Today — right on the edge.
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
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 mapCay & patch reef, 2–8 m — legal (outside reserves). Lionfish, lobster (by hand only), snapper.
Google MapsPatch reef 3–12 m by Cayo Enrique — legal, beginner; snapper, grunt, lionfish. Estimated. Tides here rise and fall only a little. Coordinates of the entry: 17.954 N, 67.046 W.
Google MapsPatch reef 4–18 m — legal, intermediate; snapper, grouper, hogfish. Estimated. The tidal range is small. Coordinates of the entry: 17.937 N, 67.018 W.
Google MapsPatch reef, 4–15 m — legal (outside reserves). Lionfish, hogfish, snapper. Open-water site: swell arrives unbroken from the ocean, so dive it only when the sea is flat. Marker position: 17.945° N, 67.028° W. Survey soundings near the mark run from 18 m to 20 m.
Google MapsWall/pinnacle 20–40 m — legal (outside reserve), advanced. Approximate. Open-water site: swell arrives unbroken from the ocean, so dive it only when the sea is flat. The tidal range is small. Survey soundings near the mark run from 24 m to 28 m.
Google MapsShelf-edge wall, 18–45 m+ — legal (outside reserve), snapper, grouper, pelagics. Approximate (bathymetric edge).
Google MapsPatch reef, 3–12 m — legal (outside reserves). Yellowtail snapper, lionfish, grunt, yellowtail (jurel).
Google MapsPatch reef 3–14 m — legal; snapper, reef fish. Approximate. This spot is exposed to open-ocean swell, so the sea here is rougher than right off the town; pick a calm day. Tides here rise and fall only a little. Coordinates of the entry: 17.925 N, 67.055 W.
Google MapsShelf-edge wall, 15–30 m — legal (outside reserves). Cubera snapper, hogfish, grouper, snapper.
Google MapsRocky pinnacle, 20–40+ m — legal (outside reserves). Cubera snapper, grouper, pelagics. Open-water site: swell arrives unbroken from the ocean, so dive it only when the sea is flat. Tides here rise and fall only a little.
Google MapsSOLO 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.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with the DRNA (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales) and the federal NOAA rules (50 CFR 622).
Spearfishing in La Parguera is legal only after the rule check, not from the water's edge. The town sits behind cays and mangrove channels, so it is usually calmer than exposed north and east Puerto Rico, but the useful hunting is either outside reserve closures on shallow patch reef or by boat on the shelf edge. Treat La Pared and Fallen Rock as advanced wall dives with approximate coordinates. Enrique, Laurel, Atravesada and Caracoles are the more forgiving reef names, still with boundary checks. Bring a DRNA licence, hunt on breath-hold, keep the spear more than 30 m from shore, and leave Nassau grouper, goliath grouper, parrotfish and carrucho alone.
The La Parguera list splits into two very different styles. Inside the cays, patch reefs give short drops, sand holes and reef edges. Offshore, the shelf walls are deeper, less forgiving and mostly boat-only. The coordinates are not all field-verified, so use the names as planning marks, then verify reserve boundaries and current position before loading a gun.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Pared - Black Wall / Efra's | Shelf-edge wall | 18-45 m+ | Advanced | Boat from La Parguera; approximate bathymetric-edge mark | The headline wall for La Parguera. It sits outside the reserve and holds snapper, grouper and pelagic traffic, but the depth alone makes it an experienced-team dive. Check species ID hard before taking any grouper. |
| Fallen Rock / La Piedra del Dominicano | Wall and pinnacle | 20-40 m | Advanced | Boat; approximate coordinates | A deeper wall-pinnacle option, useful when the team wants structure rather than a shallow cay. It is not a beginner shortcut. No published safety ratings exist for these marks, so the plan has to come from live sea state, boat support and diver limits. |
| Enrique Reef | Patch reef by Cayo Enrique | 3-12 m | Beginner to intermediate | Boat to Cayo Enrique area; boundary check required | The easier side of La Parguera: shallow patch reef with snapper, grunt and lionfish. It is still not shore spearing. Keep the 30 m shoreline rule in mind and stay clear of closed reserve water. |
