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 17:36
Paxos — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · northerly wind picks up after midday
wave 0.1 m head-onwind 11 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 18:00–21:00
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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Light here works against the timetable: the wall faces west, so before midday the sun barely touches it, and by the time it does the breeze is already up. The working window is late morning. The season runs June to October, in May hunting is closed nationwide, and night is off limits from sunset to sunrise.
tide
The water at the wall here is layered: by late summer a cold layer sits deep, you feel the boundary on your skin, and the fish often hold just under it. High and low water differ by two or three tens of centimetres, which gives you nothing to plan on. There is no freshwater murk — this coast has no streams.
shelter
There is no shelter here in the usual sense, only the shadow of the island: high ground cuts the flow from the east, and with an offshore wind a smooth band a couple of hundred metres wide stands under the wall. Let the wind swing past south-west and the band is gone — the wave bounces off the vertical rock and doubles on itself.
conditions
The ideal set-up is three or four quiet days in a row with no westerly component: then visibility at fifteen to thirty metres opens out to full shooting range. A fresh south-westerly kills it outright, and an old windless swell is sneakier — glass on top, but down below it rocks you along the wall.
hazard
The danger here is geometry, not fish: the vaults run back into the rock, light drops away fast, and without a torch and a partner on top you lose your reference in ten seconds. You do not carry a gun into the narrows. There is no anchorage under the wall — a buoy is mandatory and someone stays aboard, or the boat drifts off.
access
You get in off the water, and the drop is done under way: you can run right up to the cliff but you cannot anchor, the bottom falls away steeply. Twenty minutes from Lakka down the western edge, longer from Gaios and right round the island. The nearest beach is far off, so a shore option simply does not exist.
W-coast cavern 15–30 m, boat, high viz; W-swell exposure. Inside the 200 m coastal band spearfishing is banned 1 Apr–31 Oct (Corfu port authority, ΦΕΚ 3269/Β/2024).
The boat timetable decides everything: from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon the coves are packed with day trips from Paxos and Corfu and there is nowhere to work. The real windows are before nine and the last hour before sunset. The season starts in June and is quietest in September. May is closed, and no gun in the water at night.
tide
Forget the tide here — the level wanders within ten to forty centimetres. What you count is the drift: in the strait between Paxos and Antipaxos a settled wind sets up a real flow, and past the mouth of the cove it pulls you along the shore. The shallow sand heats up and a warm lens sits on top.
shelter
The eastern coves of Antipaxos sit behind the island's low but unbroken spine, and it kills everything coming from west and south-west — exactly the sector that ruins Paxos. What is open here is the east; with wind off the mainland the coves fill with short chop and the shallows lose their clarity.
conditions
Shallows from two to twenty metres forgive almost any weather out of the western half, and on those days everyone comes here. The bad ones are a fresh east or south-east: the sandy bottom stirs at once, and from two metres down visibility drops to arm's length. A hard southerly pushes wave into the coves too.
hazard
The problem here is people, not terrain: Voutoumi and Vrika are organised beaches, you owe swimmers two hundred metres and anchored yachts and day boats three hundred. Work out toward the rocky ends of the coves and keep the buoy visible. The bottom is bare sand in places, and urchins sit behind the rocks.
access
There is no road to Antipaxos — only water: twenty to twenty-five minutes south-east from Gaios by boat. Scheduled launches run too, but with them you are tied to a timetable and a crowd. The jetty at Agrapidia is small and the eastern coves have nowhere to tie up, so most people work straight off the boat.
Gin-clear shallows 2–20 m off Antipaxos' sheltered E beaches, boat; easy and calm. Inside the 200 m coastal band spearfishing is banned 1 Apr–31 Oct (Corfu port authority, ΦΕΚ 3269/Β/2024).
You can work here in the middle of the day, since the westerly breeze does not reach round, but between ten and five ferries and day boats run through the channel — early morning or the hour before sunset is the sane choice. The season opens on 1 June and holds into November. May is out, and so is anything after sundown.
tide
The level swings ten to thirty centimetres and means nothing. The real movement is in the passages between the island and the small islets alongside: the flow squeezes through there, and on a wind change you feel the drift even at thirty metres. After heavy rain a murky fresh tongue runs out of Gaios bay on the surface.
shelter
The south-east corner of the island: here you work in the lee of the whole landmass, and when swell rolls in from the west the water by the shore stays almost still. The price is exposure to east and south-east; with a settled southerly the wave wraps in from the mainland channel and the shallow part goes cloudy fast.
conditions
This is the fallback for days when the west of the island is written off: while swell hammers over there, ten to thirty metres here stays calm and readable. Do not come on a fresh southerly or south-easterly — the sandy patches lift a haze. A hard northerly also drives water down the east shore.
hazard
Legally this is the tightest patch on the island: you must keep three hundred metres off the Gaios quays, the same off moored vessels and set nets, and swimmers use Mongonisi beach, where the limit is two hundred metres. Add the ferry track: without a bright buoy nobody here will see you.
access
Closest run is from Gaios: ten minutes south along the eastern edge, past Mongonisi. In theory you could paddle out to part of the reef from the southern road, but the scramble down is steep and the swim long, so almost everyone comes by water. Park the boat offshore, outside the bathing zone.
Sheltered E/SE caves and reef 10–30 m in the island's lee, boat; the calm alternative when the west is swelly. Inside the 200 m coastal band spearfishing is banned 1 Apr–31 Oct (Corfu port authority, ΦΕΚ 3269/Β/2024).
