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 13:53
Paleochora — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind 15 km/h
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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)
window
Be in the water at first light. By ten or eleven the coaches have emptied into Elafonisi and the whole corner is full of people and boats. The season runs from the first of June, since May is closed everywhere in Greece, and October is the quiet, clear month here. Night is banned, sunset to sunrise.
tide
The level is irrelevant, a few tens of centimetres at most. Around the tip of the cape the flow accelerates, and between the cape and the Elafonisi shallows to the north-west it can push hard enough to notice. After several days of westerly the sand banks stay stirred and the whole corner runs cloudy for a day after the wind drops.
shelter
The south-western corner of Crete, ten kilometres west of town: a long beach split into three bays, with sand, pebble and a rocky eastern end. The bulk of the island keeps the meltemi off it entirely. What gets through is the west: the swell bends around the corner and works the outer rocks even on a quiet day.
conditions
North and north-east are your days — offshore wind, flat water, and it goes deep fast right off the rocks. With west and south-west, the 140 to 260 band with 210 the worst of it, the sandy shallows stir into milk while the rocky eastern bay takes the sea head-on. Then the drive is not worth it.
hazard
Elafonisi is next door: Natura 2000, protected dunes and a lagoon, and one of the busiest beaches on Crete. Do not work at the islet or inside the lagoon — stay on the Krios cape itself. Two hundred metres from swimmers is the rule that will actually bite you here, and boats run out to Elafonisi all day long.
access
Dirt road west out of Paleochora past Pachia Ammos towards Koundoura, about ten kilometres and a quarter of an hour of careful driving; there is parking at the organised eastern bay. Enter over coarse sand and pebble and swim five to ten minutes to the rocky point. By boat allow half an hour from the harbour.
SW cape of sand/pebble/rock, meltemi-sheltered but with W swell; shore or boat. Near Elafonisi (Natura) — stay on the cape, not the islet.
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)
window
Mid-morning, when the sun is high enough to throw light into the mouth — an underwater torch is banned in Greece, so daylight is all you get. The season starts on the first of June, May is closed nationwide, and September into November is the clean window. Night is banned, and under an overhang it would be madness.
tide
Forget the level, it moves a hand's width. What matters is the surge: the cave inhales and exhales with every set, and that push in and out decides whether you can hold still on the sand. Rain in the gorge behind puts a cold, murky freshwater layer along the shore for a day or two.
shelter
Same headland as the reef, but a kilometre and a bit further east, where the rock is cut back into a low cave at nineteen metres. The shoulder of the cape takes the western wrap off, and the mountains behind kill the meltemi outright. From the south, though, the mouth is wide open and the swell walks straight in.
conditions
This is a calm-water spot and nothing else. On a northerly it is still, and you can hang outside the mouth all morning. Anything in the 140 to 260 band, even a metre of old swell around 210, and the mouth breathes sand at you: inside, visibility drops to arm's length while the outside still looks fine.
hazard
Overhead rock is the whole risk here. Nineteen metres is shallow enough to feel casual about, and that is exactly the trap: do not go past the point where you can still see the way out, and never take the shot deep inside, where a fish can wedge you. Swimmers use the coves either side in summer.
access
From the easternmost Gianniskari cove, scramble along the rock eastwards and get in off a low ledge — five to ten minutes of swimming and you are at the mouth. Parking above is a handful of spaces on the dirt road, so come early. A boat from Paleochora drops you straight on it in a quarter of an hour.
Cave 19 m on the same headland, shallower; shore or boat.
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)
window
First light, before the day breeze and before the boats leave the harbour. The season opens on the first of June — all of May is shut across Greece — and the best water is September to November: warm, clear and empty. Night is banned from sunset to sunrise, and on a forty-metre drop you would not want it anyway.
tide
Tide means almost nothing here — the level walks twenty or thirty centimetres and you will not feel it. What you do feel is the drift along the cape over the drop: it sets steadily and it is strongest on the outer edge at forty metres. After rain the Anydri gorge pushes a brown lens of fresh water out over the coves.
shelter
The reef sits off a low headland four kilometres east of town, at the mouth of the Anydri gorge. The Lefka Ori block the meltemi completely, so a hard northerly leaves this water dead flat. The lee ends there: the cape is a small thing, and anything from west through south rolls in off the open Libyan Sea.
