Sources:MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 04:43
Sources & confidence
Sources
MeteoAlarm · 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.
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
MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 04:43
Ouranoupoli — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.2 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.
The season opens on the first of June, but the best time here is September and October: the water is still warm and visibility on the drop is at its best. Work from first light to midday, before the daily wind gets up. Night hunting is banned nationwide, from sunset to sunrise, and that is not up for discussion.
tide
The level moves a couple of tens of centimetres here and changes nothing for hunting. Flow is what counts: off the island's north and south tips the water squeezes and runs noticeably faster than along the flanks. After several days of northerly that drift builds — on the drop hold a rock and watch where your buoy is being pulled.
shelter
Dias is a separate islet west of Ammouliani, and the shelter comes from Ammouliani itself: it blocks the east and north-east, which is where the wind here usually comes from. On a northerly you work the south side of the island, on a southerly you move round to the north. West, across the gulf towards Sithonia, stays open.
conditions
Come on a light easterly or in a flat calm: the 15–45 m drop needs clear water and gives you nothing when it is murky. The north-east vardaris pushes a short, nasty wave down the gulf and on the exposed side of the island it simply carries you off the spot. Anything over force three from the west cancels the trip too.
hazard
The legal frame here is hard: the Athos shore to the east is closed — 500 metres off the waterline, by boat or swimming, women are barred from the peninsula entirely, and breaking it is a criminal offence. Dias sits far west of that line, so hunt easy, but brief whoever drives the boat. And it is 45 metres deep: buoy and a buddy.
access
Boat only. From Ouranoupoli harbour it is eight kilometres west, twenty-five to thirty minutes; from the Ammouliani jetty it is half that, about ten minutes. The islet is visible from far off, but the spot on the drop is found with the sounder — anchor on the lee side and swim in against the drift.
Island reef 15–45 m, steep rock off Ammouliani — grouper/amberjack on the drop; outside the Athos 500 m line. Boat.
June through October, and the earlier in the morning the better. By ten the excursion boats arrive, swimmers appear on the islets' sandy strips and hunting is over. In July and August the traffic never stops; October is the quietest month. Night is not allowed — the ban runs from sunset to sunrise.
tide
The tide here is ten to thirty centimetres and decides nothing. In the narrow channels between the islets, though, the water genuinely runs: with a settled wind there is a real flow in the throats while beside them it is dead. Plan your entry so the flow carries you towards the boat, never away from it.
shelter
The Drenia are a scatter of low islets and you assemble your shelter out of them: between the rocks there is always a channel with settled water. Ammouliani cuts the west, the Athos ridge the east, so strong wind reaches the water already worn down. The weak point is the north-east, which runs the length of the gulf.
conditions
The place takes almost any moderate wind — you just change islet and drop in on the lee side. Do not go on a fresh north-easter: the islets are low, the wave washes over them and sandy haze rises all the way down to 23 metres. After two days of rain wait as well, cloudy fresh water comes down off Ammouliani.
hazard
Boats are the real trouble here: the islets are a favourite day-trip target, craft run between them at speed, so a buoy is mandatory and you stay close to it. Keep two hundred metres off swimmers on the sandy strips. The walls hold caves down to 23 metres — do not go in without a light and a buddy.
access
By boat it is simplest: two and a half kilometres south-west of the Ouranoupoli jetty, five to ten minutes, and the local boatmen run the trip all day. From shore there is an option only for the fit — a kilometre and a half of open water from Ammouliani's south-east corner, a serious swim with a buoy.
Islet cluster E of Ammouliani, rock walls with caves to 23 m — octopus, moray; shallow, calm, beginner-friendly. Boat/shore.
