spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast
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.
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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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 — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.
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
This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.
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0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
no dataupdated 03:35
Nerja — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.1 m head-onwind 9 km/hvisibility ~6 mwindow 06:00–21:00
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
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−10 m
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: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
First light and an hour or two after: in August the sun is up at 07:32, and from ten the cove fills with swimmers, kayaks and pleasure boats. Water: 22.9 in July, 24.5 in August, 22.6 in September, 17.4 in November. Night is out. The spearfishing licence is issued by the Junta de Andalucía — check the requirements before you travel.
tide
The tide can be ignored here — half a metre and nothing more. What you count is Terral: it comes down dry and hot off the mountains, lays the sea out like a mirror, but within a day it pushes the warm layer offshore and the surface can go from 24 degrees to 17. Calm and clarity arrive together with the cold.
shelter
A small cove in the rocks right under the Balcón de Europa, wedged between El Salón and La Caletilla. The rock spurs on both sides cut the south-west swell and leave a calm corner inside. It opens south and south-east: with Levante the surf slams the rocks and the entry gets unpleasant.
conditions
This is the only one of Nerja's four points where hunting is legal: the town shore lies west of the arroyo de la Alfalfa mouth and is not part of the Paraje. But the boundary is right there and the whole Maro coast to the east is closed entirely — watch exactly where you get in. Best water with Terral and a light northerly; with Levante the cove is murky with surf.
hazard
The main thing is not to drift east: right behind the town the Paraje Maro-Cerro Gordo begins, where Decreto 6/2015 bans spearfishing, and there the coast is closed a full mile out. Inside the cove, in summer, there are swimmers and rental boats — stay clear of bathing zones and check the required distance in the Junta rules. Buoy compulsory, scuba banned.
access
You drop in from central Nerja by the stairs at the Balcón de Europa — a minute from the square, though climbing back up loaded is hard work. Parking is paid municipal only and in summer there is barely a space. You enter over rock and cobble, depth starts at once and there is no swim to make. If you want more room, El Playazo lies to the west.
Urban rocky ground at Nerja; easy entry from the coves, semi-sheltered, good for beginners.
The sun is over Nerja at 06:56 in June and 07:32 in August, and by ten kayaks and boat tours are already running along the cliffs. Water: 14.9 in February, 18.0 in May, 24.5 in August, 20.3 in October. Night spearfishing is banned everywhere in Spain, but here the gun is outlawed at any hour and in any month.
tide
In the Alborán the level moves up to half a metre and does not change the water in the coves. Terral does: the dry northerly pushes the warm layer offshore and cold water comes up from below, and Nerja has recorded the surface falling from 24 to 17 degrees in a single day. The rock coves of Maro cloud up far less than the sandy town beaches.
shelter
A chain of notches under the Maro cliffs: the coast faces south and south-east and the only shelter is the shape of the rock. With Levante the wave runs along the shore and hits the east wall of each cove; with Poniente the west walls take it. Terral, the dry northerly off the mountains, lays the whole chain out like a mirror.
conditions
You do not shoot here in any weather. The coves lie inside the Paraje Natural Acantilados de Maro-Cerro Gordo, and Decreto 6/2015 bans recreational sea fishing in inner waters in every form, spearfishing included. The closed strip is one mile off the shore, from the arroyo de la Alfalfa mouth to playa de la Calaiza. Take the gun west of Nerja.
hazard
First the ban: Decreto 6/2015 and its PORN close the inner waters of the Paraje to any recreational fishing. The same text describes the dusky grouper as almost wiped out by poaching; note that its minimum size is 45 cm. Then the physics: the Maro cliffs drop rock onto the paths, and in summer kayaks and launches run tight along the shore.
access
Nerja town hall regulates car access to the Maro beaches: there is a holding car park of over a hundred spaces and a shuttle bus, which in 2026 runs from 12 June to 15 September, daily 10:00 to 20:30, three euros return. Public transport, emergency services and residents with local police permission are exempt. Steep paths lead down.
