Porto Santo spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Porto Santo · Portugal
5.3
wave 1.2 m
visibility4m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and noticeable surge.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 01:51

Sources & confidence

Sources
IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
Method
Model consensus, read per window
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine

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.

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.
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.

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
calmupdated 01:51
Porto Santo — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wave 1.2 m + swell period 6 s
wave 1.2 mwind 16, gusts 27 km/hnoticeable surgevisibility ~5 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 23°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.

Thursday · today2026-07-23
07:12–21:11 · first quarter
▼ 03:00▲ 10:00▼ 16:00▲ 22:00 · 0.8 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.11 m
Wave1.18 m
Wind19 km/h
Water23 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:56 · moderate · moon underfoot 09:10 · high · moonrise 16:34 · moderate · moon overhead 21:30 · high
Conditions window06:00–09:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish ·
Hs 1.18 mperiod 5.8 swind 16→27surge 1.3viz 4 m
1.18 mup to ~2.36 · 20° at an angle
5.8 sswell moderate
16→27gusts 27 km/h
1.3noticeable surge
0.17m/s
4 mrecent swell
23°C5 mm + hood
▲10:00tide rising
Atmosphere36 kmlandmarks visible
highmoon underfoot
  • wave 1.2 m + swell period 6 s
  • wind-wave — choppy surface
  • flood — water rising
confidence mediumtwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points

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: 1152 spots across 189 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
Ponta da CalhetaCalheta / SW tip
borderline
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Morning on calm days; best season May–October. Busy spot (beach/restaurant nearby) — early or weekdays are quieter.
tide
Small range; at low tide the rock tidal pools at the point are exposed — entry a touch easier.
shelter
The headland where the south sandy beach ends and the rocky coast begins. Partly sheltered from E wind but open to SW/W swell and wind. Across the channel sits the protected Ilhéu da Cal.
hazard
Shorebreak on the point's rocks at entry/exit — the dominant danger; on W/SW swell it builds fast. The Boqueirão de Baixo channel between the point and Ilhéu da Cal can run current. Boat traffic near the islet.
access
End of the SW coastal road/cycle path; a cliff stairway drops to the rocky shore by Calheta beach.

Stay on the point's shallows and do NOT enter the waters around Ilhéu da Cal/Ilhéu de Cima — that is the Marine Protected Area (spearfishing there is authorization-only).

Google Maps
Zimbralinho BeachCabeço da Ponta / west coast · Praia do Zimbralinho
borderline
best candidate for today
in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind
window
Morning — the beach falls into cliff shadow by midday; best season May–October.
tide
Tide barely matters (small range on the island); at low water it is easier to enter off the pebble beach over the rocks.
shelter
Cove boxed in by tall cliffs, sheltered from the N and NE wind (the island's prevailing one); in shadow in the afternoon. Open to W/SW swell and wind.
hazard
Steep crumbling trail to the water — the descent is the real danger, especially loaded and in wet boots. Entry over rocks off the pebble beach: on W swell the shorebreak slams the boulders on exit. Remote and unattended — no help nearby.
access
From the west-island road (Morenos/Cabeço da Ponta area) a steep dirt trail drops to the cove; not for reduced mobility.

Local sources explicitly call Zimbralinho a 'good departure point for spearfishing'; volcanic pillow lavas on the bottom, crystalline water.

Google Maps
Porto dos Frades natural poolsSerra de Fora / NE coast · Piscinas Naturais do Porto dos Frades
dangerous
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
A calm summer morning with flat sea and low tide; otherwise stay out.
tide
Low water is essential — the pools and entry are only accessible at low tide; on high tide the rocks cover over.
shelter
Rugged rocky coast with natural tidal pools partly sheltered by a reef wall. This is the windward NE side of the island — little protected from Atlantic swell and wind; the shelter is only inside the pools themselves.
hazard
Windward coast: swell arrives without warning and on the rocks/pools it is easy to get trapped as the sea builds and thrown onto stone. Rocky approach is slippery. Very isolated. Solo — scout from land only, do not enter without a local.
access
Via the Serra de Fora trail/cycle path (Vila Baleira → Serra de Dentro) to the NE, then a scramble over rock to the pools; sturdy footwear needed.

Documented as a bathing/snorkel spot in the natural pools, not as a hunting mark — listed as a land scout only.

