Kangaroo Island spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

spearo.app / Australia / Kangaroo Island
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◈Kangaroo Island · Australia
2.6
wave 2.1 m head-on
visibility~2m

Nottoday

Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding.

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 06:55

Sources & confidence

Sources
Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
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.

Entry pointsNo-take zones

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.

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More spots

Spots in Australia

🇦🇺Australia

Australia map →

Nearby towns

  • Cape Jervis
  • Vivonne Bay
  • Yorke Peninsula (Edithburgh)
  • Foul Bay
  • Normanville

SA Gulfs & Fleurieu

  • Wool Bay
  • Marion Bay
  • Victor Harbor (Fleurieu)
  • Corny Point
  • Adelaide (Glenelg)
  • Port Rickaby
  • Port Julia
  • Pine Point
  • Port Victoria
  • Middle Beach
  • Ardrossan
  • Thompson Beach
  • Parham
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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Kangaroo Island · a planner, not a safety guaranteePrivacy
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0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app
updated 06:55
South coast (Vivonne Bay to Antechamber Bay) — solo, off the rocks
DON'T GO
don't go · wave 2.1 m (occasionally up to ~4.3 m)
wave 2.1 m head-onwind 20, gusts 34 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~2 m
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 2 m · Water 16.5°C
confidence low · verdict for the selected day
Best window · next 3 days

Next 3 days — not divable: wave up to 2.3 m

↑ high tide 11:43 · slack water ~10:58–12:28 bite times: 11:00–13:00 · 18:21–19:21

Tell me when it's on

Just your email — nothing else needed.

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.

Sunday · today2026-10-25
06:24–19:43 · full moon
▲ 00:00▼ 06:00▲ 12:00▼ 18:00 · 0.6 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.51 m
Wave2.10 m
Wind10 km/h
Water16 °C
fish activity: moon overhead 00:00 · high · moonset 05:24 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:00 · high · moonrise 18:51 · moderate
Conditions window15:00–18:00
don't go fish
Hs 2.20 m · roughperiod 9.2 s head-onwind 24→43surge 36.6viz 2 m
2.20 mrough · up to ~4.40 · 234° head-on
9.2 sswell moderate
24→43gusts 43 km/h
36.6pounding the rocks
0.17m/s
2 mrecent swell
16.5°C5 mm + hood
▼18:00tide turn near
Atmosphere55 kmlandmarks visible
lowoff the lunar peaks
  • wave 2.2 m (occasionally up to ~4.4 m)
  • steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
  • ebb — weaker inshore
confidence lowday
Open the seafloor map with entry points →

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

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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.

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 →
Emu BayNorth coast (Emu Bay)
borderline
⛔ Closed under Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017 (SA), reg 14 + Schedule 10 Part 2 item 5 — boundaries as described in the act, not drawn on the map
Legal notice: No hand spear or spear gun may be carried within 100 m of any jetty, landing or wharf in South Australia; this mark is 40 m from Emu Bay Jetty. · Scope: waters and adjacent foreshore within 100 m of any part of Emu Bay Jetty · Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017 (SA), reg 14 + Schedule 10 Part 2 item 5 (as of 2026-09-26)
swell on the quarter today
window
—
Seabed depth of the selected area
no data (coarse grid)

Sheltered sandy bay with reef points; 2–6 m, snapper, whiting, squid. Easiest KI entry — but extreme white-shark region, dive with care. Closed to spearfishing (see the legal notice).

Google Maps

One morning glance — and you know.

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≈

Surfacing

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

Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

Rules as of now — 25.10.2026 15:08 (Australia/Adelaide)

In season now
  • King George whiting
    Sillaginodes punctatus · 2–20 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 32 cm · bag 5 a day · closed 1 Mar – 30 Jun · The GSV and Kangaroo Island limits were cut on 1 May 2026.
  • snook
    Sphyraena novaehollandiae · 1–15 m · legal
    min 45 cm · bag 10 a day
  • southern sand flathead
    Platycephalus bassensis · 1–20 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 30 cm · bag 5 a day
  • yellowtail kingfish
    Seriola lalandi · 3–35 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 60 cm · bag 1 a day · Boat limit 3 in both gulf zones.
  • samsonfish
    Seriola hippos · 5–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 88 cm · bag 1 a day
  • silver trevally
    Pseudocaranx georgianus · 3–30 m · legal
    min 24 cm · bag 10 a day
Balgowan
  • Whalers Bay
  • Price
  • Clinton
  • Port Wakefield
  • Moonta
  • Port Lincoln (Eyre Peninsula)
  • Wallaroo
  • Tumby Bay
  • Port Neill
  • Tickera
  • Arno Bay
  • Port Gibbon
  • Lucky Bay
  • Cowell
  • Coffin Bay
  • Port Broughton
  • Fisherman Bay
  • Port Pirie
  • Weeroona Island
  • Whyalla
  • Miranda
  • Blanche Harbor
  • Elliston