Rocky coves below the Maro cliffs; drop-offs and boulders, sea bream and gilthead, exposed to the easterly (E-SE).
In summer both coves run to the shuttle timetable and are packed by midday: both are nudist by tradition, El Cañuelo at least in part. Water as across Nerja: 16.2 in April, 22.9 in July, 22.6 in September. Night fishing is banned in Spain, but here the ban is not about hours, it is about place — it holds round the clock and all year.
tide
The level here is the same micro-tide as all along the Alborán — you can ignore it. The bottom in both coves is cobble and rock, so after a blow the water comes back in hours rather than days. Levante, on the other hand, drives jellyfish along the southern front, and a long Poniente brings up cold greenish water from below.
shelter
Two coves at the far eastern end of this shore, by Cerro Gordo. Cantarriján is shielded from the west by the cape massif itself, El Cañuelo from the east by the Peñón del Fraile, so with one and the same wind one cove works and the other does not. The overall aspect is south, and swell from the 100-220 sector reaches both.
conditions
Both coves are closed to spearfishing: they fall inside the same Paraje Maro-Cerro Gordo, where Decreto 6/2015 expressly bans it in inner waters. At Cerro Gordo an Área de Reserva is added over the bottoms and submerged caves, where even access is forbidden. To shoot, head west: the town of Nerja and on towards Málaga.
hazard
Legally it is simple: spearfishing in these coves is banned by Decreto 6/2015, and coming here with a gun makes no sense. Physically: steep descents over scree, heavy foot and boat traffic in summer, and by Cerro Gordo submerged caves you may not enter without authorisation. Scuba is banned for spearfishing across Spain and a buoy is compulsory.
access
In summer you only get in by shuttle, and there are two different services. El Cañuelo, on the Nerja side, started on 6 June and runs 10:00 to 21:00 with a driver's break around 14:30-16:00, ticket 2.25 to 2.60 euros — confirm on site. Cantarriján, from Almuñécar: 15 June to 10 September, 09:00-21:00, three euros, 180 spaces, 1.5 km to the beach.
Shingle coves in the Maro-Cerro Gordo area; rich grounds, moderately exposed to the SE.
The best window here is September and October: water at 22.6 and 20.3 degrees, and the summer crowd already gone. In June the sun is up at 06:56 and for the first hours the cove is empty, but from ten the kayaks out of Maro come along the shore. Night fishing is banned in Spain, and in this cove it is banned by day too — it is inside the Paraje.
tide
The tide is not counted here, but the barranco very much is: after rain it dumps straight into the cove, and the murk sits in that narrow throat longer than on open coast, because nothing flushes it out. In the dry season the water in the notch is clearer than over Nerja's sand, and with a long Poniente the cold comes up from below.
shelter
A narrow notch under the Maro barranco, west of the village beach: rock walls squeeze the cove from both sides and kill the side wind. It opens south and south-east, and swell from there runs straight in and raises surge right at the rocks. With Terral off the mountains this is the flattest sea on the whole stretch.
conditions
Spearfishing is banned: the cove sits in the marine strip of the Paraje Maro-Cerro Gordo, and Decreto 6/2015 closes its inner waters to recreational fishing, spearfishing included. The western anchor of the boundary is the arroyo de la Alfalfa mouth, and La Caleta sits literally on it — you do not gamble on a line like that. Work the town of Nerja and further west.
hazard
Legally the cove is closed: Decreto 6/2015 bans spearfishing in the inner waters of the Paraje, and the fact that the formal line is only a few hundred metres away changes nothing — on the map this sits inside. Physically: the entry between rocks is narrow, with south-east swell the throat breaks hard, and the cliff drops stone from above. No lifeguard.
access
You go down from Maro village by the path along the barranco: short but steep, the last metres over rock, boots mandatory. In summer you cannot bring the car to the water — the same regime applies as on the Maro beaches: a holding car park at the village entrance, reserved spaces for residents and the shuttle instead of your car. Out of season you park up top.