| Turrumote Reef | Patch reef | 4-18 m | Intermediate | Boat; estimated mark | A mid-depth reef name for divers who want more water than the cays but less commitment than the wall. Plan around snapper, grouper and hogfish. Any grouper shot needs careful legal identification because Nassau and goliath are not takeable. |
| San Cristobal Reef | Shelf-edge wall | 15-30 m | Intermediate to advanced | Boat; outside reserve | A wall on the western side of La Parguera, listed for cubera snapper, hogfish, grouper and snapper. It is a current-and-depth dive, not a casual cayo swim. Take a conservative float line and confirm the boat can stay with the drift. |
| Cayo Caracoles | Cay and patch reef | 2-8 m | Accessible, with reserve caution | Boat to the cayo area; do not hunt from the shoreline | Shallow and familiar, but that is exactly why the legal line matters. Lionfish and snapper fit the plan; lobster does not, because it is hand or trap only. Treat Caracoles as a boundary-check spot before any hunting plan. |
A DRNA recreational fishing licence is required for Puerto Rico spearfishing, including tourists, and it is handled through the DRNA Oficina de Permisos. The age threshold is 13. Spearfishing is breath-hold only; scuba is banned. The spear is fired more than 30 m, or 100 ft, from the coast, so this is not a shoreline-rocks session. Night spearfishing is closed except for lionfish. Bathing zones and marine reserves are off limits, and the bioluminescent bay is closed. Rules change, so check DRNA and NOAA before the boat leaves.
La Pared is the reason experienced divers ask about La Parguera first. It is a shelf-edge wall, roughly 18 m down at the top and much deeper off the edge, with snapper, grouper and pelagic fish on the structure. Fallen Rock and the Buoy/Pinnacles sit in the same mental category: boat-only, approximate marks, and no room for a loose buddy system. These are not safer because the south coast is calmer. They are calmer-water access to deep structure.
La Parguera is sheltered, with a Caribbean micro-tide and no upwelling coast. That helps explain why the south shore is the most reliable side of Puerto Rico. The weak point is southern swell: the bad sector is 130 to 230 degrees, with due south the worst direction. No dedicated water camera or buoy is listed for the city, so make the call from live marine forecasts, boat reports and what you see at the cays.
There is no single boundary line to memorize here. Parts of La Parguera Nature Reserve and the bioluminescent bay are closed, while several named reefs are legal only outside reserves. That means the practical rule is simple: load the gun after you have confirmed you are outside the closed water. The mangrove maze makes small navigation mistakes easy, especially when a boat drifts between cayos.
For normal reef hunting, think yellowtail snapper, hogfish, jurel, sierra and lionfish when the place and season line up with the current rules. Lionfish is the year-round invasive exception and the only night target. Nassau grouper and goliath grouper are closed year-round. Parrotfish and queen conch are protected. Lobster appears around several reefs, but it may not be speared.
Yes, outside closed reserve water and away from the shoreline. You need the DRNA recreational fishing licence, including visitors, and the dive must be on breath-hold rather than scuba.
For advanced divers, La Pared, Fallen Rock and San Cristobal are the wall names. For shallower reef work, start your planning around Enrique, Turrumote, Laurel, Atravesada and Caracoles.
Closed parts of the reserve and the bioluminescent bay are no-hunt areas. Several spots are only described as legal outside reserves, so verify the boundary before diving.
There is no fixed visibility rating for these marks. The city is sheltered, but southern swell hurts it. Check the live forecast, boat reports and the water at the cays.
Yes. The DRNA recreational fishing licence requirement includes tourists. Apply through the DRNA Oficina de Permisos and confirm current conditions directly there.
Yes. Nassau grouper and goliath grouper are closed year-round. Parrotfish and queen conch are protected, and lobster is not taken with a spear.
No. The local rule is freedive-only. Night spearfishing is also closed except for lionfish.
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