    • SA Limestone Coast (Bonney)

    • Robe / Beachport
    • Southend
    • Pelican Point

    All 461 spots → · Region: SA Gulfs & Fleurieu · spearo.app — All countries

    transparency ~10 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore

    North Kangaroo Island buoy: wave 1.9 m · 2 h ago

    Stokes BayNorth coast (Stokes Bay)
    borderline
    swell on the quarter today
    window
    —
    Seabed depth of the selected area
    no data (coarse grid)

    Reef behind the natural rock pool on the N coast; 2–8 m, snapper, crayfish. Clear water, sheltered — extreme shark-risk offshore.

    Google Maps
    🔒 Antechamber BaySouth coast (Vivonne Bay to Antechamber Bay)
    dangerous
    Ultra · subscribers
    exposed head-on to the swell today
    window
    —
    Seabed depth of the selected area
    no data (coarse grid)

    The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

    Open in the app →
    🔒 D'Estrees BaySouth coast (Vivonne Bay to Antechamber Bay)
    dangerous
    Pro · subscribers
    exposed head-on to the swell today
    window
    —
    Seabed depth of the selected area
    no data (coarse grid)

    The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

    Open in the app →
    🔒 Pennington BaySouth coast (Vivonne Bay to Antechamber Bay)
    dangerous
    Pro · subscribers
    exposed head-on to the swell today
    window
    —
    Seabed depth of the selected area
    no data (coarse grid)

    The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

    Open in the app →
    Vivonne BaySouth coast (Vivonne Bay to Antechamber Bay)
    dangerous
    exposed head-on to the swell today
    window
    —
    Seabed depth of the selected area
    no data (coarse grid)

    Reef and jetty on the S coast; 3–8 m, snapper, King George whiting, crayfish. Exposed ocean coast — extreme shark-risk, experienced only.

    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.

