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Shoal forming a crown ringed by sand, 3–10 m; rays and turtles. Sheltered from E, SE and S.
Google MapsToday — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 💧 Water looks set to clear by Thursday (~1d) — tentative
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 Ilhabela, 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.
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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 mapShoal forming a crown ringed by sand, 3–10 m; rays and turtles. Sheltered from E, SE and S.
Google MapsBig-boulder shoreline with many holes and a shoal beyond, 3–16 m; sheltered from SE, S and SW.
Google MapsCameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Checked against the act (Decreto SP nº 9.414/1977 — the perimeter is drawn on land), the point lies outside every known ban polygon; Brazil's coverage is partial — the status is not confirmed, check on the spot. Big-boulder shoreline with a sandy bottom, 6–15 m; the spot gets current and works only in very calm sea.
The 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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appIslands ringed by large rocks forming holes, with sand at the bottom; 5–19 m per the official SP guide. Turtles are common; sheltered from SE, S and SW.
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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appThe 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 appChecked against the act (Decreto SP nº 9.414/1977 — the perimeter is drawn on land), the point lies outside every known ban polygon; Brazil's coverage is partial — the status is not confirmed, check on the spot. Rocky shore of large stacked boulders with sand at the bottom, 10–30 m; several ray species. Dived with the current, for experienced divers.
Google MapsChecked against the act (Decreto SP nº 9.414/1977 — the perimeter is drawn on land), the point lies outside every known ban polygon; Brazil's coverage is partial — the status is not confirmed, check on the spot. Sheltered bay, 5–10 m: rocky shore with holes and passages, corals and sea fans, sand with rays at the bottom. Great variety of fish; sheltered from SE, S and SW.
Google MapsChecked against the act (Decreto SP nº 9.414/1977 — the perimeter is drawn on land), the point lies outside every known ban polygon; Brazil's coverage is partial — the status is not confirmed, check on the spot. Southern tip of the island: flat rock and a vertical wall, 8–40 m, dropping abruptly past 40. Surge and strong currents — very calm sea only.
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 vary by state. Before heading out, check on gov.br (recreational licence, MPA) and the state closed seasons/sizes; apnea only, goliath grouper is banned.
Spearfishing in Ilhabela is an archipelago operation, not a casual beach entry. The verified registry list has six named spots: Saco do Funil, Ponta das Arraias and Saco da Professora - Aquário around Ilha Vitória, plus Ilhas Galhetas, Costão do Quebra Coco and Ilha da Serraria. The broader local summary mentions 30+ points between Ilhabela, Búzios and Vitória, with clear water and walls from 8 to 40 m. For a visiting spearo, the practical rule is support boat, float, traffic check and national compliance. Brazil requires the MPA recreational licence, spearfishing is apnea only, and goliath grouper is under a total moratorium. Do not shoot mero, even if you see one on a clean wall.
This table uses only verified spots from the registry. Only these fields are verified name, coordinate, type and depth, but no desc_* prose by spot; the notes therefore avoid invented shelter, species and hazard claims. Treat the list as a starting point for checking sea state, boat plan, local permission and GPS on the day.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saco do Funil (Ilha Vitória) | Wall | 8-40 m | No local rating; depth demands experience | Boat to Ilha Vitória | Verified registry spot. Treat it as a deep wall entry without assuming shelter or fish detail from the data. |
| Ponta das Arraias (Ilha Vitória) | Reef slab | 10-30 m | No local rating; better with buddy and boat | Boat to Ilha Vitória | Verified registry spot. The depth range makes current, boat pickup and float discipline part of the plan. |
| Saco da Professora – Aquário | Cove | 5-10 m | No local rating; shallower in the registry | Boat to the Ilha Vitória sector | Verified registry spot. The name points to a cove, but the source has no shelter or fauna detail, so confirm locally. |
| Ilhas Galhetas | Island/reef slab | 3-15 m | No local rating | Boat | Verified registry spot. Use only the stated type and depth; there is no face-by-face description in the data. |
| Costão do Quebra Coco | Rocky headland | 3-16 m | No local rating | By sea; no dry entry detail in the registry | Verified registry spot. Without exposure notes, the day call is swell, wind and a clear exit. |
| Ilha da Serraria | Island | 6-15 m | No local rating | Boat | Verified registry spot. Carry a visible float and confirm traffic because island dives sit in boat routes. |
Ilhabela is sheltered compared with open coast, but it is not fixed calm water. The registry marks it as sheltered and flags a bad sector from 20 to 120 degrees, with the worst direction near 70 degrees. East to northeast wind and sea therefore need respect, especially when the plan reaches Ilha Vitória, Búzios or another offshore point. The west side in the channel can be calmer, but it is also trafficked. Check swell, wind, boat route and pickup before loading the gun. The float is not decoration here; it is part of staying visible among launches, fishing boats and tour traffic.
The local base gives roughly 20 m visibility in summer and around 10 m in winter. Treat that as a reference, not a promise. Rain, a bad wind angle and channel traffic can all reduce bottom reading. Clearer water is often the reason to run toward islands and slabs, but those are also the dives that need a boat and return plan. If visibility drops, scale the dive down. A 30 or 40 m wall is not a target just because the coordinate is saved.
Ilha Vitória holds three of the supported names: Saco do Funil, Ponta das Arraias and Saco da Professora - Aquário. Their registry depths run from 5-10 m at the shallower cove to 8-40 m on Saco do Funil's wall. That changes the whole dive plan. A shallow check dive and a deep wall drop are not the same risk. Because the source gives no per-spot fish, current or shelter prose, treat Ilha Vitória as a boat, buddy, float and local-confirmation operation rather than a catch promise.
The local summary names grouper, badejo, amberjack, snook and leerfish. The national table also includes fat snook, common snook, bluefish, croaker, mullet, king mackerel, serra Spanish mackerel, mahi-mahi, crevalle jack and porgy, each subject to any minimum size or closed season that applies. True grouper is sensitive, with a closed season and size window. Goliath grouper is different: total moratorium since 2002, no recreational exception. If identification is not clean, do not shoot.
Use the MPA recreational fishing licence for the relevant category and keep proof available. Spearfishing is apnea only; using scuba or an artificial breathing device to spear fish is prohibited under the IBAMA rule. Also check protected areas, regional closed seasons and species limits before boarding. The Ilhabela record has no local zoneNote, but that does not override nearby restrictions, enforcement or maritime instructions.
The supported list is Saco do Funil, Ponta das Arraias, Saco da Professora - Aquário, Ilhas Galhetas, Costão do Quebra Coco and Ilha da Serraria.
It depends on wind, rain, traffic and swell. The base reference is around 20 m in summer and 10 m in winter.
The local summary names grouper, badejo, amberjack, snook and leerfish. Goliath grouper is excluded by Brazil's total moratorium.
Summer has the better visibility reference in the source data. The final call is still wind, sea state and boat logistics on the day.
Yes. The MPA recreational fishing licence is required for the relevant spearfishing category.
No. In Brazil, spearing with scuba or any artificial breathing device is prohibited.
No. Goliath grouper, mero in Brazil, has a total moratorium and is never a legal recreational target.