Otranto · Italy

5.4

wave 0.4 m

visibility5m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 03:48

Sources & confidence

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
Method: 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.

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 — 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

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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.

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MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 03:48

Otranto — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind-wave — choppy surface

wave 0.4 mwind 15, gusts 25 km/hvisibility ~5 mwindow 06:00–18:00

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 21.3°C

confidence low · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

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.

Sunday · today2026-10-25

07:07–17:52 · full moon

▲ 03:00▼ 10:00▲ 16:00▼ 21:00 · 0.3 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.50 m

Wave0.68 m

Wind11 km/h

Water21 °C

fish activity: moonset 06:10 · moderate · moon underfoot 11:40 · high · moonrise 17:10 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.42 m · calmperiod 3.7 swind 15→25surge 0viz 5 m

0.42 mcalm · up to ~0.84 · 200° at an angle

3.7 sswell moderate

15→25gusts 25 km/h

0weak surge

0.28m/s

5 mrecent swell

21.3°C5 mm + hood

▼10:00tide falling

Atmosphere23 kmovercast

moderatemoonset

wind-wave — choppy surface
wind 15 km/h
dawn/dusk

confidence lowtwilight

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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

Baia dei TurchiOtranto

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

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Baia dell'OrteOtranto

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: It is also prohibited within 500 m of beaches used by bathers: in summer that is the distance you meet most often. On a shore oriented at 162° the usable light ends before the legal hour, which stays the hour of the sun. At Otranto the season conditions the law more than it conditions the sea. Arrive with time to look the place over before getting in.
tide: Between the shore and five metres of water there are 60 m, and no tide shifts that line appreciably. In practice the tide does not enter the decision here: the wind of the last few hours does. At Otranto the local currents depend more on the shape of the bottom than on the hour. The way back against the current is tested at the start and not at the end.
shelter: In a bay like this the shelter is a few tens of metres wide, tucked against the windward point rather than in the middle of the arc, and in a hard Ostro not even that. The shore in front of the mark faces south, about 162°, so everything arriving from that sector gets in unobstructed. At Otranto the swell forecast matters more than the wind forecast on this stretch. If the entry is being hit, walk round instead of swimming across.
conditions: Getting twenty metres under you takes about 820 m of swimming, so it pays to get in already decided on where to go. Look at the colour before you go down: full green is workable, milky brown is not. In poor visibility keep your own float in sight at all times. At Otranto the inshore current shifts the murk within hours: waiting sometimes works better than moving.
hazard: With Ostro into the mouth of the bay the water leaves through the middle and comes back along the sides: keep it in mind for the return. Marked set nets are left alone: getting caught in a net on breath-hold is the most dangerous thing in the whole day. Do not trust a wet handhold: rock with weed under it is ice. At Otranto the real risk is not the depth: it is the combination of tiredness and swell.
access: At Otranto the entry at the head of the cove is the one that holds up best even in a made-up sea. From here to the 5 m contour is about 60 m, and it pays to measure them on the way out so as not to find them long on the way back. In a hard Ostro the windward exit becomes unusable: check an alternative. Carry out what you carry in, and what you find as well.

Sheer rock north of Palascia; sea bream, water often at ~20 m visibility.

Google Maps

Grotta SfondataOtranto

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

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Grotta della PalombaraOtranto

