Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding.
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
Our own model
Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.
Safety gates
It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.
A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.
Where to get in, where to hunt
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Piha, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.
Now live: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.
Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.
Open the seafloor mapFarley Point — headland by Piha. Entry from the shore. Published sources: 1. Plan the session on the Piha swell and tide forecast. Object type: headland, official place name. Check the seabed and conditions on site before entering the water.
Google MapsKarekare Point, Piha: headland. Entry from the shore. Published sources: 1. Plan the session on the Piha swell and tide forecast. Object type: headland, official place name. Check the seabed and conditions on site before entering the water.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Rules as of now — 25.10.2026 17:27 (Pacific/Auckland)
The front ledges of Lion Rock, the volcanic neck between North and South Piha, long fished from shore for kahawai. Reachable only on a good day; the track round the rock floods within 15-20 minutes on the tide. Most people drowned at Piha were fishers washed off the rocks. West coast visibility is usually poor.
Google MapsParera Point — headland by Piha. You walk in from the shore. Published sources: 1. Plan the session on the Piha swell and tide forecast. Object type: headland, official place name. Check the seabed and conditions on site before entering the water.
Google MapsA ledge at the south end of Whites Beach, reached from North Piha over the hill and along the ridge. Anglers take snapper and kahawai here in swell just under 2 m. The sandbank in front of the ledge shifts, and locals warn of 4-5 m rogue sets.
Google MapsSOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.
Rules change and are regional. Before heading out, check with MPI (regional fishing rules / the NZ Fishing Rules app), DOC (marine reserves) and local notices (rāhui/mātaitai).
Piha has rock entry points such as Lion Rock Front Ledges, Whites Beach South-End Ledge and Farley Point. Piha faces west, and swell from the south-south-west round to the north-north-west closes it. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
Summer (Dec–Apr) — clearer at the Hauraki islands; murky near the city.
Summer 18–22 °C — 3–5 mm suit; winter 15 °C — 5 mm. Hauraki Gulf.
Moderate: murky near the city, boat to the clear islands.
No — New Zealand has no recreational sea-fishing licence, so anyone may spearfish at Piha; MPI's size, bag and gear rules still apply and they are set per MPI fishing area: Piha is in the Auckland and Kermadec area, where the combined finfish daily limit is 20. Pāua is free-dive only — having underwater breathing apparatus while taking pāua is banned nationwide — crayfish (rock lobster) may be taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, never speared — MPI's rules set no scuba ban for crayfish; spearfishing is banned inside every marine reserve, and mātaitai, taiāpure and rāhui must be respected. See the guide.
