🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
visibility~1m
Nottoday
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and noticeable surge. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
Sources:IPMA · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 09:32
Sources & confidence
Sources
IPMA · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus
Method
spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast
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.
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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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 — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.
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
This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.
Coming soon
Get the go / no-go verdict for Horta by email
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Horta, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
point your camera
−10 m
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: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Tide is not critical in the sheltered bay; high water gives a little more depth and visibility over the sand at the entry.
shelter
The cove is closed off by the Monte da Guia cone to the south and west, sheltering it almost fully from the dominant W/NW Atlantic swell and wind — one of the few genuinely calm entries on Faial.
conditions
Diveable on almost any summer day (June-October); even in W/NW swell the bay stays glassy. Visibility drops after strong southerly wind, which funnels straight into the mouth of the bay.
hazard
The main hazard is not the sea but people: in summer it is a guarded Blue Flag beach full of swimmers, kayaks and SUP; you cannot and should not spear here. Boat traffic to/from Horta harbour along the outer edge of the bay.
access
Walk from central Horta; sandy beach with a gentle walk-in, showers and parking alongside — the easiest entry on the island.
A training base, not a hunting spot: ideal for apnea practice, warm-up and snorkel, but taking fish is banned (guarded beach + Monte da Guia protected landscape). The real reefs are past the mouth toward Monte da Guia.
One morning glance — and you know.
point your camera
≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Prime target. Shy of light — pick early/twilight windows.
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
Easiest target at 0–6 m. ⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
Polvo (octopus)
1–6 m · high water · twilight
Peaks in autumn. Spot the den by the pile of shells. Don't take egg-bearing females. Min. weight 750 g (DGRM).
Tainha (mullet)
0–2 m · — · —
Extremely wary; murky water HINDERS it. Opportunistic, in calm coves.
Santola (spider crab)
1–10 m · low water (reef shelf exposed) · calm morning (≤force 2)
Carapace ≥12 cm. Peaks Jul–Aug. CLOSED 15.02–15.06. Limit 2 kg/day.
Law
🦀 spider crab open (season 16.06–14.02)
✓⚠️ Madeira and the Azores run their OWN rules: in the Autonomous Regions the licence, the fees, the permitted gear and the limits are set by the region's own government, not by
Morro de Castelo Branco coastExposed coast — Faial west (Varadouro) · Costa do Morro de Castelo Branco
no data
⛔ Banned here
window
—
tide
High water preferred — deeper over the rock base and less risk on the recoil; at low tide boulders are exposed and surge bites harder at the entry.
shelter
The tall basalt-trachyte headland gives partial lee depending on swell direction, but the coast is essentially open to the SW and W Atlantic; little shelter.
conditions
Only in a rare window of total calm, small swell (<0.5 m) and light wind; deep clear water and sheer walls reward you, but conditions must be perfect.
hazard
Rock-bound entry with no beach: surge and shorebreak on the boulders at the exit is the dominant threat, a trap as swell builds. Deep water right off the edge, no boat shelter, help far away — solo is very dangerous.
access
From Castelo Branco village by tracks to the base of the morro; the scramble down the rocks to the water is steep and uneven — needs a land scout first.
A reserve headland (Natura 2000) — the landscape is protected, but it is a known local hunting coast on a flat day. Exact entry points undocumented: scout from land first, do not enter in swell.
Varadouro Bathing AreaExposed coast — Faial west (Varadouro) · Zona Balnear do Varadouro
no data
⛔ Banned here
window
—
tide
Best near high water — more depth over the basalt ledges and a softer entry; at low tide sharp lava shelves are exposed.
shelter
The black-basalt pools give shelter right at the edge, but this is exposed west coast — almost no protection from the W/NW Atlantic swell; only works in a southerly/easterly wind window or dead-flat sea.
conditions
Diveable only when the west swell drops below ~0.5-0.8 m: summer, morning calm, no strong W/NW. In swell there is shorebreak and surge on the rocks — do not exit there.
hazard
If the swell builds, surge and shorebreak on the lava ledges at the exit are a real trap; sharp basalt cuts wetsuit and hands. The guarded bathing enclosure itself is for training, not for taking fish.
access
Road access, parking, showers; enter the water down the concrete pool steps or straight to sea off the basalt ledges alongside.
No taking fish in the marked pools (guarded bathing zone), but the rocky coast around it — toward Castelo Branco and Porto Comprido — is a genuine apnea-hunting shore on a flat day. A fallback for when the east of the island isn't working.
SOLO 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.
