Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
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 Horta, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
Every covered town has its own live forecast, cameras and entry points. Choose where you're diving.
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: 1391 spots across 205 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 mapThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appCameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
In season now: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Octopus, Mullet
Spaintransparency ~29 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
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.
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.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appNo 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.
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.
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.
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.
Summer is best — blue, clean mid-Atlantic water. The weather turns fast, so pick the island and the side that are sheltered that day.
~17–23 °C depending on island and season. A 3–5 mm suit. Very clear water, but the weather turns fast.
Intermediate: clean but oceanic, deep water with volatile weather. Pick the sheltered side and leave the water with a margin.
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
