Portopalo-Marzamemi · Italy

8.3

wave 0.8 m

visibility6m

Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 03:47

Sources & confidence

Sources: MeteoAlarm · buoys · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
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.

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 — 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.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app

MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 03:47

Portopalo-Marzamemi — solo, off the rocks

BEST WINDOW

best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal

wave 0.8 mwind 12 km/hvisibility ~6 mwindow 06:00–21:00

today, best window 18:00–21:00

fish · Visibility 6 m · Water 23.8°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.

Sunday · today2026-10-25

07:16–18:10 · full moon

▲ 03:00▼ 09:00▲ 15:00▼ 21:00 · 0.2 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.44 m

Wave0.76 m

Wind10 km/h

Water24 °C

fish activity: moonset 06:20 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:00 · high · moonrise 17:29 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.90 m · roughperiod 5.3 swind 19→30surge 0.4viz 3 m

0.90 mrough · up to ~1.80 · 260° at an angle

5.3 sswell moderate

19→30gusts 30 km/h

0.4weak surge

0.08m/s

3 mrecent swell

23.8°C5 mm + hood

▼09:00tide turn near

Atmosphere40 kmovercast

moderatemoonset

wave 0.9 m + swell period 5 s
steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
dawn/dusk

confidence mediumtwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

More spots

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Italy map →

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Feedback

Help us make it better

What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.

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

Capo TrecchiaPortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Isola delle CorrentiPortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: With ten metres of water 840 m from the shore, the band where you meet the local orders is all of it right here. The useful day is the one where permission, light and sea fall in the same window. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the season conditions the law more than it conditions the sea. A check takes two minutes to settle if your declaration is in order.
tide: Swell from the northwest moves more water in ten minutes than the tide moves in six hours. At Portopalo-Marzamemi nobody plans an outing around the tide, and they are right not to. Water pushing you towards the northwest, that is towards the open sea, is the signal to come out. In a hard Maestrale the water piles up inshore and drains away sideways.
shelter: Over the cap of a shoal the swell stands up before it reaches the shore: what looks flat from land can break over the top. The shore in front of the mark faces northwest, about 299°, so everything arriving from that sector gets in unobstructed. The strip between the shore and the 5 m contour, about 510 m here, is the first to churn and the last to clear. At Portopalo-Marzamemi whoever gets in first checks, whoever gets in out of habit is trusting yesterday.
conditions: The bottom here is measured and not narrated: the contours come from the EMODnet survey. The ground is long: the 20 m contour sits about 1200 m from the shore and the 10 m contour 840 m. In Maestrale the suspension stays inshore; in Scirocco it is gone in half a day. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the good days are few and have to be taken when they come.
hazard: The 500 m from used beaches starts at the water's edge, which is 10 m from here: in summer it is the first calculation to make. Detached rocks set up local currents that accelerate in the channel. With 510 m out to five metres, the exit is short only if you decide on it in time. The way back from 840 m out is longer than it looks once you are tired.
access: The first 510 m are the murkiest, and after them the bottom starts to read. For a shoal or a detached rock the access is a swim, and the distance is counted on the way out. With Maestrale strengthening the exit is brought forward, not discussed. At Portopalo-Marzamemi many accesses cross private property: if it is signed, look for another one.

Southernmost point, rock in current; big fish, calm only.

Google Maps

Isola di Capo PasseroPortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: Between the shore and five metres of water there are 820 m: that is the stretch you want to cover in good light. In doubt, the order in force at Portopalo-Marzamemi is asked of the Capitaneria and not of the neighbour in the car park. With Levante forecast to strengthen it pays to go earlier rather than to stay longer. The last stretch, the 1700 m out to ten metres of water, is the one you will swim tired: put it in the day's arithmetic.
tide: In a hard Levante the level rises more than any spring tide manages. Even at springs the band out to five metres stays 820 m wide: the level does not change the route. If the water carries you along the coast, come back inside the rock line. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the tide calendar is no substitute for reading the sea.
shelter: In Levante the detached rocks break the swell but hand it back confused, and that crossed sea tires you more than a clean wave. The good sector is the one opposite the opening: from the west the water stays still even in a steady blow. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the difference between a bad day and a good one is a hundred metres of coast, not an hour of waiting. If the swell starts working inside the 820 m of coastal strip, the session is over.
conditions: If you cannot see the bottom 820 m out, the day is over before it starts. On ground this flat the wind does more damage than the swell, because it stirs the whole layer. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the inshore current shifts the murk within hours: waiting sometimes works better than moving. With Levante strengthening, the good window closes without warning.
hazard: In Levante the passage between the shoal and the coast becomes the most dangerous part of the route. The marker has to follow you even when you are working 1700 m from the shore: 50 m from the vertical below it is the legal maximum. Keep in mind the 40 m that separate you from the coast when you decide on the last descent. A phone in a dry bag is worth more than any piece of kit.
access: The distance from the shore, 40 m, is minimal: the limit is set by the sea and not by the route. In Levante the crossing out to the shoal is worth thinking about twice, because on the way back you will have it against you. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the best place is the one you can leave without hurrying. Count the 820 m that separate you from the five-metre contour: they are the measure of the way back.