An early start is not optional: by lunchtime the westerly breeze sets up a short wave, and at these depths that is no longer work. June and September give the quietest surface; August is noisy with boats out of Corfu. May is shut across Greece, and you shoot only in daylight, sunrise to sunset.
tide
Tidal range in the Ionian is a couple of tens of centimetres, and at fifty metres it simply does not exist. What does stand out on this wall is a cold layer: in summer you feel the boundary somewhere down the drop, and below it the water is noticeably colder and cleaner. After long westerlies, properly icy water comes up from below.
shelter
Cover here comes only from the land: the whole mass of the island stands behind you, so the eastern half of the compass is safe. To the west, deep water runs right up to the wall, nothing slows the wave on its way in, and with wind anywhere from south-west to north-west the place turns into a washboard.
conditions
You only come here in a flat calm: a range of twenty-five to fifty-four metres does not forgive chop, because the breathe-up and the ascent take time and the surface has to hold you steady. Even half a metre of westerly swell turns deep work into a lottery. An easterly is the green light.
hazard
This is a place for people who count their depth honestly: the wall runs to fifty-four metres with no ledges, so there is nothing to bail out onto on the way up. Work the top of the wall and leave the bottom as a reference. Buoy and a safety who watches you start to finish are mandatory. Going inside the cave at this depth: no.
access
Boat only, and better with a local at the wheel: the mark sits against the vertical about halfway down the west coast, there is nothing to line up on and you close it on GPS. From Gaios round the southern tip is roughly half an hour, from Lakka it is shorter. You drop in on the drift — there is no mooring under the rock.
Deep W-cliff cave/wall 25–54 m, boat, big-blue; advanced, W-exposed. Inside the 200 m coastal band spearfishing is banned 1 Apr–31 Oct (Corfu port authority, ΦΕΚ 3269/Β/2024).
Work from first light until nine: the sea settles overnight, and from midday the westerly breeze gets up and the wall starts to roll. The season opens on the first of June; the best water is September and October, when the excursion boats thin out. All of May is shut across Greece, and night hunting is banned, sunset to sunrise.
tide
The Ionian tide gives ten to forty centimetres at most and it changes nothing for hunting. What matters is different: even an old, low westerly swell pumps the cavern, the water at the mouth surges a metre back and forth, and on a dive it can press you into the roof. Read the mouth from the surface before you go in.
shelter
The cavern is cut into the western wall of Paxos and the only thing covering it is the island itself: a ridge over two hundred metres high kills anything arriving from the east and north-east. From west and north-west there is no cover at all — the 230 to 320 sector hits the cliff head-on and swell walks into the cave mouth.
conditions
Come here on an easterly or south-easterly: it rolls off the olive hills and lays the water flat along the wall. Any westerly cancels the trip — down at fifteen to twenty-five metres the holes are still readable, but at the entrance the chop wrecks your breathing and the backwash pulls you off the roof.
hazard
The cave itself is the main risk: never go inside alone, with a loaded gun or without a light, and swell turns the narrow mouth into a piston. Lobster sit in the holes at fifteen to twenty-five metres, and that is also where you shred a hand on rock. A buoy is mandatory — excursion boats from Corfu and Parga run overhead.
access
Boat only: the west wall drops straight into the water, there is no path down and no way in from the shore. From Lakka, where the island's dive school sits, it is fifteen to twenty minutes round the north cape; from Gaios round the south end it takes three times that. There is nowhere to moor — keep someone on the helm.
Classic W-cliff cave 15–25 m, boat; lobster/grouper/octopus in the holes, W-facing and swell-exposed. Inside the 200 m coastal band spearfishing is banned 1 Apr–31 Oct (Corfu port authority, ΦΕΚ 3269/Β/2024).
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».
Paxos — Gaios harbour + waterfront (YouTube live)YouTube live — Gaios harbour + waterfront. Embeddable under YouTube's terms (owner left embedding on). Read the water before you go.camera: youtube ↗
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).
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).
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–12 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.
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · 0–15 m · weight ≥750 g
Minimum by weight: ≥750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Don't take egg-bearing females.
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.
red porgy
Pagrus pagrus · 15–40 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.
flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus · 0–8 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
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
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).
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.
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 Paxos
Where can I spearfish in Paxos?
Paxos has rock entry points such as Vassilis Cavern, Alexanders Cave and Space Cave. Tiny, premium-clear and cave-riddled. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
When is the best season in Paxos?
June to October (May closed nationally); the Ionian west sees far less meltemi than the Aegean, so calm windows are more frequent.
How cold is the water in Paxos?
Softer, greener, milder water than the Aegean, tideless; good visibility but more life and a touch more colour.
Is Paxos good for a beginner?
Easy to moderate: more shelter and fewer wind days than the Aegean make the Ionian a forgiving place to dive.
Do I need a licence in Paxos?
No paid licence is needed in Paxos — 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. Note: the Zakynthos (Laganas) marine park in this region restricts/bans spearfishing — check the zone boundaries. See the guide.
Which fish can you spear in Paxos?
The species cards list 19 species with real presence in this basin; the strongest here are dusky grouper, common dentex, white seabream, gilthead seabream, European seabass and leerfish / garrick. Minimum sizes in Greece are NATIONAL, not local: dusky grouper 45 cm · white seabream 23 cm · gilthead seabream 20 cm · European seabass 25 cm · wreckfish / stone bass 45 cm · red porgy 18 cm · striped seabream 20 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 Paxos?
Yes. May is a TOTAL spearfishing ban for the whole month, every year, across Greece (ΠΔ 373/1985, art. 3§1α) — so in Paxos 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 Paxos?
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 Paxos 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 Paxos?
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 Paxos 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
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