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

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — 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: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Meagre, Mullet · coming soon: Octopus (Sep)

In season now
  • Robalo (sea bass)
    <4 m · end of ebb → start of flood · dawn/dusk
    Prime target. Shy of light — pick early/twilight windows.
  • Sargo (white seabream)
    1–5 m · flood (rides the surf onto the reef) · dawn
    Dominant reef target. Visibility matters more than time of day.
  • Dourada (gilthead bream)
    1–4 m · flood over sand/weed · dawn
    Very skittish — static ambush.
  • Salema
    0–2 m · — · daytime
    Easiest target at 0–6 m. ⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
  • Tainha (mullet)
    0–2 m · — · —
    Extremely wary; murky water HINDERS it. Opportunistic, in calm coves.
  • Corvina (meagre)
    1–6 m (marginal) · — · twilight
    Near the Tagus mouth, NOT on the Guincho rocks. Adults mostly at 5–75 m. ⚠️ CLOSED 1–30 June (defeso).
  • Santola (spider crab)
    1–10 m · low water (reef shelf exposed) · calm morning (≤force 2)
    Carapace ≥12 cm. Peaks Jul–Aug. CLOSED 15.02–15.06. Limit 2 kg/day.
Law
🦀 spider crab open (season 16.06–14.02)
  • ✓Spearfishing licence required (16+), daily/monthly/annual (~€25/yr). Speargun = licence required.
  • ✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required.
  • ✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset→sunrise not allowed). Artificial light as a means of finding/attracting fish is banned — a torch for safety only.
  • ✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver.
  • ✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg.
  • ✓Invertebrates (including spider crab) — 2 kg/day total.
  • ✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too.
  • ✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g.
  • ✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken.
  • ⛔ Grouper (Epinephelus) — fully protected, capture PROHIBITED.
  • ⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus) — protected.

Rules change. Before heading out, check with DGRM / ICNF / Capitania and the defeso table.

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. At Cabo Raso/Arriba a 0.5 m rise in swell makes a boulder exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer here.
  • Headland rip: at Cabo Raso there is 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.
  • Nortada (Jun–Sep): wind builds from midday — be out of the water by ~11:00; 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 · Porto Santo

Spearfishing in Porto Santo: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-20 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Porto Santo is the golden-sand island northeast of Madeira, and its diving sits on the leeward south and southwest coast. The island's own high ground shields that side from the prevailing N/NE wind, so the sea lies down and the water turns very clear, up to 40-metre visibility on the right day. Best months are about May to October. Two shore marks are worth naming, Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta, both on the sheltered SW; the third, Porto dos Frades, is a windward pool you only read from land. National DGRM rules apply, and the reef around the Ilheu da Cal islets is a marine reserve where hunting needs a permit. Deep, remote water and steep rock entries make this poor ground to dive alone.

TL;DR

  • Porto Santo is Madeira's sheltered sister island. The diving is on the leeward south and southwest coast, where the island blocks the prevailing N/NE wind and the water runs glass-clear.
  • Season is roughly May to October, on calm mornings with little W/SW swell. Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta are the two shore marks on the sheltered side, and both entries break once a real swell wraps in, so you pick your day.
  • Porto dos Frades, on the wild NE coast, is a land-scout only: natural pools documented for bathing, not hunting, that settle only on a dead-calm summer low tide.
  • Rules follow national DGRM, with Madeira's own specifics worth confirming: licence from 16, apnea only, daylight only, Alfa buoy within 30 m. Keep out of the marine reserve around the Ilheu da Cal islets, where hunting is permit-only.

Best spearfishing entries on Porto Santo

None of these is the easy sandy beach the island is famous for. Two sit on the sheltered southwest coast, Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta, both down cliffs to rock. The third, Porto dos Frades, is a windward NE pool you scout from land and leave at that. On all three, the hard part is getting down the cliff and back out over the rock, more than anything under the water. And the reef around the Ilheu da Cal islets off Calheta is off the table: a marine reserve, permit-only.