Early morning: amberjack come up the wall with first light and drop deeper afterwards. Good months are June, September and October; in August there is traffic from the Ammouliani boats. Be finished before midday. And remember: from sunset to sunrise spearfishing is banned all year round.
tide
The level difference is about twenty centimetres, forget it. What you actually feel: inside the Lobsters cave the water breathes back and forth with the wave, and in the narrow part it shoves you noticeably. Along Irina's wall a steady drift runs when it blows — start upstream of your target and let it carry you along the rock.
shelter
Two structures side by side. Lobsters is pressed against a big rock and the rock's body throws a real shadow: whichever side the wind comes from, that is the side you do not enter. Irina is a wall starting at two metres with an exposed top, so in fresh wind the shallow part clouds first and only the depth is left.
conditions
With a light southerly or westerly both spots go. North and north-east kill Irina first: the top of the wall at two metres takes the chop and the murk sinks a good ten metres down. Lobsters is still alive then — slip in under the rock on the lee side and work the cave.
hazard
The cave is the main risk. It sits inside the big rock, runs in from five metres, and inside it is easy to lose your line to the exit — do not go in without someone outside. On the wall the risk is different: chasing a big amberjack you end up at forty metres without noticing. Buoy always, boats pass close.
access
From the Ammouliani jetty you round the island to the north and run ten to twelve minutes west; from Ouranoupoli it works out at about half an hour. The two spots lie a couple of hundred metres apart, so you moor once and work them in turn. The rock shows above water, Irina you find on the sounder.
Ammouliani: Lobsters — big rock+cave 5–40 m; Irina — reef/wall 2–40 m with large amberjack. Boat.
A training spot, worked right through the season from June to October, usually in the morning before the wind gets up. In August the village beaches are packed and you have to work west of the built-up front. Evening makes no sense: after sunset it is banned until first light.
tide
The level part is simple: it decides nothing. What matters is different — at nine metres the water is stirred both by the wave and by the wash of the harbour boats, so clarity lasts exactly as long as the calm does. After rain a cloudy freshwater layer comes down off the village and sits there for a full day.
shelter
A shallow reef right in front of Ouranoupoli: behind you sit the village and the slope of the Athos ridge, which kill the south and south-east. The north-east comes down the length of the gulf and walks in unopposed — the worst direction for this spot. To the west the shoreline bends and gives a little cover.
conditions
Two to nine metres forgives very little: any wind from north through east lifts the sand within an hour and instead of training you get milk. With a southerly or a flat calm the water turns to glass and you see the bottom from the surface. In summer the afternoon breeze ruins the place, so decide in the morning.
hazard
Here you are right on the boundary: east of the village the Holy Mountain shore begins, where you may not come within 500 metres, women are shut out of the peninsula altogether and the penalty is criminal — simply do not swim east along the shoreline. Then the harbour: ferries constantly, 300 m off the quays, 200 off swimmers.
access
The easiest entry in the area: park on the seafront near the Prosphorion tower, walk a hundred metres and get in off the pebble strip west of the harbour. It is two to three hundred metres of swimming to the reef and the depth builds gently. Wear boots — you walk on rock and there are plenty of urchins.
Shallow reef 2–9 m off Ouranoupoli town — beginner/training ground at the base, sheltered. Shore.
Serious work here happens in September and October: only then does clarity let you reach the lower ledges. Before the first of June you cannot go out at all. Get in at first light — by midday the wind is up and holding the boat over the structure gets hard. After sunset the ban applies until dawn.
tide
Nobody counts the level here, ten to forty centimetres changes nothing. You count temperature: in summer a cold layer sets in around thirty metres and the difference from the surface hits your dive harder than any current. On the upper ledges the water pulls gently along the ridge; deeper down it is usually quieter.
shelter
Petalo is an underwater formation: nothing marks it on the surface and nothing protects it. The only cover comes from the islet three hundred metres to the north-east and the bulk of Ammouliani behind it — together they cut the eastern wave. From west and south-west, straight across the open gulf, everything gets through.
conditions
You only come here on good water: the ledges step down from three metres to forty, and on Petalo 2 to fifty-five — that kind of depth needs visibility and a settled surface. On a north-easter do not go out at all, the boat cannot be held over the structure. A light southerly and flat calm are your days.
hazard
Depth is the danger here. Forty metres, and fifty-five on Petalo 2, is territory where the ascent decides everything: without a buddy watching you and without the strict one-up-one-down rule you do not dive it. Nets and fish-farm cages are often set around here — keep three hundred metres off them.
access
The spot is reached by boat and by instrument only: there is no surface mark and the nearest land is the islet three hundred metres away. From Ouranoupoli it is about half an hour heading west, from the Ammouliani jetty roughly twelve minutes. Find the ridge with the sounder, then drop your buoy right over the top.
