Cala Sant Esteve / La MolaMaó
borderlineswell on the quarter today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky ground at the harbour mouth; semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana, easy entry.
Google MapsMaó spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
8.5
wave 0.3 m
visibility7m
Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 08:15
Sources & confidence
- Sources
- IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
- Method
- Model consensus, read per window
- Freshness
- Re-read every hour, per coast
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
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.
- 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.
- Wind & gusts
- Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
- Tide phase
- Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
- Water temperature
- Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
- Currents & outflow
- Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
- Rain runoff & air clarity
- Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
- 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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 08:15
Maó — solo, off the rocks
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.3 mwind 4 km/hvisibility ~9 mwindow 06:00–21:00
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 9 m · Water 29°C
confidence medium · verdict for the selected day
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.
Thursday · today2026-07-23
06:33–21:05 · first quarter
▲ 04:00▼ 11:00▲ 19:00 · 0.1 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.41 m
Wave0.22 m
Wind2 km/h
Water30 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:14 · moderate · moon underfoot 08:50 · high · moonrise 16:29 · moderate · moon overhead 21:10 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish
Hs 0.26 mperiod 4.1 swind 4→8surge 0.1viz 7 m
0.26 mup to ~0.52 · 27° at an angle
4.1 sswell moderate
4→8gusts 8 km/h
0.1weak surge
0.17m/s
7 mrecent swell
29°C5 mm + hood
▼11:00tide falling
Atmosphere22 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
- calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
- dawn/dusk
confidence mediumtwilight
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: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsThe 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
Es GrauMaó
borderlineswell on the quarter today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky ground to the north toward s'Albufera; exposed to the N; respect the Nature Park.
Google MapsPunta Prima / Illa de l'AireMaó
borderlineswell on the quarter today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky ground facing l'Aire islet; rich grounds, very exposed to the E-SE, current.
Google MapsS'Algar / Cala RafaletMaó
borderlineswell on the quarter today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky ground SE of Maó; rock drop-offs and Posidonia, sea bream and dentex, exposed to the easterly (E).
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.
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».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
Minimum sizes by caladero (in the table below). Season depends on the species and place.
In season now
- European seabass
- gilthead seabream
- white seabream
- two-banded seabream
- sharpsnout seabream
- salema / saupe⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
- bogue
- striped seabream
- grey mullet
- red porgy
- striped red mullet
- common dentexBaleares: dèntol 35 cm + marcado obligatorio (especie vulnerable) — Decret 34/2014.
- brown meagre / corbBaleares: corball 30 cm + marcado obligatorio (especie vulnerable) — Decret 34/2014.
- dusky grouperSin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011). Baleares: 45 cm en aguas interiores, 50 cm en reservas marinas; marcado obligatorio (corte en el lóbulo inferior de la aleta caudal, también en submarina) — Decret 34/2014, art. 12.
- red scorpionfishBaleares: cap-roig 30 cm + marcado obligatorio (Decret 34/2014; subida a 30 por Orden 17/2025).
- common octopusTalla por PESO: mín. 1 kg (RD 560/1995, todos los anexos). No coger hembras con huevos.
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.
- ✓Spearfishing banned in marine reserves/protected zones (without a special permit), in ports and at busy beaches/bathing areas. The exact distance to bathing zones is set by the autonomous community.
- ✓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).
- ✓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 art. 38.3; Murcia; Galicia; Basque Country). Protected species have per-piece quotas.
- ✓Balearic Islands: the spearfishing licence is issued by the Govern (CAIB). Key rule: spearfishing is BANNED in the marine reserves, EXCEPT in Badia de Palma, Migjorn de Mallorca and Llevant de Mallorca (there, with a licence).
- ✓Balearics: grouper/anfós — 45 cm in interior waters, 50 cm in marine reserves; mandatory marking (a cut in the lower caudal-fin lobe, spearfishing included) — Decreto 34/2014, art. 12 + Annex 3. The «50 cm in reserves» figure comes from the official DG de Pesca table (Aug 2025).
- ✓Bans: Toro/Malgrats (Ponent), Freus d'Eivissa-Formentera, northern Menorca, etc.; the state RMIP Llevant de Mallorca–Cala Rajada also bans it (see zones).
- ⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus) — protected (RPE).
Rules change and are REGIONAL. Before heading out, check with the competent autonomous community (licence) and the min-size table in force.
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.
Spearfishing in Maó: spots, seasons and rules
Maó sits at the head of a long natural harbour on the southeast corner of Menorca, and the coast around it faces east-southeast. That leaves one wind to decide your day: the Llevant, the easterly. When it blows, or an easterly swell runs, the outer rock washes out and the one that can still fish is north-facing Es Grau. The rest is rocky ground, drop-offs and Posidonia holding sargo and dentex. Balearic rules apply: a Govern licence, freediving only, and reserves you have to check before you get in.
TL;DR
- The coast off Maó faces east-southeast, so the Llevant, the easterly, is the wind that shuts it down; the bad arc runs from the northeast round to the south. Pick the calm between fronts, late spring through autumn.
- Four rocky marks, not beaches: S'Algar / Cala Rafalet and Punta Prima / Illa de l'Aire out on the exposed southeast, Es Grau up north, and Cala Sant Esteve in the harbour mouth, semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana, as the easy way in.
- Punta Prima faces the l'Aire islet over rich ground, but it sits in current and full E-SE exposure. That is the mark to read from shore first, not to dive alone when the current is running.
- Balearic law: Govern (CAIB) licence, freediving only, no night diving, catch not for sale, and spearfishing banned inside marine reserves unless a named exception applies. The s'Albufera park sits at Es Grau; l'Aire's reserve status is not confirmed in the data, so check any protected boundary before you get in.
