Today — sit it out — 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 Honolulu, 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 mapReef beside Kewalo basin, 3–12 m: uku, goatfish and papio along the edge. Stay west — to the east begins the Waikīkī MLCD, where even carrying take gear into the water is prohibited.
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».
All 367 spots → · Region: Hawaii · spearo.app — All countries
transparency ~28 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
buoy Mokapu Point, HI: 27.0° · wave 2.3 m/13 s · 43 min ago
A broad reef flat, 2–10 m: oio, papio and moana and weke goatfish. WARNING: it lies inside the Maunalua Bay FMA — spiny and slipper lobster are prohibited, and so is night spearfishing.
Magic Island Lagoon is a shore entry about 0.9 km from Honolulu. Expect no more than about 9 m of water. Tides here rise and fall only a little. Ala Wai Canal statutory fishing area, a restricted area, lies about 390 m away; check its rules and boundary.
Google MapsThe reef edge in Maunalua Bay, 3–12 m: papio, goatfish and uku on the slope. WARNING: FMA rule — no lobster, and from sunset to sunrise carrying a spear while diving is prohibited. The Paikō sanctuary is 2.3 km away.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appSOLO 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.
Honolulu spearfishing is a south-shore reef puzzle, not a bluewater gamble. Kaka'ako and Kewalo sit just west of the Waikiki Marine Life Conservation District, so the legal boundary matters before the fish do. Kahala-Waialae and Aina Haina/Niu give wider flats and Maunalua Bay edges with papio, goatfish, uku and oio, but they still need small surf from the south sector. For Honolulu water visibility, check the Waikiki cams, NOAA station 51202 and wind: light trades are workable, fresh south swell is the warning.
These are shore-access reef areas with moderate solo risk. None is a shortcut into Waikiki MLCD or Hanauma Bay. Treat any uncertain boundary as closed, and keep the hunt outside marked conservation water.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaka'ako / Kewalo outer reef | Harbor-adjacent outer reef | Shallow reef to edge water | Intermediate | Shore or harbor-adjacent entry when seas are settled | Good for uku, papio and goatfish. Stay west of the Waikiki MLCD and give boat traffic a wide margin. |
| Kahala-Waialae reef flats | Broad south-shore reef flat | Reef flats and channels | Intermediate | Shore entry only after checking swell and exit points | A flatter profile than Kewalo, with oio, papio and weke. Visibility fades when surf wraps across the flats. |
| Aina Haina / Niu reef | Maunalua Bay reef edge | Shallow reef edge | Intermediate | Shore entry with a conservative return route | Papio, goatfish and uku move along the bay edge. Night spear possession is restricted inside the Maunalua Bay FMA. |
Visibility usually improves when the south shore has several calm days, short-period chop stays low, and trade winds do not push dirty harbor water along the reef line. NOAA station 51202 is useful because the Mokapu buoy shows regional wave height and direction before that energy wraps into town. A south swell is the main spoiler for Kewalo, Kahala and Maunalua. If the swell points into the 150 to 230 degree band, plan a reef check from shore before loading the gun.
Common legal targets are papio and ulua, goatfish such as weke and kumu, uku on deeper edges, and invasive roi or ta'ape where they are present. Roi removal is encouraged, but ciguatera remains a health caution. Sea turtles, monk seals and cetaceans are fully protected and should be given space. Avoid treating uhu as a simple reef target: Hawaii rules vary by island and area, and protected local rules can be stricter than general practice.
Hawaii allows spears for finfish subject to size, season and area restrictions, but crustaceans, turtles and aquatic mammals are off limits to spears. Nonresidents need the Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License. Waikiki MLCD and Hanauma Bay are no-take for spearfishing purposes; do not enter them with gear intended to take marine life. In Maunalua Bay, restrictions apply to spear possession while diving at night, so keep Honolulu freediving daytime and boundary-aware.
No. The Waikiki MLCD is no-take. Stay outside the boundary and treat unclear water as closed.
NOAA NDBC station 51202, Mokapu Point, is the closest buoy named for this coast.
Residents generally do not. Nonresidents need the NRMFL before marine recreational fishing.
No. Hawaii prohibits spearing crustaceans, with only a narrow freshwater prawn exception.
South swell, harbor runoff, and wind-driven chop across the reef flats are the main problems.
