Baie de LoyaHendaye
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky cove to the north (path sometimes closed by rockfall — check), 2–8 m, shore; bream and bass.
Google MapsHendaye spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.3
wave 0.7 m head-on
visibility3m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and noticeable surge.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 16:50
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 16:50
Hendaye — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · northerly wind picks up after midday
wave 0.7 m head-onwind 9 km/hnoticeable surgevisibility ~5 m
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 25.4°C
confidence high · 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
06:46–21:40 · first quarter
▼ 05:00▲ 11:00▼ 17:00 · 1.8 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.38 m
Wave0.72 m
Wind24 km/h
Water25 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:01 · moderate · moon underfoot 08:30 · high · moonrise 16:01 · moderate · moon overhead 20:40 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.70 mperiod 4.1 s head-onwind 15→22surge 1.2viz 2 m
0.70 mup to ~1.40 · 352° head-on
4.1 sswell moderate
15→22gusts 22 km/h
1.2weak surge
0.14m/s
2 mrecent swell
25.2°C5 mm + hood
▼17:00tide turn near
Atmosphere49 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
- wind 15 km/h
- northerly wind picks up after midday
- low water — slack
confidence mediumday
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
Corniche de HaïçabiaHendaye
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Basque corniche at Haïçabia (Hendaye), rocky strata 0–12 m, shore entry; mostly bream (sar). ⚠️ calm sea only.
Google MapsLes Roches Noires (Pointe Sainte-Anne)Hendaye
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rock plateau, shallow reefs and sand, 1–8 m, shore; very rich in common bream, good to start.
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
- bar / loup (European seabass)Bag: north of 48°N — 3/day (except 1 Feb–31 Mar: catch-and-release only); south of 48°N — 2/day year-round.
- maigre (meagre)
- gilthead seabream
- white seabream
- black seabream
- grey mullet
- European conger
- striped red mullet
- common sole
- European hake
- Atlantic mackerelAtlantic 20 cm (North Sea — 30 cm), Mediterranean 18 cm.
- pollackAtlantic/Channel: max 2/day. Practically absent in the Mediterranean.
- Atlantic cod
- brown meagre / corb🚫 Mérou (5 spp.) and corb: TOTAL spearfishing ban in the French Mediterranean (mainland + Corsica), moratorium to end 2033. Size is irrelevant — not a legal target at all.
Law
- ✓No licence and no declaration since 2009 — free practice (décret 2009-727). BUT civil-liability (RC) insurance for spearfishing is MANDATORY (not a myth) — a standalone policy or an FFESSM/FFPSA federation licence. Speargun (arbalète) — 16+.
- ✓Breath-hold only — any breathing apparatus (scuba/hookah) is banned. Night prohibited (sunset to sunrise). Never keep the speargun loaded out of the water. Stay ≥150 m from vessels actively fishing; spearfishing banned in ports, bathing zones and marine reserves.
- ✓Min. sizes are façade-specific (arrêté 26 Oct 2012 + EU 2019/1241): sea bass (bar) 42 cm Atlantic/Channel and 30 cm Mediterranean. In the Med, moratoria protect the grouper (×5) and the brown meagre (corb) — don't shoot them. From 10 Jan 2026 a new registration + catch-declaration regime applies (arrêté 7 Nov 2025). See the species card and the guide.
- ✓EU Regulation 2023/2842: angler registration and catch declaration for certain species (sea bass, pollack, bluefin tuna) due from 10 Jan 2026 — obligation postponed by France while the EU app is not ready; check current status.
- ⛔ 🚫 Mérou (5 spp.) and corb — total spearfishing ban in the Mediterranean (mainland + Corsica), moratorium to end 2033.
- ⛔ Grande nacre (Pinna nobilis) — full take ban (Habitats Dir. 92/43 Annex IV). Marine mammals, turtles, seahorses (Hippocampus), corals — do not touch.
- ⛔ Crustaceans (lobster, spiny lobster, spider crab, ormer/abalone) — harpoon/foëne PROHIBITED. By hand while freediving only, where species/size/season is open. Ormeau (Haliotis) — hand-take heavily restricted/seasonal, effectively closed in many zones.
Rules change. Exact distances from beaches/ports and seasonal closures are set by the local préfecture maritime — check its arrêté and the DIRM/OFB zone map before heading out.
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 Hendaye: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing in Hendaye is built around shallow Basque rock, not deep walls. Les Roches Noires at Pointe Sainte-Anne mixes reef and sand in 1 to 8 m and is listed as a good starter area with plenty of white seabream. The catch is the nearby Bidassoa estuary current, plus Atlantic tide and north-west swell. Loya and the Haïçabia corniche can work in calm seas, but cliff access must be checked first. French rules require insurance and breath-hold only practice.
TL;DR
- Hendaye's easiest read is Les Roches Noires: shallow reef and sand at Pointe Sainte-Anne.
- The Bidassoa estuary current matters as much as swell; aim for small swell and slack water.
- Loya and Haïçabia require access checks because cliff paths can close after rockfall.
Best spearfishing spots in Hendaye
These are shallow, shore-based Basque entries. Check access and current before fish choice.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Roches Noires (Pointe Sainte-Anne) | Rock plateau, reefs and sand | 1 to 8 m | Accessible in small swell | Shore | Listed as very rich in white seabream and good to start. North-west swell lifts the plateau. |
| Baie de Loya | Rocky cove | 2 to 8 m | Cautious intermediate | Path must be checked | Bream and bass. The path can close after rockfall, so do not improvise a cliff descent. |
| Corniche de Haïçabia | Rocky strata | 0 to 12 m | Calm sea only | Shore, if open | Mostly bream. Watch the estuary current and keep a clear exit. |
What conditions matter most in Hendaye?
Use the webcams at Abbadia, the beach and Baie du Figuier as a surface check, then judge the shore entry itself. Use small swell, slack water and estuary-current awareness. North-west swell makes the reef less friendly, and rockfall can close access paths to the northern coves.
FAQ
Is Hendaye beginner-friendly?
Les Roches Noires is listed as good to start, but only in small swell with current under control.
What fish is Hendaye known for?
White seabream is the key local fish at Les Roches Noires; bass is also listed at Loya.
Why check access before Loya?
The access note says paths can close because of cliff rockfall.
Do you need a French spearfishing licence?
No licence or declaration since 2009, but civil-liability insurance is mandatory.
Is scuba allowed for spearfishing?
No. French spearfishing is breath-hold only.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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