(DL 246/2000, art. 20.º n.º 1). The mainland figures — the licence fee, the daily cap, the spider-crab closed season, the mainland minimum-size table — do NOT apply here.
✓Breath-hold only: spearfishing may be practised in apnea alone. Scuba, rebreather and hookah are banned; the speargun may not be powered by a detonating charge or by compressed gas (DL 246/2000, art. 9.º n.º 3 — o antigo art. 6.º foi revogado).
✓The catch may NOT be sold: displaying for sale, offering or selling recreational catch is prohibited — it is for the fisher, the household, or donation to charitable, scientific or museum institutions (DL 246/2000, art. 7.º).
✓A loaded speargun out of the water is an offence (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 2 f). Same article: no fishing closer than the legally set distance from concessioned beaches during the bathing season (n.º 2 d), nor in places closed for health or marine-traffic reasons (n.º 2 e). The exact metres come from the regulation and the capitania — check before you go.
✓The Azores have their own recreational-fishing act — DLR 9/2007/A, as currently in force. Spearfishing: breath-hold only, any breathing apparatus other than a snorkel is banned, and carrying the gun ready to fire out of the water is an offence (art. 8.º n.os 1-4). Not at night: sunset to sunrise (art. 8.º n.º 8).
✓A buoy is mandatory: yellow, orange or red, spherical or cylindrical, carrying a flag (DLR 9/2007/A, art. 8.º n.º 5). Distances: no spearfishing within 300 m of, or inside, class A, B and C harbours; within 100 m of, or inside, class D harbours and portinhos; and within 100 m of places commonly used for bathing (art. 8.º n.os 6-7).
✓The Azorean daily limit is counted in FISH, not in kilos: 10 fish and octopus per person per day, and 2 crustaceans (DLR 9/2007/A, art. 16.º n.os 1-2). Once you reach it you must stop; anything over the limit may not be carried, taken aboard or landed (n.º 4). Grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) may not be taken at all (art. 16.º n.º 5 al. a).
✓A spearfishing licence is compulsory and it is PERSONAL (DLR 9/2007/A, art. 28.º n.º 2 al. a). It is issued for three years, a year, a month or a day; fishing without it is an offence (art. 29.º). Fish of 25 cm or more must be marked with a cut in the tail fin before you leave the spot or bring the catch ashore (art. 18.º).
✓Breath-hold GATHERING (limpets, barnacles) has its own regime in : gathering on a breath-hold dive is licensed as spearfishing (art. 6.º n.º 2), limpets (Patella candei gomesii and Patella aspera) are capped at 1.5 kg per person per day and ONLY on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and barnacles at 40 (art. 14.º n.º 1). The buoy rule is stricter than the spearfishing one: Alfa flag, a line no longer than 50 m, one buoy per gatherer (art. 7.º n.os 4-5).
✓Minimum sizes and closed seasons apply to recreational fishers too: art. 6.º extends the sizes and the periods to pesca lúdica, and closing a species' quota shuts it for recreational fishing the same day. We do NOT print the centimetres: whether the 2019 list is still current against later portarias was not checked — get the table from the DRP before you go.
✓Night is prohibited here too: spearfishing between sunset and sunrise is an offence under the decree-law itself (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 1 d), which is in force in the Autonomous Regions as well.
Rules change, and in the Autonomous Regions they are their OWN. Before heading out, check with the regional fisheries administration (Madeira / Azores), not with the mainland DGRM tables.
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. At Cabo Raso/Arriba a 0.5 m rise in swell makes a boulder exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer here.
Headland rip: at Cabo Raso there is 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.
Nortada (Jun–Sep): wind builds from midday — be out of the water by ~11:00; 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.
FAQ — spearfishing in Horta
Where can I spearfish in Horta?
Horta has rock entry points such as Porto Pim Beach, Varadouro Bathing Area and Morro de Castelo Branco coast. Faial on the SE coast inside the sheltered Faial-Pico channel, with access to deep offshore pinnacles. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Horta?
Summer is best — blue, clean mid-Atlantic water. The weather turns fast, so pick the island and the side that are sheltered that day.
How cold is the water in Horta?
~17–23 °C depending on island and season. A 3–5 mm suit. Very clear water, but the weather turns fast.
Is Horta good for a beginner?
Intermediate: clean but oceanic, deep water with volatile weather. Pick the sheltered side and leave the water with a margin.
Do I need a licence in Horta?
Yes — in Horta you need the region's own recreational fishing licence (the mainland one isn't valid here); spearfishing is breath-hold only (no scuba) and needs a marker buoy. Check the regional rules — see the guide.
Portugal