    sea sweep
    Scorpis aequipinnis · 1–20 m · legal
    min 24 cm · bag 10 a day
  • blue morwong (queen snapper)
    Nemadactylus valenciennesi · 8–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 38 cm · bag 3 a day
  • harlequin fish
    Othos dentex · 5–35 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    no minimum size · bag 1 a day
  • Australian herring (tommy ruff)
    Arripis georgianus · 0–12 m · legal
    no minimum size · bag 40 a day
  • bight redfish
    Centroberyx gerrardi · 15–50 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    min 30 cm · bag 5 a day
  • giant Australian cuttlefish
    Sepia apama · 1–12 m · legal
    no minimum size · bag 8 a day · The Point Lowly aggregation near Whyalla is look-only: Upper Spencer Gulf north of the Arno Bay–Wallaroo line and the False Bay exclusion zone are closed to all cuttlefish at all times.
  • silver drummer
    Kyphosus sydneyanus · 0–8 m · legal
    min size: no data
    • off season: snapper () · western blue groper () · southern calamari ()
    Law
    • •Spearfishing in Australia is governed by STATE law, not federal: the licence, the gear, the closed areas, the sizes and the all differ between NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, WA and TAS. Below is your state's pack; cross into the next state and the rules change at the border.
    • ✓Federally listed threatened, migratory and marine species — white and whale sharks, sawfish, marine turtles and marine mammals among them — are protected in Commonwealth waters: killing, injuring or taking one there is an offence (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999). In a state's own waters the same animals are protected by that state's list (see the protected-species panel). Never shoot, disturb or take them.
    • ✓Marine park zoning applies ON TOP of the state's fishing rules: / Sanctuary / Preservation zones are full no-take, and on the Great Barrier Reef the marine park zoning sits on top of the Queensland rules. Check the boundaries on the managing agency's zone map before you enter the water (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003; NSW Marine Estate Management (Management Rules) Regulation).
    • ✓Rock lobster may not be speared in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania or Western Australia — it is taken by hand (WA also allows a hand snare or blunt crook). The Queensland and Northern Territory pages read on 26 Sep 2026 publish no such rule, so there it is not stated either way. Abalone may not be speared in Victoria or Tasmania. Spearfishing in inland fresh waters is banned in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Sources: NSW Fisheries Management (General) Regulation; Fisheries Regulations 2019 (Vic); Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017 (SA); the state fisheries guides.
    • •SA: there is no in South Australia, hand fish spears and spearguns need no registration, and they may be used in most South Australian waters (PIRSA).
    • ✓SA gear: carrying or using ANY fish spear, speargun included, while on scuba or hookah is prohibited. Taking or attempting to take rock lobster with a speargun or any pointed instrument is an offence. A may be carried for protection only: it must not be used for fishing or attached to a spear (PIRSA; Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017, reg. 15).
    • ✓SA places: a hand fish spear or spear gun may not even be carried in the River Murray and the state's other fresh water streams (or on land within 100 m of them), in West Lakes, within 100 m of any jetty, landing or wharf, within 200 m of the Hindmarsh and Inman river outlets, in Boat Harbor at Second Valley, and along the Adelaide coast within 600 m of high water from Outer Harbor to Kingston Park and from Hallett Cove (Balboa Drive) to Witton Bluff (Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017, reg. 14 and Schedule 10).
    • ✓SA sizes and bags are set BY ZONE, and Spencer Gulf is more generous than Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island: King George whiting 32 cm (10 / 5), snook 45 cm (20 / 10), silver trevally 24 cm (20 / 10), blue morwong 38 cm (5 / 3), kingfish 60 cm (1). Snapper is shut until 30 June 2027 everywhere but the South East zone; western blue groper is closed at all times in the gulfs (PIRSA; Fisheries Management Act 2007).
    • •SA weather: the BOM marine wind warning summary for the state — bom.gov.au/marine/lite/warning/IDS20201.shtml. Rules change: check PIRSA before every trip.
    • ⛔ 🚫 South Australia: snapper is shut in the West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent / Kangaroo Island zones until 30 June 2027 (open in the South East zone only). Western blue groper is closed at all times in Spencer Gulf, Gulf St Vincent, Investigator Strait and Backstairs Passage. Southern calamari carries a bag of 0 in both gulf tables, and Murray cod is catch-and-release only.
    • ⛔ 🚫 South Australia: the take of any abalone is prohibited from the River Murray mouth to the Victorian border (abalone viral ganglioneuritis and depleted stocks) — that is the whole South East coast, Robe included.
    • ⛔ 🚫 Fully protected in South Australia: basking shark, green sawfish, greeneye spurdog, grey nurse shark, oceanic whitetip, Dipturus and Dentiraja skates, southern dogfish, all Urolophus stingarees, seahorses and seadragons, plus whales, dolphins and seals.
    • ⛔ 🚫 Spears are banned in ALL South Australian aquatic reserves, in the River Murray and the state's other fresh waters, in the West Lakes system, in Second Valley Bay and in the Port Noarlunga ; along the Adelaide metropolitan coast — 600 m from the high-water mark, 100 m from jetties and 200 m from the Hindmarsh and Inman river mouths (PIRSA).

    Rules change and vary BY STATE. Before heading out, check with your state's fisheries (NSW DPI, Fisheries QLD, VFA, DPIRD WA, PIRSA, NRE Tas, NT Fisheries) and the marine-park zoning map.

    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.

    FAQ — spearfishing in Kangaroo Island

    Where can I spearfish in Kangaroo Island?

    Kangaroo Island has rock entry points such as Emu Bay, Stokes Bay and Vivonne Bay. Australia's third-largest island, and the most serious water on this coast: Emu Bay is the easiest entry, a sheltered sandy bay with reef points in 2–6 m for snapper, whiting and squid, and Stokes Bay hides clear reef behind its rock pool. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

    When is the best season in Kangaroo Island?

    Summer–autumn — warm, clear gulfs; mind the dodge tides and sharks.

    How cold is the water in Kangaroo Island?

    16–22 °C — 5 mm suit; warm gulfs but more sharks.

    Is Kangaroo Island good for a beginner?

    Moderate: warm, clear water, but dodge tides and sharks.

    Do I need a licence in Kangaroo Island?

    Kangaroo Island is in SA. No licence in South Australia — but the Adelaide-metro spearfishing closures apply (Port Noarlunga) and you may not spear within 200 m of certain river mouths. Spearfishing on scuba is banned everywhere, rock lobster may never be speared, and marine-park sanctuary/green zones are no-take. See the guide for the state-by-state detail.

    Full guide: spearfishing in Australia →
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