conditions
Come on a northerly. With N or NE the wind blows off the mountains, the surface over the drop stays glassy and you see twenty metres along the reef. From 140 to 260 degrees, worst around 210, do not bother: the swell arrives unbroken, the top layer goes milky and the shallow rock turns into surge.
hazard
Depth is what hurts here: twenty-five to forty-two metres, with the good fish sitting at the bottom of it — work in turns with a partner who actually watches you. The three coves fill with sunbeds and swimmers in summer, so keep two hundred metres clear before you load, and watch for excursion boats along the shore.
access
Take the dirt road east out of Paleochora towards Anydri and Gianniskari, four kilometres, and park above the coves. You get in over coarse pebble, then swim ten to fifteen minutes south-west to find the edge of the drop. By boat it is about ten minutes from the harbour and you can work the whole reef in one go.
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)
window
Early, before the boat from Sougia lands walkers on the beach for the day. The season opens on the first of June — May is closed in Greece, all of it — and September to November gives the best water and an empty bay. Night is banned, and there is nowhere to be here after dark: no road, no lights, no help.
tide
Level does nothing. Lissos became a healing sanctuary because of its springs, and you can still feel them: cold fresh water seeps out along the shoreline and lays a shimmering, colder layer over the rock, sharper than the season has any right to be. In the throat of the bay there is a slow in-and-out pull with the sets.
shelter
A proper notch in the coast: a small coastal flat wrapped in rocky hills, between Sougia and Paleochora. The hills stand between you and any northerly, so the meltemi never touches this water. The cove opens south, though, and that is exactly the direction the Libyan Sea sends its swell from.
conditions
Go on a north wind and the bay is a pond. With anything from 140 to 260, and worst around 210, the mouth funnels the swell straight to the back of the cove; at seven to fifteen metres the bottom is close enough that one day of south wind turns the whole bay green and you see nothing.
hazard
The ancient city and its Asklepieion sit directly above the bay, and the site ashore is a declared monument: lift nothing off the bottom and move no worked stone. If any part of this water is a declared underwater archaeological area, spearguns are banned in it outright — ask the Sougia port authority before you load.
access
No road reaches it. Either walk the Lissos gorge from Sougia, an hour and a half over stone, or come by boat from Sougia or Paleochora and step off onto coarse pebble. Day boats moor in the cove, so drop your gear clear of them. Carry your own water: there is nothing here and nobody to ask.
Rocky 7–15 m in a sheltered cove; hike from Sougia or boat. Ancient site adjacent — look-don't-touch.
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)
window
Dawn, and there is a hard reason for it: the ferries start moving out of the harbour early and the day breeze follows them. Season from the first of June — all of May is shut in Greece — with September and October the pick. Night is banned from sunset to sunrise, and here you would be sitting in the shipping anyway.
tide
The level here is not a factor — a couple of hand-widths. The tip of the cape is: the flow squeezes past it and speeds up, and where the two faces meet there is a shear line where you can watch your buoy get pulled away. Always drop up-current of the reef and let it carry you, never the other way round.
shelter
The cape at the town edge is a bare corner sticking out into the Libyan Sea, with the light on top of it. While the meltemi blows, the Lefka Ori hold everything off and the water under the cape lies flat. That is the only shelter on offer: from west round through south, this rock is the first thing the sea meets.
conditions
Northerly days only. With N or NE the reef is workable from eighteen down to forty-one metres and the water goes properly blue. In the 140 to 260 sector, worst at 210, the cape stands in the way of the whole fetch: whitewater on the rock, no safe exit, and a boat rolling so hard nobody wants to be in it.
hazard
This is the port corner. Paleochora runs ferries to Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro, Chora Sfakion and Gavdos, so the fairway and the harbour approaches are simply out, and you keep two hundred metres off harbour works, off the navigation light and off anchored boats. Buoy up and stay inside fifty metres of it.
access
Realistically a boat spot — five to ten minutes out of Paleochora harbour and you are on it, and from a boat you can shift as the traffic moves. From land you would be walking out over the rocks by the town beach and swimming a long way into open water for no reward. Park at Pachia Ammos if you insist on trying.
Rock/reef 18–41 m on the town-edge cape, exposed W/S; 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».
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
dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus · 8–35 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
white grouper
Epinephelus aeneus · 15–45 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
goldblotch grouper
Epinephelus costae · 10–35 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.