Rock formations/ledges 3–40 m (Petalo 2 to 55 m) NW of Ammouliani — corb, snappers, large groupers, octopus, moray; the trophy structure of the area. Boat.
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».
connecting to the stream…
Ouranoupoli — Ouranoupoli harbour, gateway to Mt Athos (meteocam.gr)meteocam.gr (Cybex) live — Ouranoupoli harbour, gateway to Mt Athos. Embedded via our proxy (the stream sends no CORS). Read the water and surf before you go.camera: meteocam ↗
National minimum sizes + a 150 g floor (in the table below); grouper 1/day. Spearfishing is closed all May (ΠΔ 373/1985).
In season now
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m · EU 1967/2006
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · 0–15 m · EU 1967/2006
flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus · 0–8 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · 0–15 m · weight ≥750 g
Minimum by weight: ≥750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Don't take egg-bearing females.
dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus · 8–35 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
common dentex
Dentex dentex · 12–40 m · min 150 g
Premier reef target. No EU size — the 150 g minimum only. Ethical ≥40 cm (not law).
red porgy
Pagrus pagrus · 15–40 m · EU 1967/2006
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–12 m · EU 1967/2006
saddled seabream
Oblada melanura · 3–15 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili · 5–30 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
leerfish / garrick
Lichia amia · 2–20 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
Mediterranean barracuda
Sphyraena viridensis · 3–25 m · min 150 g
No EU size — the 150 g minimum only. Histamine: bleed and chill at once.
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · 2–15 m · EU 1967/2006
brown meagre / corb
Sciaena umbra · 5–30 m · EU 1967/2006
striped red mullet
Mullus surmuletus · 3–30 m · EU 1967/2006
wreckfish / stone bass
Polyprion americanus · 30–60 m · EU 1967/2006
Deep wreck species. Does NOT count toward the grouper limit (different genus). 45 cm — to verify.
Law
✓⚠️ MAY — a TOTAL spearfishing ban for the whole month, every year (ΠΔ 373/1985, art. 3§1α). This is law in force, not a draft.
✓No licence required: the was abolished in 2014 (Ν. 4256/2014) — every standing prohibition stays in force all the same.
•Recreational-fisher registry (ΟΣΠΑ / Μητρώο Ερασιτεχνών Αλιέων): Reg. (EU) 2023/2842 obliges member states to register recreational fishing, and the Greek registry is described as being prepared. We found neither an act in force nor a working registry as of 08.2026 — not confirmed. Check gov.gr before you travel.
✓Age: 16+ (under-16 spearfishing is forbidden; ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1γ).
✓Daytime only: sunrise to sunset. Night is forbidden (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1β).
✓Freediving only: scuba/any air-supply apparatus is banned — it may not even be carried aboard (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2γ).
✓Distances: ≥200 m from bathers, harbours, moored vessels and marked nets; no hunting in fairways or harbour entrances/exits (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1δ/ε).
✓Buoy MANDATORY: a yellow float + a yellow flag with a red diagonal stripe and the letters «Υ.Δ.», visible from ≥300 m; stay within 50 m of the buoy (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§3).
✓Limit: 5 kg/day (or one trophy heavier than the limit). Grouper (Epinephelus) — max 1/day, not banned (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2).
✓Sale/trade of the recreational catch is prohibited (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 1§7).
✓Load the speargun only in the water — never keep it loaded out of the water (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2β). Underwater light while hunting is forbidden (art. 3§2ζ).
✓Sea urchins — 20/day per person and 30/day per boat (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2). Nets at any stage of the hunt are banned, and you may not take the catch out of somebody else's gear or nets (art. 3§2). Sponges and corals are off limits to the recreational fisher (art. 1§6).