Rocky ground below the Maro ravine; rock drop-offs, exposed to SE swell.
SOLO 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.
One morning glance — and you know.
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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».
Nerja — Balcón de Europa (meteo365es)YouTube live — Balcón de Europa, the sea and Nerja's beaches. Embeddable under YouTube's terms (owner left embedding on). Read the water and surf before you go.camera: youtube ↗
Sin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011).
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · Mediterranean · 1 kg
Talla 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.
✓The state act (, art. 16) bans, for spearfishing: a loaded gun out of the water; explosive/electric points and lamps (hand torches excepted); underwater scooters; night — from sunset to sunrise. Plus art. 12 b), d), e): 300 m from professional fishing vessels, light as an attractant, poisons/explosives. A ban in a PARTICULAR reserve, port or beach comes from that place's OWN instrument (the reserve's order, the autonomous community's rules, the port authority) — see the no-take zones on the map and your community's rules.
✓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).
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.
FAQ — spearfishing in Nerja
Where can I spearfish in Nerja?
Nerja has rock entry points such as Calas de Maro, El Cañuelo / Cantarriján and Calahonda (Nerja). Nerja sits beside the Maro cliffs, and the Maro coves are a no-take area. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Nerja?
Long season in the Alborán Sea. Currents off the Strait can pull, and the tide — though weakened — is still felt; the Atlantic inflow keeps it cooler and sometimes greener than the rest of the Med.
How cold is the water in Nerja?
~15–23 °C: the Alborán Sea is cooler and sometimes greener than the rest of the Med, from the Atlantic mixing. A 3 mm suit in summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months.
Is Nerja good for a beginner?
Intermediate: currents off the Strait can pull and visibility swings with the Atlantic mixing. Pick a day of weak current and small sea; keep the buoy in sight.
Do I need a licence in Nerja?
Yes — in Nerja you need a recreational sea-fishing licence (issued by the autonomous community); breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no night diving. See the guide.
✓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 — Decreto 182/2004, art. 38.3; Murcia; Galicia; Basque Country). Protected species have per-piece quotas.
✓Only a harpoon is allowed — hand-held or mechanically propelled, with one or several points (, art. 14.1). Carrying spearfishing gear and underwater breathing equipment aboard AT THE SAME TIME is prohibited (art. 14.2) — an offence in itself, even if you dived on a breath hold.
✓Spain is not one jurisdiction. The licence is issued by a coastal autonomous community, and you must comply with the rules of the administration on whose littoral you are in the water: «debiendo cumplir la normativa establecida por la administración en cuyo litoral se realice la actividad» (, art. 13). Interior waters — inside the straight baselines: bays, coves, rías, the whole coastal strip — are the community's competence; exterior waters are the State's. So the age, the days of the week, the distances and the are found in your community's act, not in the state one.
•Andalusia: spearfishing licence; requires a medical certificate (NO civil-liability insurance — a responsible health declaration replaces it, ); applied for at the Junta de Andalucía. Confirm the exact procedure page at juntadeandalucia.es.
✓Andalusia: minimum licence age (incl. spearfishing/class 4) — 14; under-14s only surface modalities accompanied by an adult (Decreto 205/2023, art. 4.2/4.3). No civil-liability insurance: a responsible health declaration (, Annex IV).
✓Bans: RMIP Cabo de Gata-Níjar and Alborán island — spearfishing banned (see zones).
✓Andalusia: licence from age 14 (Decreto 205/2023, art. 4.2), minors accompanied (art. 5.3). The cap is 5 kg live weight or 4 kg gutted per licence per day (art. 9.1). Selling the catch (art. 12.a), powder or gas guns (art. 12.l), autonomous equipment and underwater scooters (art. 12.m) are prohibited. Buoy red or orange with the «Alfa» flag (art. 20.2); keep 250 m from people on the beach, bathing places, busy areas, port areas and navigation channels, and the same from set gear and professional vessels (art. 20.3). Allowed every day of the year, but only from sunrise to sunset (art. 22).
⛔ 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.
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