Mediterranean barracuda
Sphyraena viridensis · 3–25 m · min 150 g
No EU size — the 150 g minimum only. Histamine: bleed and chill at once.
Mediterranean parrotfish
Sparisoma cretense · 2–20 m · min 150 g
Eastern-Med delicacy (Crete/Dodecanese). No EU size — the 150 g minimum only.
brown meagre / corb
Sciaena umbra · 5–30 m · EU 1967/2006
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · 0–15 m · weight ≥750 g
Minimum by weight: ≥750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Don't take egg-bearing females.
devil firefish (lionfish)
Pterois miles · 5–40 m · invasive
⚠️ Invasive — removal encouraged, excellent flesh. Venomous spines: never grab bare-handed, cut the spines, treat a sting with hot water (>45 °C).
silver-cheeked toadfish
Lagocephalus sceleratus · 5–40 m · invasive
☠️ Invasive — kill, but DO NOT EAT: deadly toxin (TTX). Sale banned (Reg. 853/2004, Annex III Sect. VIII Ch. V(E)). Powerful beak bites — never string it live on a stringer.
rabbitfish
Siganus rivulatus / luridus · 2–20 m · invasive
Invasive — removal encouraged, edible and tasty. Venomous dorsal/anal/pelvic spines — remove carefully, treat a sting with hot water.
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.
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · 2–15 m · EU 1967/2006
striped red mullet
Mullus surmuletus · 3–30 m · EU 1967/2006
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m · EU 1967/2006
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · 0–15 m · EU 1967/2006
leerfish / garrick
Lichia amia · 2–20 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus · 0–8 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
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.
FAQ — spearfishing in Paleochora
Where can I spearfish in Paleochora?
Paleochora has rock entry points such as Gianniskari Reef, Gianniskari Cave and Schisto Lighthouse. The classic SW meltemi escape — clear, rugged Libyan reef off the N-wind axis; grouper, dentex. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Paleochora?
Greece's longest season — good from June to November (May closed nationally), warmest and clearest; the south, Libyan-sea coast is the lee when the north wind blows.
How cold is the water in Paleochora?
The warmest, clearest water in Greece (~25–27 °C in summer), tideless; deep blue over rock right off the shore.
Is Paleochora good for a beginner?
Intermediate: superb water and easy south-coast entries, but deep drop-offs and open exposure on the north — apnea comfort helps.
Do I need a licence in Paleochora?
No paid licence is needed in Paleochora — the amateur one was abolished (Law 4256/2014), but a free ΟΣΠΑ registration is being introduced (check gov.gr). Breath-hold only (no scuba), a mandatory «Υ.Δ.» buoy, 16+, daytime only, and the whole of May is closed. See the guide.
Which fish can you spear in Paleochora?
The species cards list 22 species with real presence in this basin; the strongest here are dusky grouper, white grouper, goldblotch grouper, common dentex, red porgy and white seabream. Minimum sizes in Greece are NATIONAL, not local: dusky grouper 45 cm · white grouper 45 cm · goldblotch grouper 45 cm · red porgy 18 cm · white seabream 23 cm · brown meagre / corb 25 cm · wreckfish / stone bass 45 cm · common octopus 750 g. Species with no EU size carry the 150 g floor only. Grouper (Epinephelus) — max 1/day, not banned (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2).
Is spearfishing banned in May in Paleochora?
Yes. May is a TOTAL spearfishing ban for the whole month, every year, across Greece (ΠΔ 373/1985, art. 3§1α) — so in Paleochora too. It is law in force, not a draft, and there is no local exemption. Plan June to April.
How many kilos of fish may I keep per day in Paleochora?
The daily limit is 5 kg, or one trophy heavier than the limit (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2). Grouper (Epinephelus) — max 1/day. Every fish must be at least 150 g (art. 3§2στ), and selling a recreational catch is prohibited (art. 1§7). The limit is national — in Paleochora it is the same as everywhere in Greece.
✓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).
Can I spearfish on scuba in Paleochora?
No. Freediving only: scuba and any air-supply apparatus are banned — they may not even be carried aboard (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2γ). In Paleochora the rest of the national frame applies too: 16+, daytime only, ≥200 m from bathers, harbours, moored vessels and marked nets, and a mandatory «Υ.Δ.» buoy you stay within 50 m of. Pneumatic and band guns are allowed; only powerheads are banned.
Portugal
Spain