SpotTypeDepthLevelAccessNotes
Praia do ZimbralinhoCliff-boxed pebble cove, west coastVolcanic pillow-lava reef on the bottom of the cove (depth not documented)The island's best pick, but high solo riskFrom the west-island road at Morenos / Cabeco da Ponta, a steep, crumbling dirt trail drops to the cove; not for reduced mobility.Local sources flag this as a genuine departure point for spearfishing, with volcanic pillow lava on the bottom and crystal water, clear to something like 40 m on a good day. The catch is the descent, not the dive: the trail is loose and dangerous loaded and in wet boots. It sits open to W/SW swell, when the shorebreak slams the boulders on your exit, and the cove goes into cliff shadow by midday, so it's a morning spot. Remote, with no one around if it goes wrong.
Ponta da CalhetaRocky headland at the SW tipRocky shallows off the point, beside the Boqueirao de Baixo channelIntermediate fallback, high solo riskAt the end of the SW coastal road and cycle path; a cliff stairway drops to the rocky shore beside Calheta beach.This is where the long south beach ends and the rock begins, partly tucked from the E wind but open to SW/W swell. The dominant danger is the shorebreak on the point at entry and exit; it builds fast, and kayakers have had to punch out through breaking waves. The Boqueirao de Baixo channel between the point and the islet can run current. Do not cross into the water around the Ilheu da Cal and Ilheu de Cima, which is a marine reserve where spearfishing is authorization-only. It's a busy corner with a beach and restaurant, so go early or midweek, and mind the boat traffic by the islet.
Piscinas Naturais do Porto dos FradesNatural tidal pools, windward NE coastSheltered tidal pools behind the rock wall; open ocean the moment you leave themAdvanced, land-scout only (red)Along the Serra de Fora trail and cycle path from Vila Baleira toward Serra de Dentro, then a scramble over rock to the pools; sturdy footwear.Documented as a bathing and snorkel spot in the pools, not a hunting mark, and that is how it is listed here, as a scout from land. This is the windward NE side, so swell arrives without warning and it's easy to get pinned on the rock as the sea builds. It only settles on a dead-calm summer morning at low tide, when the pools and the entry actually open. Very isolated; don't get in without someone local.

When does Porto Santo dive best?

Roughly May to October, on the calm mornings before the afternoon breeze fills in. The whole plan hangs on the island's shape. The prevailing wind is N/NE, and the south and southwest coast sits in its lee, so that side is usually the sheltered, clear one, and the water can open right out on the best days. Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta want little W/SW swell; once a real swell wraps in, the entries break and close out. Porto dos Frades on the NE is the reverse, settling only in a flat summer calm at low water. Tide barely moves the needle here, the range on the island is small, though low water does make the rock entries a touch easier and the descents no less slippery.

Which coast do you dive, and where can't you?

You dive the leeward side. With the usual N/NE wind the south and southwest coast is the sheltered, clear water, and that's where Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta are; if the wind swings north, you follow the lee around the island. The hard line is the marine reserve. The reef around the Ilheu da Cal and Ilheu de Cima, the islets off Ponta da Calheta, is protected, and spearfishing there needs authorization, so stay on the point's shallows and out of that water. Porto dos Frades on the NE is a softer no. There the barrier is the sea itself, a windward coast that only settles on a flat summer calm, so read it from land and leave it unless you are with a local.

What can you catch, and what do the rules say?

It fishes as island ground: sargo and other reef fish over the volcanic rock, sea bass, and amberjack passing through on the blue-water edge, with the Madeirense wreck offshore holding fish for anyone on a boat. The sizes here are the national DGRM figures for mainland Portugal, and as an autonomous region Madeira can set its own, so treat them as the baseline to confirm. White seabream is 17 cm, sea bass 36 cm, gilthead 19 cm, black seabream 23 cm, and octopus 750 g; meagre is 42 cm and closed nationwide through June. Grouper and mero are protected, so leave them. You need a spearfishing licence from age 16, it's apnea only and daylight only, and the Alfa buoy stays within 30 m of you.

FAQ

Where can you spearfish on Porto Santo?

The two shore marks are Zimbralinho and Ponta da Calheta on the sheltered southwest coast. Porto dos Frades on the NE is a land scout only, and the reef around the Ilheu da Cal islets is a marine reserve you keep out of.

Is the water really that clear at Porto Santo?

On the leeward southwest coast, on a calm day in season, yes; locals rate it among the clearest water in the archipelago. A W/SW swell, or a north wind on the wrong coast, will cut it right down.

When is the season on Porto Santo?

About May to October, best on the flat mornings before the afternoon breeze. Outside that window, and on any real W/SW swell, the entries break and it's not worth it.

Do I need a licence to spearfish here?

Yes. A Portuguese spearfishing licence from age 16, apnea only, daylight only, with an Alfa buoy within 30 m. Grouper and mero are protected, and Madeira may set its own regional details worth checking.

Can you hunt around the Ilheu da Cal?

Not freely. The islets off Ponta da Calheta, Ilheu da Cal and Ilheu de Cima, sit inside a marine reserve where spearfishing is allowed only with authorization. Stay on the headland's shallows instead.

Sources

Region: Madeira

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