Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources & confidence
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.
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Ōpōtiki, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
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: 3016 spots across 406 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 mapHaurere Point — headland by Ōpōtiki. You walk in from the shore. Published sources behind this mark: 1. Object type: headland; the name is from the LINZ place-name register. Check the seabed and conditions on site before entering the water.
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 as of now — 25.10.2026 17:37 (Pacific/Auckland)
All 201 spots → · Region: Bay of Plenty · spearo.app — All countries
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).
Ōpōtiki is not a shore spearfishing town on the evidence we hold. It faces the Bay of Plenty over sand, and the local fishing reports we found describe boat fishing over sand after a beach launch, with no reef or rocky shore named. So this page gives the forecast, the tide and the rules rather than a list of marks. If you dive from a boat here, the north-facing coast wants wind from the south; anything from the north-west round to the east blows straight in. For mapped shore marks, look at Ōhope or Whakatāne.
No shore spot at Ōpōtiki has passed our check yet. Local fishing reports from Ōpōtiki and Tirohanga describe boat fishing over sand after a beach launch and name no reef or rocky shore. We do not invent a mark to fill the page: when a verified shore spot turns up, it will be added to the map with its own card.
Calm water at Ōpōtiki needs wind from the south. The coast faces north, so wind from the north-west round to the east blows straight in, and the worst direction is due north. The visibility baseline we hold is about 8 m, a provisional satellite estimate rather than a reading from the water. Use the forecast on this page for the wind and swell window before you launch.
Ōpōtiki falls under the Fisheries New Zealand (MPI) Auckland and Kermadec rules, in the Auckland East snapper area. All finfish together count towards a combined daily limit of 20 per person. Waters off the Motu River are closed to taking finfish from 1 December to 31 March. Snapper here have a 30 cm minimum and a daily bag of 7. Spiny red rock lobster may not be taken with a spear. Pāua are free-dive only: taking pāua on scuba is banned nationwide. MPI's rules set no scuba ban for crayfish, but crayfish are taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, never speared. Spotted black groper is protected and may not be taken. Read the official rules and zoning map before you get in.
The nearest towns with free marks on our map are Ōhope, Whakatāne, Maketu and Gisborne. Ōhope and Whakatāne are the closest along the Bay of Plenty; each has its own page with its own wind sector and forecast.
None that has passed our check. Local reports describe boat fishing over sand, not a reef or rocky shore.
No recreational sea licence is needed in New Zealand. Check the MPI Auckland and Kermadec rules for sizes and bags before you go.
Waters off the Motu River are closed to taking finfish from 1 December to 31 March.
Snapper have a 30 cm minimum and a daily bag of 7 in this area.
Wind from the north-west round to the east blows straight in, worst from the north.
