard crayfish, pāua and marine-reserve rules to check.
Best spearfishing spots in Gisborne
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. |
What conditions suit Gisborne?
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.
How do reserve and closure rules affect Gisborne?
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.
What rules shape a Gisborne catch?
MPI Central area rules set a combined daily bag limit of 20 finfish per fisher, with individual species limits inside it such as a 30 cm snapper minimum and a 75 cm kingfish minimum. Rock lobster has separate tail-width rules, and crayfish or pāua taken by divers must be taken free-diving, not on scuba.
How should visitors approach Sponge Bay and Wainui?
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.
FAQ
Do you need a licence to spearfish in Gisborne?
No sea-fishing licence is needed, but MPI Central area rules and local closures still apply.
What is the Central area finfish limit?
MPI lists a combined daily limit of 20 finfish per fisher, excluding specified baitfish and freshwater eels.
Are there no-take marine reserves to check near Gisborne?
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.
What are the main Gisborne species?
The named local species are snapper, kingfish, butterfish and crayfish around Wainui, Makorori and Sponge Bay.
When should you skip Wainui Reef?
Skip it when east or south-east swell is running, visibility is poor, or surfers and swimmers make float control difficult.
Sources
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