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
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 Gulfport, 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 mapSheltered reef south of Cat Island in 4 m, holding red drum — which Mississippi does not bar from the spear. WARNING: powerheads are illegal on this reef too.
Google MapsFish haven south of West Ship Island in 8 m and more than a mile off the national seashore. Snapper; WARNING: a permitted reef area — no powerheads and no more than three hooks per line.
Google MapsThe closest fish haven to Gulfport in just 4 m, inside the turbid Sound. WARNING: this is one of the areas where Mississippi expressly bans spearing with a powerhead.
Google MapsShore access point Jones Memorial Park, roughly 1.2 km from Gulfport. OpenStreetMap lists the site as a waterfront park. Coordinates of the entry: 30.365 N, 89.088 W. Depths reach about 2.0 m.
Google MapsShore access point Preservation Oaks Beach Park, roughly 1.3 km from Gulfport. Access type in the OpenStreetMap data: waterfront park. Coordinates of the entry: 30.362 N, 89.101 W. Maximum depth is around 4 m.
Google MapsWest Side Pier gives shore access 1.6 km from Gulfport. Access type in the OpenStreetMap data: pier. Coordinates of the entry: 30.358 N, 89.107 W. The marked spot lies about 180 m from the waterline. Depths reach about 1.0 m.
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.
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».
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 Gulfport is less about finding structure and more about escaping dirty Mississippi Sound water. FH-8 is close but can be turbid. Cat Island Reef is sheltered south of Cat Island, while FH-4 sits south of West Ship Island and is the better clean-water bet, provided you stay more than 1 mile off Gulf Islands National Seashore islands where spearing is banned. The local physics are south-facing and sheltered, with bad swell from 140 to 220 degrees. Mississippi's rule set is more direct than Alabama's: spear or gig is legal for saltwater finfish, but seasons, size limits and red snapper closures still control the final harvest.
The practical Gulfport plan moves from convenient but dirty water toward the reefs south of the barrier islands. Use the Gulfport Lighthouse and Yacht Harbor cam for color, then compare it with NOAA station PNLM6 before running offshore.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FH-8 | Inshore artificial reef | Mississippi Sound structure | Intermediate, visibility dependent | Closest listed reef to Gulfport | This is the easy run but also the most likely to be brown. Treat it as a quick visibility test rather than the automatic best dive. |
| Cat Island Reef | Sheltered reef south of Cat Island | Sound-side reef structure | Intermediate boat dive | Boat run toward Cat Island | The reef is more protected, and redfish are present. Confirm species limits and method rules before taking any fish. |
All 367 spots → · Region: Mississippi · spearo.app — All countries
| FH-4 | Offshore FH reef | South of West Ship Island | Experienced boat crew | Run beyond the Sound, staying outside the 1 mile island buffer | This is the cleaner-water Gulfport option. It is listed as more than 1 mile off the protected island area, which is the key legal distance. |
Gulfport water visibility improves when the Sound has had time to settle and south swell has backed down. The bad sector runs roughly southeast through southwest, and the worst direction is due south. Even then, the inshore Sound can stay green or brown while offshore FH reefs improve. If the harbor cam shows stirred water, FH-8 is unlikely to be worth a full spearfishing plan.
The barrier islands create both the opportunity and the legal line. They shelter Mississippi Sound, which helps with boat handling but traps turbidity. The cleaner water often lies south of the islands, yet Ship, Horn and Petit Bois carry a 1 mile no-spearing buffer. For Gulfport, good navigation is part of the hunting method: reef coordinates, island distance and return weather all matter.
The Gulf species list includes red snapper, sheepshead, flounder and cobia. Red snapper is season-controlled and often the most paperwork-heavy target. Sheepshead and flounder are more conservative finfish choices when legal size and season line up. Do not take goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, marine mammals or protected sharks. If Gulfport is your first Mississippi dive, keep the target list short.
Mississippi allows spear or gig for saltwater finfish, but that does not cancel license, size, possession or seasonal rules. Red snapper can close by season or quota. Offshore reef trips may also bring federal reef-fish release rules into play. The clearest Gulfport legal habit is simple: license first, island buffer second, current MDMR species limits third, then choose the reef.
Yes for saltwater finfish when Mississippi rules, seasons and limits are met. The 1 mile island buffer remains a no-spearing line.
Offshore FH reefs south of the barrier islands usually beat the inshore Sound after a settled spell.
Keep more than 1 mile off Ship, Horn and Petit Bois. Spearing inside that buffer is banned.
FH-8 is the closest listed reef, but it can be turbid because it sits in Mississippi Sound.
NOAA NDBC station PNLM6 is the listed buoy reference, paired with a harbor camera check for local water color.
Sargassum: in seasonshore washups possibleAFAI satellite, 2026-10-24 · NOAA/USF
