Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
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: 1152 spots across 189 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 mapRocky north-headland reef at Mathesons Bay, just south of the reserve boundary at Leigh; snapper and crayfish in East Auckland Current clear water, easy shore entry.
Google MapsRocky point at the Whangateau Harbour mouth west of Cape Rodney, outside the reserve; kingfish and snapper hold on the current, best dived on slack tide.
Google MapsCape Rodney–Okakari Point / Goat Island — New Zealand's first marine reserve (1975): 100% no-take, look but don't take (spear:no). Tame snapper, blue maomao and crayfish off Goat Island Beach; hunt the reserve edges instead.
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 and are regional. Before heading out, check with MPI (regional fishing rules / the NZ Fishing Rules app), DOC (marine reserves) and local notices (rāhui/mātaitai).
Spearfishing in Leigh is legality-first because Cape Rodney-Okakari Point / Goat Island Marine Reserve sits beside the town. The reserve was New Zealand’s first marine reserve and is 100 percent no-take. Hunting belongs outside it, mainly at Mathesons Bay just south of the boundary and Ti Point at Whangateau Harbour mouth. There is no recreational sea-fishing licence, but Auckland/Kermadec MPI limits, Hauraki Gulf closures and DOC reserve boundaries must be checked before entering.
This table includes one closed reference because Leigh divers need to orient around the reserve. Only Mathesons Bay and Ti Point are harvest entries here.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathesons Bay | Rocky north-headland reef | Shallow reef and kelp | Intermediate | Easy shore entry south of Leigh | Mathesons Bay sits just south of the reserve boundary and is named for snapper and crayfish in clear East Auckland Current water. Confirm the line first. |
| Ti Point | Current point at harbour mouth | Rocky point and channel edge | Intermediate | Shore entry west of Cape Rodney | Ti Point is outside the reserve at Whangateau Harbour mouth. Kingfish and snapper can hold on current, and slack tide is the preferred window. |
| Goat Island (Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve) | No-take reserve reference | Closed to harvest | Closed to spearfishing | Do not use as a hunting entry | Goat Island is the visible reserve marker. It has tame snapper, blue maomao and crayfish, but the rule is look only, no taking and no spearing. |
Stay outside Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve. Mathesons Bay is the southern edge option, and Ti Point is west of Cape Rodney at Whangateau Harbour mouth. The temptation at Leigh is to drift toward the famous clear water at Goat Island; do not. If you cannot place the boundary, spend the session elsewhere.
DOC reserve rules mean no fishing, no taking marine life and no removing natural material. Goat Island is also marked spear:no and 100 percent no-take. That applies even when fish are abundant and easy to approach. Reserve fish are part of the protected area, not a backup plan for a slow day.
Leigh is in the Auckland/Kermadec area. MPI lists a combined daily finfish limit of 20 per fisher, plus individual species limits such as a 30 cm snapper minimum and a 75 cm kingfish minimum. Crayfish and pāua are free-dive only for divers, and crayfish are not speared.
The two open entries both involve current. Ti Point is best treated as a slack-tide dive, while Mathesons Bay needs a calm sea and a clean exit on the headland. Carry a float, keep a chart or app handy for the reserve edge, and avoid being pushed from open water back toward a closed zone.
No sea-fishing licence is required, but MPI Auckland/Kermadec rules and DOC reserve boundaries apply.
No. Goat Island is inside Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve and is no-take.
Mathesons Bay and Ti Point are the named non-reserve entries.
MPI lists a combined daily limit of 20 finfish per fisher, with separate species limits inside it.
No. Crayfish and pāua are free-dive only for divers, and crayfish are not taken with spears.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Leigh, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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