✓Pneumatic and band guns are ALLOWED (a myth in English guides). Only spears with an explosive/chemical charge — — are banned (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2δ).
Min. sizes: seabass 25 cm · gilthead 20 cm · white seabream 23 cm · grouper 45 cm · octopus 750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Any fish — not under 150 g (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2στ). No-size species (dentex, amberjack, barracuda, parrotfish) — the 150 g minimum only. See the species card.
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.
Local guide · Ouranoupoli
Spearfishing in Ouranoupoli: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
For spearfishing, Ouranoupoli points you toward Ammouliani and the Drenia islets. The channel has granite reefs, walls, caves and shallow ground that often stays sheltered in N/NE meltemi. The Mt Athos coast is not part of the plan: keep at least 500 m away. May is a total Greek spearfishing ban, no licence has been issued since 2014, and legal hunting is freediving-only with a 5 kg per person daily limit.
TL;DR
Ouranoupoli spearfishing is an Ammouliani and Drenia plan, not an Athos-coast plan.
The islets block N/NE meltemi and create a sheltered channel with reefs, walls and shallow training ground.
Stay at least 500 m off the Mt Athos coast; May is fully closed across Greece.
Where can you spearfish near Ouranoupoli?
Use the Ammouliani and Drenia side. The deeper reefs are boat-led; Magiatika is the shallow shore-training option near town.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Drenia / Anatoli islets
Islet walls and caves
To 23 m
Shallow and calmer
Boat or shore
A beginner-friendlier cluster east of Ammouliani with octopus and moray.
Dias island
Island reef with steep drop
15-45 m
Deeper boat ground
Boat
Off Ammouliani, outside the Athos 500 m line, with grouper and amberjack on the drop.
Petalo 1 & 2
Rock ledges and trophy structure
3-40 m, Petalo 2 to 55 m
Advanced depth
Boat
The deeper food structure NW of Ammouliani, with corb, snappers, grouper, octopus and moray.
Magiatika
Shallow reef off Ouranoupoli
2-9 m
Training ground
Shore
The sheltered shallow option when you do not want to move into deeper boat spots.
Conditions and season essentials
The useful local season is June to October. May is fully closed to spearfishing throughout Greece. In N/NE meltemi, Ammouliani and Drenia can make a workable lee, while deeper places such as Dias and Petalo still require conservative freediving and a clean boat plan. Greece allows spearfishing only on breath-hold: scuba or compressed air is banned. The daily catch limit is 5 kg per person, and no spearfishing licence has been issued since 2014, though gov.gr registry checks still matter.
✓Full ban on taking: Pinna nobilis (πίννα), corals and sponges (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 1§6 + Habitats Directive 92/43).
✓Invasives: taking the lionfish (λεοντόψαρο) is encouraged — ⚠️ venomous spines. The silver-cheeked toadfish (λαγοκέφαλος) ☠️ DO NOT EAT — deadly toxin (TTX), sale banned (Reg. 853/2004, Annex III Sect. VIII Ch. V(E)), it bites. The rabbitfish (γερμανός) is edible — venomous spines.
✓In ANY declared underwater archaeological site, and in the submerged historic sites, spearfishing is BANNED — the act names ψαροντούφεκο in so many words (ΚΥΑ ΥΠΠΟ/ΓΔΑΠΚ/ΑΡΧ/Α1/Φ41/11228/1865, ΦΕΚ 336/Β/2004, part Α §2 δ + part Β). It reaches the sites our map does not draw, too. Do not touch antiquities (Ν. 3028/2002). Map of the zones — the ENALIA geoportal (thalchor-2.ypen.gov.gr/layers/geonode:ENALIA).
•The national marine parks of Alonissos/N. Sporades and Zakynthos (Laganas): spearfishing is BANNED in the park. But Alonissos zone Β4 is not solid — ΦΕΚ 1741/Β/2011 reopened four stretches inside it (the N shore Αγ. Δημήτριος–Άκρο Απύθμενο, Μηλιά–Σπαρτίνες, όρμος Κλήμα on Περιστέρα, the Μεγάλος Αδελφός shore), while the same act creates the ΕΕΑΧ Περιστέρας, where fishing IS banned. Our layer paints the park whole, i.e. stricter than the act. Check the limits with the park authority.
