Today — right on the edge — 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 mapBarrier reef, 3–20 m — legal (outside reserves). Lionfish, hogfish, grouper, snapper. Stay east of / outside PN Montecristi.
Google MapsCoral barrier and protected cays, 3–20 m — wildlife refuge, no-take. Dive/info only.
Google MapsReef/wall under the El Morro mesa, 5–20 m — INSIDE the park, no-take. Dive/info only.
Google MapsReef by Isla Cabra, 3–15 m — inside the park, no-take. Info.
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.
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».
Rules change and are loosely applied. Before heading out, check with CODOPESCA (Law 307-04) and your charter/operator; marine national parks are no-fishing.
Spearfishing in Montecristi is a local-conditions call, not a generic Caribbean or Pacific plan. Montecristi is the northwest frontier: Playa Juan de Bolaños bay under the El Morro mesa. WARNING: Montecristi Submarine National Park, El Morro and Cayos Siete Hermanos are protected. Use dawn, low swell and a clean exit as the first filter, then check the legal layer. In the DR, CODOPESCA licensing is operator-focused; tourists usually go through a charter, while recreational shore spearing remains a loosely applied grey area. Marine parks such as La Caleta, Cotubanama, Montecristi and sanctuary core zones are treated as no-fishing.
Small sea, buddy and legal check first. Buen Hombre only fishes clean when a north sea is small and the wind stays down, so check the two webcams. Protected or breeding-fauna water changes the plan.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buen Hombre reefs (outside PN Montecristi) | reef | 3-20m | Intermediate | shore entry, only in small seas | Barrier reef, 3-20 m; legal (outside reserves). Lionfish, hogfish, grouper. Leave if foam builds. |
The worst sea is from N; there is some shelter, but wind still decides; 2 webcam links help check color and foam. This is more an exclusion map than a shore list: Montecristi and the cays are treated closed. Foamy exit or rising wind means scout only. Montecristi is the northwest frontier under the El Morro mesa, but the Submarine National Park, El Morro, Isla Cabra and the Cayos Siete Hermanos are protected no-take references. Hunt outside those boundaries on bank reefs such as Buen Hombre, where lionfish, hogfish, grouper and snapper are listed. Lobster and queen conch are not speargun targets; respect lobster closure 1 Mar-30 Jun and queen conch 1 Jul-31 Oct. Water can turn murkier near the Yaque del Norte mouth, so Buen Hombre is not chosen only because it sits outside the park. That barrier reef is listed in 3-20 m with lionfish, hogfish, grouper and snapper, while staying east of or outside PN Montecristi. El Morro, Isla Cabra and Siete Hermanos are boundary references, not arguments for take. If the operator cannot explain the line, do not load the gun.
The water can turn murkier near the Yaque del Norte mouth, and the bad sector runs from 280 to 20 with the worst direction near 350. Two Buen Hombre webcams help, but there is no buoy; apnea is the conservative call, with hookah and night spearfishing banned except lionfish at night.
Most visitors work through the charter or operator permit; shore access stays grey.
Marine parks such as La Caleta, Cotubanama, Montecristi and sanctuary core zones are treated as no-fishing.
Lobster closes 1 Mar-30 Jun; queen conch closes 1 Jul-31 Oct.
Lionfish take is encouraged year-round, while lobster and queen conch are not speargun targets and have their own closures.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Montecristi, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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Sargassum: in seasonshore washups possibleAFAI satellite, 2026-07-21 · NOAA/USF
