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 Hawaii Kai, 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 mapA vertical wall with ledges and caves, 5–20 m: eagle rays, uku and omilu. WARNING: inside the Maunalua Bay FMA — no lobster, no spear at night. Flat swell only: the surge on the edge has killed people.
Google MapsCameras, 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».
transparency ~13 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
buoy Mokapu Point, HI: 27.0° · wave 2.3 m/13 s · 42 min ago
Shore access point Halona Blow Hole, roughly 2.5 km from Hawaii Kai. Marker position: 21.282° N, 157.676° W. Maximum depth is around 7 m. Hanauma Bay Marine Life Conservation District is the closest protected area we map, roughly 2.0 km off.
WARNING: a no-take conservation bay — it is prohibited to fish for, injure or remove any marine life, and even to carry in the water any device that could be used to take it. Stay west, on the Portlock side.
Google MapsSunken barge on the outer Maunalua Bay sand flat east of the state artificial reef, listed by dive directories at roughly 25 m. Boat-only; the hull is the only relief for a long way, so it stacks mu, taʻape and the occasional ulua.
Google MapsKoke'e Park: you go in from the shore, some 1.7 km from Hawaii Kai. The pin sits at 21.266 N / 157.711 W on the chart. Maximum depth is around 4 m. The marker is inside Maunalua Bay Fisheries Management Area, a restricted area; check what may be taken there before spearing.
Google MapsKoko Kai Park is a shore entry about 2.2 km from Hawaii Kai. Depths reach about 11 m. Bottom type: boulders and ledges. The marker is inside Maunalua Bay Fisheries Management Area, a restricted area; check what may be taken there before spearing.
Google MapsLana'i Lookout (Scenic Lookout): you go in from the shore, some 1.6 km from Hawaii Kai. Depths reach about 22 m. Bottom type: rock. Hanauma Bay Marine Life Conservation District, a no-take zone, lies about 800 m away; confirm its boundary on site.
Google MapsHard-coral reef at the mouth of the bay, 3–15 m: goatfish, moray, octopus and papio. WARNING: the Maunalua Bay FMA rule applies — spiny and slipper lobster prohibited, and night spearfishing too.
Google MapsBroken lava reef and sand channels off the Sandy Beach–Alan Davis corridor, 3–14 m, the most accessible east-side ground on Oʻahu. Oʻahu spear shops list it for papio, uhu and weke.
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.
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.
Hawaii Kai has rock entry points such as China Walls (Portlock Point), Portlock / Maunalua Bay outer reef and Hanauma Bay MLCD. SE Oahu walls and outer reef — China Walls ledges, eagle rays, uku and omilu; Hanauma Bay is a no-take MLCD. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
Year-round; ulua/uhu, removing invasive roi/ta'ape is encouraged. No licence for residents.
Warm, 24–27 °C; gin-clear year-round, reef channels on the slack.
Beginner-friendly: warm clear water; respect MLCD/no-take and the West Hawai'i scuba-spear ban.
Yes — in Hawaii Kai almost certainly, but the licence is the STATE's, not a federal one: nearly every coastal state requires its own saltwater fishing licence, and several add a free registration or an extra endorsement on top (Florida's free State Reef Fish Survey for reef fish, Texas's saltwater endorsement, California's Ocean Enhancement Validation). Hawaii asks nothing of residents and charges visitors the NRMFL. What may be speared, and with what gear, is state law too — the price and the details depend on the state, so read the «Law» block below.