•The Southern Kynouria/Arcadia diving park: Ν. 4688/2020 establishes underwater parks, but we have not read a spearfishing prohibition inside it in the act — we treat that as NOT PROVEN rather than as confirmed. The park's boundary is not on our map either (the act publishes no coordinates). Ask the Leonidio/Tyros λιμεναρχείο before you go.
•Local bans: on top of the national rules, every port authority issues its own (ΓΚΛ/ΕΚΛ and λιμενάρχης decisions). In the ΛΣ-ΕΛ.ΑΚΤ registry we counted ~163 of them that reach a speargun, across 48 ports — our map does NOT draw them. Check your own port: alieia.hcg.gr/prohibitions/local/local17.php.
•Locally STRICTER than the national rule: Corfu (Kerkyra) — from 01.04 to 31.10 spearfishing is banned within 200 m of the shore, even where nobody is swimming (απόφαση Λ/Χ Κέρκυρας 2141.1/2939/2024, ΦΕΚ Β΄3269/2024). In practice that closes shore entry on Corfu for the season. We read the act in the registry, not in the ΦΕΚ — confirm with the λιμεναρχείο.
•Locally STRICTER: Lefkada — 300 m instead of 200, and not only the speargun: ψαροντούφεκο, nets and longlines are banned within 300 m of those sea areas, beaches and shores of the port district THAT ARE USED BY BATHERS (απόφαση Λ/Χ Λευκάδας 2131.13/1477/2022, in its own words «όπου χρησιμοποιούνται από λουόμενους»). The act ran to 30.09.2022 and we found no extension; an expired act is not proof that the ban is gone. Ask the Lefkada λιμεναρχείο.
•Locally STRICTER: Symi — from 15.06 to 15.09 fishing BY ANY MEANS is banned within 200 m of beach areas and in inhabited coastal areas WHERE BATHERS ARE PRESENT OR GATHER (απόφαση Λ/Χ Σύμης 2131.13/882/2016). Separately, year-round: fishing by any means is banned inside the port and its sea zone, except line/rod fishing from land (ΓΚΛ Σύμης, art. 151, ΦΕΚ 362/Β/2004). The acts were copied from the registry, not checked against the ΦΕΚ.
•Locally: inside the ports of Lavrio and Kea spearfishing is banned across the WHOLE port water, not merely under the 200 m rule; separately, in front of the hotel beaches (ΓΚΛ Λαυρίου, art. 240, ΦΕΚ 460/Β/1978). The act was copied from the registry, not checked against the ΦΕΚ.
•Coming: two new national marine parks are being created (Ionian + South Cyclades, ~27,500 km²). NOT yet in force (ΠΔ under review, mid-2026). Once live — a trawl ban + a seasonal coastal closure 15.04–31.05; in the strict zones spearfishing will be banned. Check before the season.
⛔ Pinna nobilis (πίννα, fan mussel) — full ban on taking/killing (Habitats Dir. 92/43 Annex IV; critically endangered).
Rules change, and the local Λιμεναρχείο (port authority) may impose local restrictions. Before heading out, check the current rules and the declared archaeological zones (ENALIA).
FAQ
Can you spearfish on the Athos coast?
Do not plan on it. Stay at least 500 m off the Mt Athos coastline and hunt the Ammouliani/Drenia side only.
What is the easiest local spot?
Magiatika is the shallow 2-9 m reef off Ouranoupoli; Drenia is also shallower and calmer.
Is May closed?
Yes. May is a total spearfishing ban across Greece (ΠΔ 373/1985), including Ouranoupoli.
Do you need a licence?
No spearfishing licence has been issued since 2014. Check gov.gr for the current recreational-fisher registry.
Is scuba allowed?
No. Greek spearfishing is freediving-only; scuba and compressed-air gear are banned.
