Mokule'ia reef flatHaleiwa (North Shore)
borderlinein the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Long reef with channels west of Haleiwa; papio and goatfish.
Google MapsHaleiwa (North Shore) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.2
wave 1.4 m
visibility2m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and noticeable surge.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 13:25
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 13:25
Haleiwa (North Shore) — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 1.4 m (occasionally up to ~2.8 m)
wave 1.4 mwind 22, gusts 53 km/hnoticeable surgevisibility ~2 m
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 2 m · Water 26.3°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.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
06:01–19:16 · first quarter
▼ 02:00▲ 12:00 · 0.4 m
Hours (06→20)
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.42 m
Wave1.30 m
Wind17 km/h
Water26 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:25 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:10 · high · moonrise 14:00 · moderate · moon overhead 19:30 · high
Conditions window12:00–15:00
don't go fish
Hs 1.42 mperiod 9.8 swind 25→59surge 1.7viz 1 m
1.42 mup to ~2.84 · 181° at an angle
9.8 sswell moderate
25→59gusts 59 km/h
1.7noticeable surge
0.11m/s
1 mrecent swell
26.3°C5 mm + hood
▼04:00tide turn near
Atmosphere11 kmprecip 0.3 mm
moderatemoonrise
- wave 1.4 m (occasionally up to ~2.8 m)
- steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
- ebb — weaker inshore
confidence lowday
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
Puaena PointHaleiwa (North Shore)
borderlinein the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Reef point just north of Haleiwa Harbor; uku, mu and goatfish, summer-calm.
Google MapsPupukea MLCD (Shark's Cove)Haleiwa (North Shore)
closedin the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
PROTECTED no-take MLCD (Shark's Cove / Three Tables) ~7 km NE — do NOT spear.
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
- uhu (parrotfish)Uhu (parrotfish), Maui: ≤2/day, 10–14″ min; taking blue (terminal) males is PROHIBITED.
- ulua (giant trevally)
- kumu (goatfish)
- roi (peacock grouper)Invasive — removal encouraged, no limit. Roi can carry ciguatera — a health caution.
- ta'ape (bluestripe snapper)Invasive — removal encouraged, no limit. Roi can carry ciguatera — a health caution.
Law
- ✓No licence for residents; non-residents need the Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License ().
- ✓MLCDs — no-take. West Hawai'i — scuba-spear banned. Uhu (Maui): ≤2/day, no blue males. Roi/ta'ape invasive — removal encouraged.
- ⛔ 🚫 Marine Life Conservation Districts (Hanauma/Molokini/Pupukea etc.) — no-take: spear nothing. West Hawai'i — scuba-spear banned.
- ⛔ 🚫 Sea turtles, monk seal and cetaceans — protected, don't disturb. Uhu: blue terminal males (Maui) may not be taken.
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.
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 Haleiwa (North Shore): spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing Haleiwa is legal only when you separate the North Shore's open reef from its protected showcase water. Puaena Point and Mokule'ia reef flat are the practical local dives, with ulua, uku, goatfish and invasive roi or ta'ape in the broader species picture. Pupukea MLCD at Shark's Cove and Three Tables is different: do not spear there, and do not enter the water with a taking device in the district. Conditions are seasonal. Summer flat spells can be clear and manageable; winter northwest swell turns the same coast dangerous. Nonresidents need Hawaii's Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License.
TL;DR
- Haleiwa spearfishing is a summer North Shore window. Winter surf can make the same reef line unsafe and unreadable.
- Puaena Point and Mokule'ia reef flat are the usable local ideas; Pupukea MLCD is a protected no-take area and is not a hunting spot.
- Use NOAA station 51201 and North Shore cams for swell. The bad sector is northwest through north, roughly 290 to 360 degrees.
- Hawaii residents do not need a marine fishing license, but nonresidents need the NRMFL. Turtles, monk seals and cetaceans are protected.
Legal spearfishing spots near Haleiwa
This table leaves out Pupukea MLCD on purpose because it is a protected no-take area. The two listed entries are North Shore reef plans that still need a flat summer sea, clear exits and current DAR rule checks.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puaena Point | Reef point north of Haleiwa Harbor | Shallow reef point and channels | Intermediate in summer, avoid winter surf | Shore entry near the harbor side after checking swell | Puaena Point holds uku, mu and goatfish in summer-calm water. Boat traffic, surfers and changing current make a float and conservative entry plan essential. |
| Mokule'ia reef flat | Long reef flat with channels | Shallow to moderate reef channels | Intermediate reef navigation | Shore approach west of Haleiwa | The reef can hold papio and goatfish. It is exposed to North Shore swell, so the best plan is a small summer swell, light wind and a clear exit line. |
When is Haleiwa water visibility best?
Haleiwa water visibility follows the North Shore season. Summer is the calmer pattern, though surge can still appear. The bad swell sector is 290 to 360 degrees, with the worst energy near 335 degrees. A small reading at NOAA 51201 matters more here than a sunny beach forecast. If Waimea or Pipeline cams show winter energy, a speargun day should become a land-based conditions check.
Why is Pupukea not in the spots table?
Pupukea MLCD covers Shark's Cove, Three Tables and nearby offshore water. Pupukea MLCD is protected, and Hawaii DAR rules prohibit taking marine life there except for narrow listed activities that are not spearfishing. Possessing a device that may take marine life in the water is also prohibited. Fail closed: enjoy Pupukea for snorkeling or viewing, not for harvesting.
Which fish are realistic around Haleiwa?
The Haleiwa species mix is reef and island-current fishing: ulua, uku, kumu and other goatfish, papio, plus invasive roi and ta'ape where legal. Roi removal may be encouraged, but ciguatera remains a health caution. Uhu rules can be area-specific, including Maui restrictions on blue terminal males, so do not generalize from one island to another. Sea turtles, monk seals and cetaceans are protected and should not be disturbed.
What Hawaii license rule applies?
Hawaii residents do not need a recreational marine fishing license. Nonresidents need the Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License. That license does not open MLCDs, harbors or special regulated areas. Freediving Haleiwa also means checking access, surf and current, because many of the North Shore's easiest-looking entries become unsafe when swell wraps through the reef flats.
FAQ
Is spearfishing Haleiwa good in winter?
Usually no. Winter northwest swell can make the North Shore dangerous and low visibility, even for experienced divers.
Can you spear at Shark's Cove?
No. Shark's Cove sits in Pupukea MLCD, where taking marine life and carrying taking devices in the water are prohibited.
Do nonresidents need a Hawaii fishing license?
Yes. Nonresidents need the Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License for marine fishing.
What are good Haleiwa spearfishing targets?
Legal reef targets include ulua, uku and goatfish. Invasive roi and ta'ape may be removed where legal, with ciguatera caution.
Which buoy helps for Haleiwa water visibility?
NOAA NDBC station 51201 is the listed nearby buoy, and it should be paired with North Shore surf cams.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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