Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
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 Jacksonville Beach, 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 mapSunken hull with about 3.5 m of relief in 13 m — the shallowest option off Jacksonville Beach. Snapper and grouper, and a sound pick for a freediver.
Google MapsField of concrete modules with 2.5 m of relief in 16 m. Snapper over the pieces; WARNING: Florida bans spearing sharks, tarpon and goliath grouper, federal water included.
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: Florida · spearo.app — All countries
transparency nearby ~3 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
Sunken barge with 2.5 m of relief in 20 m off Jacksonville. Low but clean structure holding snapper; blue water arrives when the longshore current swings north.
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 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.
Spearfishing Jacksonville Beach is a Duval County offshore program. The beach itself is not the main play because Florida distance rules, pier traffic and surf make nearshore hunting awkward. Most serious dives leave through Mayport toward barges, module fields and wrecks in roughly 11 to 21 m of water. Bunnie's Web is the shallowest listed option; the JW barge and Charles H. Kirbo Reef add structure for snapper, sheepshead and grouper checks. For Jacksonville Beach water visibility, wait for west wind, small east swell and a calm NOAA 41117 read.
All three spots below are boat entries. They are exposed Atlantic structures, so the decision should be made at the dock, not after a long run into lumpy water. Carry a flag, assign a live boat or pickup plan, and avoid anchoring directly where divers will surface.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunnie's Web (BW) | Vessel wreck | Shallowest of the listed offshore options | Boat crew, intermediate | Boat from Mayport or Jacksonville area ramps | About 3.5 m of relief, useful when deeper reef runs are too ambitious. Expect sheepshead, snapper and flounder checks. |
| JW Site - MTC 120 Barge | Sunken barge | Moderate artificial reef depth | Boat crew, intermediate | Boat only | Low relief around 2.5 m means fish can sit tight. Work slowly and keep the diver-down signal obvious to passing traffic. |
| Charles H. Kirbo Reef | Module field | Moderate reef depth | Boat crew, intermediate | Boat only | Snapper and reef fish structure with roughly 2.5 m relief. It is better on a clean-water west-wind morning. |
The Northeast Florida shelf is sandy and easily stirred, so visibility often improves offshore before it improves along the beach. A light west or southwest wind can knock down surface texture without pushing dirty surf over the reef line. East and northeast swell are the problem directions, especially when the period is long enough to move bottom. NOAA station 41117 sits far enough offshore to show whether the sea is truly easing or only hidden by morning calm near the pier.
Florida-legal reef and wreck targets include sheepshead, mangrove or mutton snapper, hogfish where present, cobia under current rules, and flounder. Gag and red grouper are possible but season-controlled, so do not load a grouper into the box without checking the day. Florida specifically blocks spearing snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, pompano, goliath and Nassau grouper, billfish, sharks, rays and ornamental reef families. Spiny lobster and stone crab are hand-take only.
A saltwater fishing license is the baseline unless an exemption applies, and reef fish require the free State Reef Fish Angler designation. Florida also bars spearfishing within 100 yards of public swimming beaches, commercial or public fishing piers, and bridges where fishing is allowed; jetties have a 100 ft above-water-part buffer. Powerheads are banned for recreational spearfishing, and rebreathers are not allowed. Jacksonville is north of Monroe County, so the Keys county ban does not apply, but Florida's protected-species list still does.
Not really. The practical hunting is by boat on reefs and wrecks outside the surf and distance buffers.
NOAA NDBC station 41117 is the listed offshore reference near the Jacksonville Beach run.
Yes, for Florida reef fish if you are otherwise required to hold a saltwater license.
No. Florida bans powerheads for recreational spearfishing.
Light west wind with low east swell is usually the best starting point for offshore visibility.
buoy St. Augustine, FL: 24.1° · wave 3.3 m/11 s · 1 h ago
Sargassum: in seasonshore washups possibleAFAI satellite, 2026-10-24 · NOAA/USF
