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

spearo.app / Belize / Placencia
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◈Placencia · Belize
5.3
wave 0.4 m head-on
visibility~3m

Marginal

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

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 16:56

Sources & confidence

Sources
Open-Meteo · Copernicus
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.

Entry pointsNo-take zones

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.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
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point your camera
0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app
updated 16:56
Placencia — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind 11 km/h, gusts to 28 — caution
wave 0.4 m head-onwind 11, gusts 28 km/hvisibility ~3 mwindow 15:00–18:00
today, best window 15:00–18:00
fish · Visibility 3 m · Water 31.5°C
confidence medium · verdict for the selected day
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.

Monday · today2026-10-12
05:45–17:34 · waxing crescent
▼ 04:00▼ 12:00▲ 17:00▲ 19:00 · 0.1 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.22 m
Wave0.34 m
Wind4 km/h
Water31 °C
fish activity: moon underfoot 00:50 · high · moonrise 07:25 · moderate · moon overhead 13:10 · high · moonset 18:54 · moderate
Conditions window15:00–18:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.36 m · calmperiod 4.5 s head-onwind 11→28surge 0.6viz 3 m
0.36 mcalm · up to ~0.72 · 78° head-on
4.5 sswell moderate
11→28gusts 28 km/h
0.6weak surge
0.14m/s
3 mrain and mountain runoff
31.5°C5 mm + hood
▲17:00tide turn near
Atmosphere24 kmlandmarks visible
lowoff the lunar peaks
  • wind 11 km/h, gusts to 28 — caution
  • dawn/dusk
confidence mediumtwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points →
Coming soon

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

Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Placencia, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.

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More spots

Spots in Belize

🇧🇿Belize

Belize map →

Nearby towns

  • Monkey River
  • Hopkins (Belize)
  • Dangriga
  • Tobacco Caye
  • Punta Gorda (Belize)

South: Stann Creek & Toledo

  • Glover's Reef (Long Caye)

Northern Cayes & Atolls

  • Belize City
  • Turneffe Atoll (Blackbird Caye)
  • Caye Caulker
  • San Pedro (Ambergris Caye)
  • Sarteneja

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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Placencia · a planner, not a safety guaranteePrivacy
Today
Notify me
Map
Best window · next 3 days
gotomorrow · 15:00–18:00
you can see ~4 m ahead fish

〜 tide is minor here bite times: 06:55–07:55 · 12:10–14:10

Tell me when it's on

Just your email — nothing else needed.

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
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point your camera
−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.

See all spots →
−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

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

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.

Entry points

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 →
Bugle CayePlacencia
borderline
Outside a mapped reserve: spearfishing needs a Belize fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20); no fishing with scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7).
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~4 m, boat access. Coords approx.

Google Maps
Lark CayePlacencia
borderline
Outside a mapped reserve: spearfishing needs a Belize fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20); no fishing with scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7).
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~4 m, boat access. Coords approx.

Google Maps
Laughing Bird CayePlacencia
borderline
⛔ Banned here
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~10 m, boat access. Popular dive site — watch for divers and boats. Inside Laughing Bird Caye National Park (OSM boundary, approx.) — spearfishing banned. Coords approx.

Google Maps
Little Water CayePlacencia
borderline
Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve begins about 4.7 km to the east; inside it, spearfishing of any kind is banned throughout the reserve, and carrying a speargun there counts as spearfishing (Belize Fisheries (Marine Reserve) (Prohibition) Regulations, SI 76/2009, reg. 2 and Schedule).
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~12 m, boat access. Popular dive site — watch for divers and boats. Coords approx.

Google Maps
Pompion CayePlacencia
borderline
Outside a mapped reserve: spearfishing needs a Belize fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20); no fishing with scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7).
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~12 m, boat access. Open to the trade-wind chop — calm days only. Coords approx.

Google Maps
Ranguana CayePlacencia
borderline
Outside a mapped reserve: spearfishing needs a Belize fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20); no fishing with scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7).
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Caye reef, to ~12 m, boat access. Open to the trade-wind chop — calm days only. Coords approx.

Google Maps

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.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
Google Play — QR code
point your camera
≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now
  • no targets this month
Law

    Belize: spearfishing needs a fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20) and no fishing on scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7). Hol Chan, Bacalar Chico, the Caye Caulker reserve, Glover's Reef and the national parks and monuments (Half Moon Caye, Laughing Bird Caye) are closed to spearfishing; Turneffe, South Water Caye and Sapodilla have zoned rules. Check current rules locally.

    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 Placencia

    Where can I spearfish in Placencia?

    Placencia has rock entry points such as Laughing Bird Caye, Little Water Caye and Pompion Caye. A village at the tip of a long sandy peninsula — the base for trips to the southern barrier reef. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

    When is the best season in Placencia?

    March–June; spring spawning aggregations and whale sharks at Gladden Spit; June–November hurricanes.

    How cold is the water in Placencia?

    About 26–30 °C; visibility 4–8 m along the mainland, 20–30 m at Glover's Atoll.

    Is Placencia good for a beginner?

    Moderate: the outer reefs and atolls are boat-only; Glover's Reef and the national parks are closed to spearfishing.

    Do I need a licence in Placencia?

    Placencia: Belize: spearfishing needs a fishing licence (Fisheries Resources Act 2020, s. 20) and no fishing on scuba without a special permit (Fisheries Regulations, reg. 7). Hol Chan, Bacalar Chico, the Caye Caulker reserve, Glover's Reef and the national parks and monuments (Half Moon Caye, Laughing Bird Caye) are closed to spearfishing; Turneffe, South Water Caye and Sapodilla have zoned rules. Check current rules locally.

    Data partners
    dive centres that send us real visibility readings
    Águas VivasMilfontes · Sagres

    transparency ~10 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore