Ophelia Brian ReefMiami
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
40-ft-relief wreck off Government Cut (N of Biscayne NP).
Google MapsMiami spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.4
wave 0.5 m head-on
visibility5m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 18:00
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 18:00
Miami — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind 18 km/h
wave 0.5 m head-onwind 18 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 18:00–21:00
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 7 m · Water 31.8°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.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
06:42–20:11 · first quarter
▲ 03:00▼ 09:00▲ 16:00▼ 22:00 · 0.6 m
Hours (06→20)
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.36 m
Wave0.42 m
Wind22 km/h
Water32 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:58 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:50 · high · moonrise 14:45 · moderate · moon overhead 20:10 · high
Conditions window18:00–21:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.48 mperiod 3.3 s head-onwind 18→18surge 0.5viz 5 m
0.48 mup to ~0.96 · 129° head-on
3.3 sswell moderate
18→18gusts 18 km/h
0.5weak surge
0.42m/s
5 mrecent swell
31.8°C5 mm + hood
▼22:00tide falling
Atmosphere24 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon overhead
- wind 18 km/h
- current 0.42 m/s
- ebb — weaker inshore
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
Rio MiamiMiami
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Shallow wreck off Key Biscayne (N of Biscayne NP).
Google MapsTacomaMiami
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Deeper wreck cluster (N of Biscayne NP).
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».
connecting to the stream…
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- sheepshead
- mangrove/mutton snapper
- gag/red grouperSeason is state-set — check before you go.
- hogfish
- cobia
- flounder
Law
- ✓Florida: saltwater licence $17 res / $47 non-res; reef fish need the free State Reef Fish Angler (SRFS) designation. NC: CRFL; SC/GA: saltwater licence.
- ✓Distances (FL): 100 yd from beaches/piers/bridges, 100 ft from the above-water part of a jetty. banned in FL and SC; rebreathers are illegal for spearfishing in FL.
- ✓SC: gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia/tarpon/striped bass) hook-and-line only (§50-5-1700). GA: speargun doubtful in state water — real hunting on federal reefs.
- ⛔ 🚫 Do not spear (FL FAC 68B-20.005): snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, pompano, goliath/Nassau grouper, billfish, sharks, rays + ornamental reef families.
- ⛔ 🚫 Spiny lobster/stone crab — hand-take only (no puncturing). banned in FL and SC. Monroe County (Long Key north to the Miami-Dade line — incl. Key Largo): spearfishing banned; the lionfish licence exemption does NOT override it — hand-held nets only there.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
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 Miami: spots, seasons and rules
Miami spearfishing is about choosing legal structure outside the wrong boundaries. The listed wreck notes place Rio Miami, Ophelia Brian Reef and Tacoma north of Biscayne National Park, so they are treated here as wreck sites rather than park water. They can hold mutton or mangrove snapper, hogfish, grouper when open, cobia, sheepshead and flounder. The limiting factors are boat traffic off Government Cut, current, and Florida's long list of species that cannot be taken by spear.
TL;DR
- Spearfishing Miami is a warm wreck-and-reef plan north of Biscayne National Park, centered on Rio Miami, Ophelia Brian Reef and Tacoma.
- The best window is clean current and manageable boat traffic off Government Cut, with NOAA Station 41122 as the ocean check.
- Florida requires a saltwater license, SRFS for reef fish, current FWC rule checks, and bans powerheads and rebreathers.
- Do not spear snook, redfish, seatrout, tarpon, goliath or Nassau grouper, sharks, rays, lobster, stone crab or ornamental reef species.
Best spearfishing spots in Miami
These three wrecks are close to the city but should be planned as boat dives. None is marked no-take in the record, and each note places it north of Biscayne National Park.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Miami | Shallow wreck | Shallow wreck profile off Key Biscayne | Intermediate boat dive | Boat, north of Biscayne National Park | A practical structure check when water is clean. Use a divers-down flag and avoid drifting toward park or channel restrictions. |
| Ophelia Brian Reef | Wreck and artificial reef | About 40 ft of relief in the record | Intermediate | Boat off Government Cut | The relief can attract snapper and hogfish. Government Cut traffic makes surface discipline non-negotiable. |
| Tacoma | Deeper wreck cluster | Deeper than the shallow reef stops | Advanced freediving team | Boat, north of Biscayne National Park | A better fit for experienced freedivers with depth, current and recovery procedures set before the first drop. |
What Florida rules matter most in Miami?
A Florida saltwater license is the starting point, and reef fish require the free State Reef Fish Angler designation. FWC bans powerheads and rebreathers for spearfishing. It also prohibits spearing within 100 yards of public swimming beaches, public fishing piers and qualifying bridges, and within 100 ft of most above-water jetty sections. Miami divers also need strict divers-down flag behavior.
Which species are off limits?
FWC lists many prohibited species that matter in Miami. Do not spear snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, pompano, goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, sharks, rays, billfish, lobster, stone crab or ornamental reef families. Legal targets can include hogfish, snapper, sheepshead, cobia and flounder, with grouper only when the exact season, size and zone line up.
When does Miami water visibility line up?
Miami can be clear and still be a poor spearfishing day if current or boat traffic is wrong. The record points at trouble from the east sector, so watch easterly swell before committing to the wrecks. NOAA Station 41122 gives a nearby sea-state signal, while the Port Miami camera helps judge Government Cut surface traffic and wind texture.
FAQ
Is spearfishing legal in Miami?
Yes, where state, federal, park and local boundaries allow it.
Do I need the State Reef Fish Angler designation?
Yes. Florida reef fish require the free SRFS designation.
Can I spear lobster in Miami?
No. FWC lists lobster as prohibited for harvest by spearing.
What are good Miami targets?
Hogfish, snapper, sheepshead, cobia and flounder are realistic; grouper depends on season.
Which NOAA station fits Miami?
NOAA NDBC Station 41122 is the local Miami offshore station.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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