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.
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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0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
no dataupdated 20:57
L'Ametlla de Mar — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
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−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.
The tide here is twenty centimetres and does not enter the calculation. What matters is different: the Ebro delta twenty kilometres to the south. With steady southeasterly wind the muddy river plume drags northeast along the coast and reaches Cala Forn last: it is nearly always clearer here than at the southern headlands.
shelter
The cove faces southeast and to the north it is covered by the point running towards Sant Jordi d'Alfama. Mestral from the northwest is the working wind here: it comes off the land through the pines and leaves the cove like a mirror. Llevant from the east, around a hundred degrees, walks straight in and breaks on the pebble entry.
conditions
The working sector runs from 270 to 40 degrees. Anything falling between 60 and 165 shuts the cove, and the worst is a hundred degrees. On a clean day you see 10–18 metres along the rock steps; after a blow, two or three, and the murk hangs longer than usual because of the sand bottom deep in the cove.
There are no special zones here: the nearest closure, Masía Blanca, is 80 kilometres to the northeast. So the general Catalan rules apply: 10 kilos of fish, 5 of cephalopods and 150 urchins a day, sargo from 25 centimetres, dorada from 30. Load the gun underwater only and a buoy is compulsory.
access
From the N-340 take the turn towards Sant Jordi d'Alfama, then a dirt track and a car park about two hundred metres from the water. You get in over coarse pebbles, boots needed. Posidonia and rock steps start fifty to eighty metres off the shore; along the northern side you can follow the rock right out to the point, about ten minutes.
Rocky cove south of L'Ametlla; rock drop-offs and Posidonia, sea bream and gilthead, exposed to the easterly.
Sea level moves twenty centimetres, nothing to calculate. The real problem comes with the autumn gota fría downpours: the water in the cove turns greenish-brown and stays that way for two or three days, because the sand inside does not flush out fast. The along-shore current is weak and runs southwest.
shelter
A small cove some sixty metres long, fine sand inside and rock shoulders at the sides, facing east and southeast. The northern shoulder holds off Mestral and Tramuntana, and under it there is always a strip of calm water. With Llevant the wave comes in across the full width and shuts the cove completely.
conditions
Come with northwest and north wind, best of all with Mestral. The sand bottom inside the cove clouds up first, while along the edges by the rock shoulders the water stays clear longer, so work those. On a normal day you see 10–15 metres; in murk over sand, a metre or a metre and a half.
The place is tight: the rock shoulders are narrow and with cross swell you get pushed onto the stone, so come out with margin. Urchins cover the slab, boots and gloves required. Legally it is clean, no special zones, but the 250-metre bathing-zone rule applies to this small cove too in summer. Scuba is banned for spearfishing.
access
You park by the road above and walk the coastal camí de ronda for about ten minutes; the same path links Cala del Vidre to the neighbouring coves towards L'Ampolla. You walk straight in off the sand, soft and easy. The rock shoulders at the sides are thirty to forty metres out, depths 3 to 10 metres.
Rocky coves toward L'Ampolla; mixed bottom, moderately exposed to the E.
Level is not calculated here. At the harbour mouth there is a constant pull from vessels manoeuvring, and that is the only thing that feels like current. After rain the town storm drains push a muddy tongue along the breakwater; it holds for half a day and drifts southwest with the along-shore flow.
shelter
The rocks by the breakwater of L'Ametlla harbour are the most sheltered spot on this coast. The mole kills Llevant from the east and the town point covers Mestral, so there is nearly always a calm corner. The one thing that really spoils the water is Migjorn from the south: swell comes in through the mouth and bounces off the concrete.
conditions
This is the option for days when Cap Roig and the northern coves are shut by swell. Do not expect structure: boulders and sand at three to eight metres, and a rock ridge along the breakwater. Visibility is usually 5 to 10 metres and right by the harbour it is spoiled by propellers and outfalls. On a good winter morning it can reach twelve.
The main rule here: no spearfishing at all in the approach channel or in harbour waters, stay outside the line. Fishing boats run thick and close. Add the 250 metres from bathing zones, since the town beach is right next door. And mind the name: Cala Calafató gets confused with the Calafat resort seven kilometres north; they are different places.
access
Ten minutes on foot from the middle of town, and harbour parking is free and nearly always has space. You get in off a concrete slab and rocks, a gentle descent that is easy even with full kit. It is about seventy metres out to the ridge along the breakwater. A good point for a first outing on this coast.
Rocky ground by the harbour; easy entry, semi-sheltered, good for beginners.
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.
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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».
Sin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011). Cataluña: 50 cm, máx. 2 ejemplares/día — Resolució ARP/3310/2025.
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · Mediterranean · 1 kg
Talla por PESO: mín. 1 kg (RD 560/1995, todos los anexos). No coger hembras con huevos. Cataluña: veda del pulpo de roca aprox. jul–sep, por zonas — Resolució ARP/3310/2025.
Law
✓Spearfishing licence mandatory; the AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY issues it (not the State) and it is valid in the exterior waters of the whole coast. Free-diving only — scuba is banned (, art. 3).
✓Spearfishing catch may not be sold or traded — it is non-commercial fishing ().
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset to sunrise not allowed) — , art. 16.d.
✓Marker buoy MANDATORY: mark your position with a clearly visible buoy and stay within 25 m of it — , art. 15.
✓Never keep the speargun loaded out of the water — , art. 16.a.
✓Keep at least 300 m from professional fishing vessels that are working — , art. 12.b.