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: Between the shore and five metres of water there are 120 m: that is the stretch you want to cover in good light. The orders of the Capitaneria responsible for Otranto can add seasonal prohibitions, and they outrank the general rule. A shore oriented at 121° loses the sun before sunset: take it into account for the last descent. If a stretch is closed, it is closed: there is no local version of the rule.
tide: Under half a metre of range means the only real variable left is the swell. The level barely moves: the 10 m contour stays 140 m from the shore at any hour of the day. At Otranto the tide calendar is no substitute for reading the sea. The ten-metre line, 140 m offshore, does not move with the level: it moves with the swell.
shelter: The wall absorbs nothing: what reaches it comes back, and under the rock you get return waves no forecast ever mentions. The coast here runs SE–NW and opens to the southeast: that is what decides which forecast to read. If you get in as Scirocco is easing, remember the sea stays up a day longer than the wind. At Otranto the old rule holds: watch the sea for ten minutes, then decide.
conditions: At Otranto the clarity is built on the days without swell, not on the hours without wind. The bottom falls away calmly, with no steps: depth is earned with distance, 440 m to reach twenty. If the thermocline is high, you see better below it than at the surface. If the water gets worse while you are out, head for land rather than along the coast.
hazard: Under a wall there is no sideways escape: if the swell builds you come out where you went in or nowhere. The marker has to follow you even when you are working 140 m from the shore: 50 m from the vertical below it is the legal maximum. The way back from 140 m out is longer than it looks once you are tired. At 10 m from the shore no emergency sorts itself out: come out at the first sign.
access: The entry at the foot of the wall is judged with your head and with the sea of the moment. The entry is immediate: 10 m from the coast, measured on the OSM line. At Otranto the return is planned on the afternoon swell, not on the morning one. If you do not fancy swimming the 140 m back from ten metres of water, do not go any further out.

Cave south of town; grouper, moray, lobster. Cave bottom, best in W/SW.

Porto BadiscoOtranto

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

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Punta Palascia / faroOtranto

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: Sixteen years of age is the legal minimum for handling a speargun in the water. The 500 m from used beaches is measured from the water's edge, and here the shore is 30 m from the mark: in bathing season do the arithmetic before getting in. At Otranto in summer the bathing strip changes the usable distances completely. The last stretch, the 90 m out to ten metres of water, is the one you will swim tired: put it in the day's arithmetic.
tide: If anything changes the level at Otranto, it is pressure and wind, not the moon. There is no tidal window to wait for: you get in when the sea allows it. In a hard Grecale the water piles up inshore and drains away sideways. If the current takes you past the 90 m of the ten-metre line, head straight back for land.
shelter: With an exposure of 54° the awkward sector runs from north to east, and outside it the day is usually saved. There is no general shelter here: there is a flank that holds in Grecale and one that does not, and they swap as the sea turns. At Otranto whoever gets in first checks, whoever gets in out of habit is trusting yesterday. When the swell gets in, the whole coastal strip, 60 m wide here, lifts and the clarity goes.
conditions: With 75 m reached about 1200 m out, the limit of the day is set by your breath and not by the distance. On a medium slope the murky inshore strip usually ends well before 560 m. After three calm days the water at Otranto is a different water. Past 90 m from the shore it is the water that decides the day and not the willingness.
hazard: The surface marker is compulsory: a float with a red flag and a white diagonal stripe, visible at 300 m, and you may not go more than 50 m from the vertical below it. In Grecale the point becomes the worst place on this coast to get out of the water. Hurrying at the exit is the commonest cause of injuries on the rock. At Otranto floating lines are seen late: keep an eye above you as well.
access: The entry on the cape is chosen by looking at where the water leans instead of hitting. The distance from the shore, 30 m, is minimal: the limit is set by the sea and not by the route. Count the 60 m that separate you from the five-metre contour: they are the measure of the way back. At Otranto the best place is the one you can leave without hurrying.

Italy's easternmost point, banks and drops; sea bass, sea bream, grouper. Open to the whole E arc.

Torre Sant'EmilianoOtranto

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

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Torre del SerpeOtranto

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

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.

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

European seabass
<4 m · — · dawn/dusk
min. 25 cm · legal target
Gilthead seabream
1–4 m · over sand/weed · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
White seabream
1–5 m · in the surf on the reef · dawn
min. 23 cm · legal target
Two-banded seabream
1–8 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Sharpsnout seabream
2–10 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Annular seabream
0–5 m · — · daytime
min. 12 cm · legal target
Common dentex
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
Red porgy
min. 18 cm · legal target
Common pandora
min. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
Axillary seabream
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
Blackspot seabream
min. 33 cm · legal target
Striped seabream
0–5 m · — · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
Black seabream
2–6 m · — · —
min. 15 cm · legal target
Bogue
min. 15 cm · legal target
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Dusky grouper
5–40 m · — · daytime
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Wreckfish
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Brown meagre
2–15 m · — · twilight
min. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
Greater amberjack
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
Leerfish
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
Grey mullet
0–2 m · — · —
min. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
Red scorpionfish
3–20 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Moray eel
1–15 m · — · twilight
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
European conger
2–25 m · — · night
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
Wrasse
min. 15 cm · legal target
Red mullet
min. 11 cm · legal target
Atlantic bonito
min. 25 cm · legal target
Common octopus
1–6 m · — · twilight
min. 450 g · legal target
Cuttlefish
legal target · (verify against the norm in force)