Best spearfishing entries near Maó
None of these is a sandy beach. All four are rock entries on a low, exposed limestone coast, and the sea that governs most of them is the easterly. S'Algar / Cala Rafalet and Punta Prima sit out on the southeast and open only when the Llevant lies down. Es Grau faces north instead, so it answers to the Tramuntana. Cala Sant Esteve, tucked in the harbour mouth under La Mola, is semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana and the easiest way in.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S'Algar / Cala Rafalet | Rock drop-offs and Posidonia, southeast of Maó | Rock veriles shelving into a Posidonia meadow; a Mediterranean coast, so no tide to time | Intermediate, open easterly coast | Shore entry over the rocky ground southeast of town, by the Cala Rafalet inlet. | Rock drop-offs and Posidonia holding sargo and dentex. It faces straight into the Llevant, so it fishes clean only when the easterly is down; once the E swell runs, that exposed rock is no place to be. |
| Punta Prima / Illa de l'Aire | Rocky ground facing the l'Aire islet, southern tip | Rich rocky bottom off the channel to the islet | Advanced, exposed and current-swept | Shore entry at Punta Prima, working toward the islet of l'Aire. | The richest ground here and the most serious water: very exposed to the E-SE and cut by current running the channel to the islet. Read the flow before you commit, keep the buoy up, and don't dive it alone when the current is running. l'Aire's reserve status is not confirmed in the data, so check for any protected boundary before you commit. |
| Cala Sant Esteve / La Mola | Rocky harbour-mouth cove under La Mola | Shallow rock at the mouth of the harbour | Easy, semi-sheltered fallback | Easy shore entry at Cala Sant Esteve, in the mouth of Maó harbour below the La Mola fortress. | The calm-day easy entry: semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana. You are in a working harbour mouth, though, so there is boat traffic here, keep the flag buoy up and stay clear of the channel. |
| Es Grau | Rocky ground north toward s'Albufera | Rock shelving off the north shore | Intermediate, north-facing and on a park border | Shore entry at Es Grau, north of Maó toward the s'Albufera lagoon. | North-facing rock that opens when the Tramuntana is down, not the easterly, so it can fish on a day the southeast coast can't. It sits by the s'Albufera des Grau nature park, the core of Menorca's biosphere reserve, so check where the protected zone begins before you hunt; spearfishing may be restricted there. |
When can you spearfish in Maó?
Late spring through autumn is the core window, and the deciding factor is the wind, not the tide. This is the Mediterranean, so the sea moves only a few centimetres and you time your day off the forecast instead. The coast off Maó faces east-southeast, which puts the Llevant, the easterly, dead in front of it, with the whole unfavourable arc running from the northeast round to the south. When the Llevant blows or an easterly swell runs, the outer rock at S'Algar and Punta Prima washes out. Clarity swings with the swell and comes good after a settled spell, and the calm mornings before any sea breeze fills in are usually the pick. Es Grau is the exception to the wind rule: it faces north, answers to the Tramuntana, and can fish on a day the easterly coast can't.
Which Maó spot is the safe fallback?
Cala Sant Esteve, in the mouth of Maó's long harbour under the La Mola fortress. It is semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana with an easy entry, the simplest way into the water on this coast. The trade-off is traffic: you share a working harbour mouth with boats, so the flag buoy is not optional and you keep well clear of the channel. Punta Prima is the opposite case, the best ground and the least forgiving, out in full E-SE exposure with current running toward the l'Aire islet. Read that one from the shore first, and don't dive it alone in a running current.
What fish and rules apply in Maó?
The drop-offs and Posidonia hold sargo (white seabream) and dentex. Sizes are Mediterranean and Balearic, worth confirming before you land anything: sargo 23 cm, gilthead 20 cm, sea bass 25 cm, and octopus by a one-kilo minimum weight. Balearics adds vulnerable-species and marking notes on top: dentex 35 cm, corb 30 cm, scorpionfish 30 cm, and grouper 45 cm in interior waters or 50 cm inside reserves, with mandatory marking. Seahorses are protected, so leave them. You need a Balearic spearfishing licence from the Govern, it is freediving only, no night diving, and the catch is not for sale. Spearfishing is banned inside the Balearic marine reserves except where a named exception allows it, so confirm the boundary; the s'Albufera park sits at Es Grau, and l'Aire's reserve status is unconfirmed, so check it there too.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Maó?
The rocky ground southeast of town, S'Algar / Cala Rafalet and Punta Prima toward the l'Aire islet, plus Es Grau to the north. Cala Sant Esteve, in the harbour mouth, is semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana and the easiest way in.
When is the sea calm enough at Maó?
Late spring through autumn, on the mornings when the Llevant, the easterly, is down. The coast faces east-southeast, so an easterly wind or swell closes the outer rock and the one that still holds up is north-facing Es Grau.
Do I need a licence to spearfish in Menorca?
Yes, a Balearic spearfishing licence from the Govern (CAIB). It is freediving only, no night diving, and you cannot sell the catch.
Can you spearfish around Illa de l'Aire or s'Albufera?
Es Grau sits by the s'Albufera nature park; the data does not confirm a reserve at Illa de l'Aire, but spearfishing is banned inside Balearic marine reserves unless a named exception applies. Check whether a protected zone applies and where the boundary runs before you get in the water.
What is the easiest entry in Maó?
Cala Sant Esteve at the harbour mouth, under La Mola. It is semi-sheltered from the Tramuntana and the easiest way in, though you share the water with boat traffic there.
Sources
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