✓The state act (, art. 16) bans, for spearfishing: a loaded gun out of the water; explosive/electric points and lamps (hand torches excepted); underwater scooters; night — from sunset to sunrise. Plus art. 12 b), d), e): 300 m from professional fishing vessels, light as an attractant, poisons/explosives. A ban in a PARTICULAR reserve, port or beach comes from that place's OWN instrument (the reserve's order, the autonomous community's rules, the port authority) — see the no-take zones on the map and your community's rules.
✓Min. sizes by ( + + EU 2019/1241): sea bass 42 cm (rec.) / 36 cm / 25 cm Mediterranean / 22 cm Canaries; gilthead bream 20 cm and white seabream 23 cm in the Mediterranean (EU 2019/1241); grouper 45 cm. See your zone's species card.
✓Only species in Annex I of may be taken; keeping, landing or transporting undersized specimens is prohibited.
✓The licence needs a medical fitness certificate for free-diving and civil-liability insurance (or a federative licence, which includes it). Mandatory in the Basque Country/Murcia/Asturias/Galicia; the federative licence covers it in Galicia/Balearics/Cantabria; the Canaries and Andalusia do NOT require it for the individual licence (a responsible health declaration). Minimum age generally 16 (14 in Andalusia).
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 · L'Ametlla de Mar
Spearfishing in L'Ametlla de Mar: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
L'Ametlla de Mar is a rocky-cove shore-entry area. Cala Forn, Cala del Vidre and Cap Roig all depend on how much easterly sea is running; the harbour rock at Cala Calafató is the easier, semi-sheltered start. Legally it is Catalonia and the Mediterranean caladero: use the Catalan underwater recreational licence, freedive only, carry a buoy, and keep away from protected or uncertain artificial-reef zones.
TL;DR
Best easy entry: Roquedo del port at Cala Calafató in small sea.
Main weather problem: Llevant and E-SE swell, especially around Cala Forn and Cap Roig.
Best legal spearfishing spots near L'Ametlla de Mar
These shore-entry zones should only be used with settled sea, a visible buoy and confirmed local limits.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Roquedo del port (Cala Calafató)
Rocky ground by the harbour
Shore rock in shallow water
Careful beginner
Easy shore entry
Semi-sheltered rocky entry, good for beginners. Small sea. Stay out of port waters.
Cala del Vidre
Rocky coves toward L'Ampolla
Mixed shallow bottom
Intermediate
From the cove, away from bathing areas
Rocky coves and mixed bottom. Moderate east exposure. Catalan licence required.
Cala Forn
Rocky cove south of L'Ametlla
Rock ledges and drop-offs
Intermediate
From the cove, away from bathing areas
Rock, Posidonia, sargo and gilthead. Poor in Llevant. Mediterranean sizes apply.
Cap Roig
Rocky ground at Cap Roig
Deep rocky ledges
Intermediate
Shore entry with a clear exit route
Deeper rocky ledges. Exposed to E-SE swell. Check protected-zone limits.
Conditions and season essentials
The local coast faces east. The bad sector runs from 60 to 165 degrees, with the worst direction around 100 degrees, so easterly Llevant can quickly ruin visibility and entry comfort. Use the L'Ametlla harbour webcams because no NDBC buoy is listed for the city. Cala Forn has rock, Posidonia, sargo and gilthead but is exposed. Cala del Vidre is mixed rocky ground with moderate east exposure. Cap Roig has deeper ledges and should wait for a clean forecast. The Golf de Sant Jordi artificial reef is marked as a protective reef with likely restrictions, so do not use it as a spearfishing spot.
✓There is no fixed national catch cap (, art. 5 delegates it to the communities); the standard is 5 kg/person/day, with 1 specimen allowed not to count (Canaries — Decreto 182/2004, art. 38.3; Murcia; Galicia; Basque Country). Protected species have per-piece quotas.
✓Only a harpoon is allowed — hand-held or mechanically propelled, with one or several points (, art. 14.1). Carrying spearfishing gear and underwater breathing equipment aboard AT THE SAME TIME is prohibited (art. 14.2) — an offence in itself, even if you dived on a breath hold.
✓Spain is not one jurisdiction. The licence is issued by a coastal autonomous community, and you must comply with the rules of the administration on whose littoral you are in the water: «debiendo cumplir la normativa establecida por la administración en cuyo litoral se realice la actividad» (, art. 13). Interior waters — inside the straight baselines: bays, coves, rías, the whole coastal strip — are the community's competence; exterior waters are the State's. So the age, the days of the week, the distances and the are found in your community's act, not in the state one.
✓Catalonia: the «Llicència de pesca recreativa subaquàtica» (recreational spearfishing) is issued by the Generalitat de Catalunya — applied for at tramits.gencat.cat.
✓Bans: Illes Medes, Ses Negres (Begur), parts of Cap de Creus — spearfishing banned (see zones).
✓Catalonia (Decret 109/1995): the daily cap per licence is 10 kg of fish, 5 kg of cephalopods and 150 sea urchins (art. 25.1); the excess weight of one big specimen does not count (art. 25.2), and for tuna and swordfish there are no kilos at all — the cap is 2 pieces a day (art. 25.3). Sunrise to sunset only (art. 15), on a breath hold, with a hand spear or a mechanically propelled gun that may be loaded ONLY under water (art. 16). Keep 100 m from set gear, marine farms, anglers' rods and professional vessels, and at least 250 m from bathing zones measured along the shore (art. 17); lamps, torches, powder- or gas-propelled guns and explosive points are banned (art. 18); a surface buoy is mandatory (art. 19). Only fish, cephalopods and sea urchins may be taken (art. 24.1), and the triton (Charonia lampa — así lo imprime el decreto), the fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) and the date mussel (Lithophaga lithophaga) may not be collected at all (art. 24.2).
Spain
