Katsuura spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

spearo.app / Japan / Katsuura
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◈Katsuura · Japan
2.5
💧 Water should clear by Friday (~3d)
visibility~1m

Nottoday

Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 💧 Water should clear by Friday (~3d)

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 00:08

Sources & confidence

Sources
Open-Meteo · Copernicus
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.

Coming soon

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More spots

Spots in Japan

🇯🇵Japan

Japan map →

Nearby towns

  • Tateyama
  • Hayama
  • Manazuru
  • Ito
  • Atami

Izu Peninsula

  • Numazu (Osezaki)
  • Shimoda
  • Nishiizu

Shikoku, Kii & Ise-Shima

  • Shima (Ago Bay)
  • Kushimoto
  • Shirahama
  • Kaiyo (Shishikui)
  • Kashiwajima

Sea of Japan — Sado & Noto

  • Sado (Ryotsu)
  • Wajima (Noto)

Hokkaido

  • Hakodate
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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Katsuura · 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 00:08
Katsuura — solo, off the rocks
DON'T GO
don't go · wave 2.5 m (occasionally up to ~5.0 m)
wave 2.5 mwind 16, gusts 32 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 25.2°C
confidence high · verdict for the selected day
Best window · next 3 days

Next 3 days — not divable: wave up to 2.5 m

💧 Water should clear by Friday (~3d)

↑ high tide 05:30 · slack water ~04:45–06:15 bite times: 07:39–08:39 · 12:10–14:10

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.

Tuesday · today2026-10-13
05:42–17:07 · waxing crescent
▲ 06:00▼ 11:00▲ 17:00▼ 23:00mid-range tides · 1.3 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.44 m
Wave1.90 m
Wind2 km/h
Water25 °C
fish activity: moon underfoot 00:50 · high · moonrise 08:09 · moderate · moon overhead 13:10 · high · moonset 18:13 · moderate
Conditions window06:00–09:00
don't go fish
Hs 2.48 m · roughperiod 9.7 swind 16→32surge 47viz 1 m
2.48 mrough · up to ~4.96 · 125° at an angle
9.7 sswell moderate
16→32gusts 32 km/h
47pounding the rocks
0.25m/s
1 mrecent swell
25.2°C5 mm + hood
▼11:00tide turn near
Atmosphere27 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
  • wave 2.5 m (occasionally up to ~5.0 m)
  • steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
  • ebb — weaker inshore
confidence hightwilight
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 →
Katsuura marine park (Yoshio)Katsuura
dangerous
⛔ Banned here
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Shore dive beside the Katsuura underwater observation tower: an enclosed former lobster pen (1.5–2.5 m) and shallows (1–3.5 m) lead to east and west rock reefs at 3.5–14 m and a sandy bowl at 8–14 m. The outer reef (5–12 m) gets current and poorer visibility at times. Marine-park area, entry via the local dive services. Marine park zone — take nothing.

Google Maps
OkitsuKatsuura
dangerous
⚠ Restrictions apply
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Reef, rocky reef, 2–12 m, from shore. Spearing not permitted in Chiba — check local rules. Coords approx.

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.

In season now
  • no targets this month
Law

    Japan: spearguns and scuba/hookah are banned for all recreational fishers nationwide (Fisheries Agency prefectural gear table); a hand spear (yasu) is allowed only in some prefectures (e.g. Okinawa, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kochi, Mie); abalone, lobster, octopus and sea urchin in fishery-right areas belong to the local co-op, and marine park zones are closed. Check current rules locally.

    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 Katsuura

    Otaru

    Kyushu & Goto

    • Nichinan
    • Itoshima
    • Goto (Fukue)

    Amami & Yakushima

    • Yakushima
    • Amami

    Okinawa Island & Kerama

    • Motobu
    • Onna
    • Naha
    • Zamami

    Miyako & Yaeyama (Sakishima)

    • Miyakojima
    • Ishigaki
    • Yonaguni

    spearo.app — All countries

    Google Maps
    UbaraKatsuura
    dangerous
    ⚠ Restrictions apply
    exposed head-on to the swell today
    window
    —

    Ubara Island east side, 3 minutes by boat from the harbour: reef top at 5 m, walls, ledges and boulders to about 18 m and wide sand around 25 m. Suitable for all levels. Spearing not permitted in Chiba — check local rules.

    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.

    Where can I spearfish in Katsuura?

    Katsuura has rock entry points such as Katsuura marine park (Yoshio), Okitsu and Ubara. Boso's Pacific coast — fishing port, the Katsuura marine park with its underwater observation tower at Yoshio, rocky reefs at Okitsu and Ubara. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

    When is the best season in Katsuura?

    June–November; the Kuroshio keeps the water warm into late autumn, winter brings the north-west monsoon, and typhoons come August–October.

    How cold is the water in Katsuura?

    14–17 °C in February–March, 26–28 °C in August — 5–7 mm in winter, 3 mm in summer.

    Is Katsuura good for a beginner?

    Rocky capes and reefs, Pacific swell and currents off the points. Spearguns and scuba are banned nationwide — only a hand spear (yasu), where the prefecture allows it; shellfish, lobster, octopus and urchin in fishery-right areas belong to the co-op.

    Do I need a licence in Katsuura?

    Katsuura: Japan: spearguns and scuba/hookah are banned for all recreational fishers nationwide (Fisheries Agency prefectural gear table); a hand spear (yasu) is allowed only in some prefectures (e.g. Okinawa, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kochi, Mie); abalone, lobster, octopus and sea urchin in fishery-right areas belong to the local co-op, and marine park zones are closed. Check current rules locally.

    Data partners
    dive centres that send us real visibility readings
    Águas VivasMilfontes · Sagres