Jupiter spearfishing forecast — United States

Q: Is Jupiter Ledge a beginner spearfishing spot?

No. It is a drift ledge with current, depth and boat-pickup requirements.

Q: Which NOAA station helps for Jupiter?

NOAA NDBC station 41068, Fort Pierce, is the listed offshore reference.

Q: Can you spear goliath grouper in Jupiter?

No. Goliath and Nassau grouper are on Florida's no-spear list.

Q: Is Andrew Harris Reef easier than Jupiter Ledge?

Usually, because it is shallower, but swell and current still need a conservative boat plan.

Q: What is the main dive hazard?

Current. Treat Jupiter as a drift system and plan pickup before anyone enters.

Jupiter · United States

5.2

wave 0.5 m head-on

visibility2m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 17:57

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
Method: Model consensus, read per window
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine

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.

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.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.

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.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

calmupdated 17:57

Jupiter — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind-wave — choppy surface

wave 0.5 m head-onwind 21, gusts 25 km/hvisibility ~3 mwindow 15:00–21:00

today, best window 18:00–21:00

fish · Visibility 3 m · Water 29.6°C

confidence medium · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

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.

Wednesday · today2026-07-22

06:39–20:13 · first quarter

▲ 02:00▼ 09:00▲ 15:00▼ 21:00 · 0.8 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.55 m

Wave0.46 m

Wind19 km/h

Water29 °C

fish activity: moonset 00:56 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:50 · high · moonrise 14:47 · moderate · moon overhead 20:10 · high

Conditions window15:00–18:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.50 mperiod 3.5 s head-onwind 21→25surge 0.2viz 2 m

0.50 mup to ~1.00 · 111° head-on

3.5 sswell moderate

21→25gusts 25 km/h

0.2weak surge

0.50m/s

2 mrecent swell

29.6°C5 mm + hood

▼21:00tide turn near

Atmosphere17 kmlandmarks visible

moderatemoonrise

wind-wave — choppy surface
strong wind 21 km/h, gusts 25 — caution
ebb — weaker inshore

confidence mediumday

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

−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: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

See all spots

−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

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.

Entry points

Where to get in
off the rocks.

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 map

Andrew Harris Reef Trail 1aJupiter

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Shallow nearshore rock reef.

Google Maps

Jupiter LedgeJupiter

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Famous natural drift ledge, 18–27 m; mutton and hogfish.

Google Maps

M/V Zion TrainJupiter

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Intact freighter, 35-ft relief.

Google Maps

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.

One morning glance — and you know.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference

Cameras · live

Look at the water
right now.

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».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse (RTSP.me)Live (rtspme) — Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse (RTSP.me). Operator iframe embed. Read the water before you go.camera: rtspme ↗

Open the seafloor map →

Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus · 2–15 m · legal
mangrove/mutton snapper
Lutjanus spp. · 5–35 m · legal
gag/red grouper
Mycteroperca microlepis · 10–45 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
Season is state-set — check before you go.
hogfish
Lachnolaimus maximus · 5–30 m · legal
cobia
Rachycentron canadum · 3–30 m · legal
flounder
Paralichthys spp. · 1–20 m · legal

Law

✓Florida: saltwater licence $17 res / $47 non-res; reef fish need the free State Reef Fish Angler (SRFS) designation. NC: CRFL; SC/GA: saltwater licence.
✓Distances (FL): 100 yd from beaches/piers/bridges, 100 ft from the above-water part of a jetty. banned in FL and SC; rebreathers are illegal for spearfishing in FL.
✓SC: gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia/tarpon/striped bass) hook-and-line only (§50-5-1700). GA: speargun doubtful in state water — real hunting on federal reefs.

⛔ 🚫 Do not spear (FL FAC 68B-20.005): snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, pompano, goliath/Nassau grouper, billfish, sharks, rays + ornamental reef families.
⛔ 🚫 Spiny lobster/stone crab — hand-take only (no puncturing). banned in FL and SC. Monroe County (Long Key north to the Miami-Dade line — incl. Key Largo): spearfishing banned; the lionfish licence exemption does NOT override it — hand-held nets only there.

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.

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. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have 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.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; 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.

Local guide · Jupiter

Spearfishing in Jupiter: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing Jupiter is famous because the structure is natural, clear and alive, but it is not lazy reef swimming. Jupiter Ledge runs in roughly 18 to 27 m and is normally hunted as a drift, with mutton snapper, hogfish and amberjack-style opportunities depending on season and rule checks. The M/V Zion Train gives taller wreck relief, while Andrew Harris Reef Trail 1a is the shallow nearshore rock option. For Jupiter water visibility, read the inlet cam, current, swell direction and NOAA station 41068 before leaving the dock.

TL;DR

Jupiter spearfishing is a Palm Beach drift-ledge game: Jupiter Ledge is the headline, with Zion Train and Andrew Harris Reef adding wreck and shallow rock choices.
Expect current. A clean Jupiter day can still demand live-boat pickup, tight float control and a crew that understands drift diving.
Water visibility is best when Atlantic swell backs down and wind is light enough to keep the ledge from turning milky; NOAA station 41068 is the offshore check.
Florida law applies hard: saltwater license, reef fish designation when required, no powerheads or rebreathers, and no spearing the protected FWC species list.

Best spearfishing spots in Jupiter

These dives are boat-based unless conditions are exceptionally gentle nearshore. The important distinction is movement: a Jupiter plan should assume drift, current and quick pickup rather than a static anchor-and-drop routine.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Jupiter Ledge	Natural drift ledge	About 18 to 27 m	Advanced drift crew	Boat with surface pickup	The signature spot for mutton snapper and hogfish. Current can make a short drop travel farther than expected.
M/V Zion Train	Freighter wreck	Deep wreck profile	Advanced boat dive	Boat only	Tall relief around the wreck attracts fish and divers. Confirm current and legal species before the first drop.
Andrew Harris Reef Trail 1a	Nearshore rock reef	Shallow compared with the main ledges	Intermediate in calm water	Boat, with conservative weather screening	The softer option when the deeper ledge is too much. East swell can still shut it down.

When does Jupiter visibility turn on?

The best Jupiter window usually comes after the Atlantic swell settles and the wind is light enough that the surface is not shearing against the current. The coast faces the open ocean, so swell from the northeast through southeast can load the ledge with surge and haze. NOAA station 41068, Fort Pierce, is north of Jupiter but useful for regional sea state. Pair it with a local inlet or lighthouse camera because a good buoy number does not tell you how the current is behaving over the reef.

What fish are realistic on Jupiter ledges?

Mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, hogfish, sheepshead, cobia under current rules, and flounder all belong in the Florida-legal conversation. Grouper demand extra caution: gag and red grouper are season-controlled and must be checked on the day of the trip. Do not spear snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, pompano, goliath or Nassau grouper, billfish, sharks, rays or ornamental reef fishes. Lobster and stone crab are not spear quarry.

Which Florida rules matter in Jupiter?

Carry a Florida saltwater license unless exempt, and add the free State Reef Fish Angler designation if reef fish rules require it. Florida also blocks recreational powerheads and rebreathers for spearfishing. The 100-yard restriction around public swimming beaches, public or commercial fishing piers and bridges where fishing is allowed still matters when planning nearshore alternatives. Jupiter is not inside the Monroe County spearfishing ban, but federal or state protected areas should be treated as closed unless you have confirmed the boundary.