Law

✓NO paid licence, but a free MASAF REGISTRATION is mandatory (recreational sea-fishing declaration, online via SIAN/SPID, annual) — it is not a «licence».
✓Free-diving only: scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). The 16+ rule comes from a different act — D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 6 c. 5; handing a speargun to an under-16 is an offence (art. 13-octies c. 3 b, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only from dawn to sunset (art. 129e DPR 1639/68).
✓Distances (art. 129 DPR 1639/68): ≥500 m from beaches with bathers; ≥100 m from fixed gear/set nets and from vessels anchored outside ports.
✓Buoy MANDATORY (art. 130 DPR 1639/68): float with a red flag bearing a white diagonal stripe, visible ≥300 m; the diver stays within 50 m of the buoy/support boat.
✓The speargun may not be kept armed out of the water (art. 131 DPR 1639/68) — load only when submerged.
✓The spearfisher may NOT gather corals, crustaceans or molluscs — the second paragraph of the same article (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68; the same rule in D.M. 249/1987, art. 2). BUT cephalopods are EXCLUDED: octopus, cuttlefish and squid may be taken — the exception is kept in terms by the official guidance (circolare 6227201 of 23.07.1987). Mussels — up to 3 kg per person per day, but only with the Capo del Compartimento Marittimo's authorisation. The 5 kg daily cap counts EVERYTHING taken that day (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓You MAY carry a speargun and a breathing apparatus on the same boat — but at most ONE cylinder of up to 10 L per vessel, and using it to fish is prohibited (art. 128-ter DPR 1639/68). While you are down, at least one person must stay aboard ready to intervene, and there must be a rope long enough to recover the diver.
✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
✓The 5 kg/person daily cap IS in force and carries a fine: €500–3 000 up to 10 kg, €2 000–12 000 up to 50 kg, €12 000–50 000 above (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by Law 21 Apr 2026 no. 75). Exception: a single fish heavier than 5 kg. Recovery-plan species and bluefin tuna: +1/3 (c. 5).

⛔ Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) — TOTAL BAN: fishing, possession, transport, sale (D.M. 16/10/1998; EU-protected). Never touch.

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 Otranto

Where can I spearfish in Otranto?

Otranto has rock entry points such as Punta Palascia / faro, Grotta della Palombara and Baia dell'Orte. Salento's east coast: banks and drops at Punta Palascia, Italy's easternmost point, sea caves with grouper, moray and lobster, and the narrow rocky inlet of Porto Badisco. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

When is the best season in Otranto?

A long season on the Gargano and in the Salento, with often crystal-clear turquoise water (Mattinata, Otranto, Leuca). The Adriatic Salento opens with a westerly, the Ionian one with an easterly — there's almost always a side that works.

How cold is the water in Otranto?

Warm: ~14–27 °C. A 3 mm suit in summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months. The white cliffs of the Gargano and the Salento give clear turquoise water, with quick drop-offs.

Is Otranto good for a beginner?

Intermediate: cliffs dropping into depth and very clear water (Otranto, Castro, Leuca). The Salento is exposed to opposite wind arcs — pick the day's sheltered side. Mind the set nets near the rock. Buoy always.

Do I need a licence in Otranto?

No — in Otranto there is no paid licence; a free MASAF declaration is mandatory (the recreational sea-fishing communication, online via SIAN/SPID, renewed each year), which is not a «licence». Breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no selling the catch. See the guide.

Full guide: spearfishing in Italy →

Surface

Windows, hours
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The water column

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The seabed

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Otranto

Campania

Sicily

Abruzzo

Otranto spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Otranto by email

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Nearby towns

Apulia

Calabria

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Otranto

Campania

Sicily

Abruzzo

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.