Marzamemi / Isola PiccolaPortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: The 500 m from used beaches is measured from the water's edge, and here the shore is 90 m from the mark: in bathing season do the arithmetic before getting in. On a shore oriented at 73° the usable light ends before the legal hour, which stays the hour of the sun. Note the hour you will come out before you get in: from 90 m of shore the way back always looks shorter than it is. Arrive with time to look the place over before getting in.
tide: If anything changes the level at Portopalo-Marzamemi, it is pressure and wind, not the moon. Low water uncovers nothing useful on this stretch of coast. With the shore 90 m from the mark, the alongshore current counts for more than any table. If the current takes you past the 1500 m of the ten-metre line, head straight back for land.
shelter: A detached rock carries its own lee with it, a few metres wide; outside those metres the sea is the open sea. The coast here runs S–N and opens to the east: that is what decides which forecast to read. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the swell forecast matters more than the wind forecast on this stretch. With Levante building, shorten the session instead of lengthening the route.
conditions: The distance to twenty metres, 2400 m, makes chasing depth pointless: work the structures close in instead. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the clarity is built on the days without swell, not on the hours without wind. Past 1500 m from the shore it is the water that decides the day and not the willingness. The best water nearly always arrives from offshore on a light Ponente.
hazard: Marked set nets are left alone: getting caught in a net on breath-hold is the most dangerous thing in the whole day. Around an islet the way back to shore is always longer than it looks from outside. At 90 m from the shore no emergency sorts itself out: come out at the first sign. At Portopalo-Marzamemi the conditions change faster than the forecast does.
access: With 90 m from the shore it pays to set off from the nearest point of the coast. Towards the rock it pays to start from the nearest point of the coast, not from the most comfortable one. If you do not fancy swimming the 1500 m back from ten metres of water, do not go any further out. In a hard Levante the windward exit becomes unusable: check an alternative.

Coastal islets; octopus, sea bream, mixed rock-posidonia bottom.

Punta CastellazzoPortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Punta delle FormichePortopalo-Marzamemi

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind (city-level)

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

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.

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

European seabass
<4 m · — · dawn/dusk
min. 25 cm · legal target
Gilthead seabream
1–4 m · over sand/weed · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
White seabream
1–5 m · in the surf on the reef · dawn
min. 23 cm · legal target
Two-banded seabream
1–8 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Sharpsnout seabream
2–10 m · — · dawn
min. 18 cm · legal target
Annular seabream
0–5 m · — · daytime
min. 12 cm · legal target
Common dentex
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
Red porgy
min. 18 cm · legal target
Common pandora
min. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
Axillary seabream
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
Blackspot seabream
min. 33 cm · legal target
Striped seabream
0–5 m · — · dawn
min. 20 cm · legal target
Black seabream
2–6 m · — · —
min. 15 cm · legal target
Bogue
min. 15 cm · legal target
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Dusky grouper
5–40 m · — · daytime
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Wreckfish
min. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
Brown meagre
2–15 m · — · twilight
min. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
Greater amberjack
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
Leerfish
min. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
Grey mullet
0–2 m · — · —
min. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
Red scorpionfish
3–20 m · — · daytime
min. 15 cm · legal target
Moray eel
1–15 m · — · twilight
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
European conger
2–25 m · — · night
min. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
Wrasse
min. 15 cm · legal target
Red mullet
min. 11 cm · legal target
Atlantic bonito
min. 25 cm · legal target
Common octopus
1–6 m · — · twilight
min. 450 g · legal target
Cuttlefish
legal target · (verify against the norm in force)

Law

✓NO paid licence, but a free MASAF REGISTRATION is mandatory (recreational sea-fishing declaration, online via SIAN/SPID, annual) — it is not a «licence».
✓Free-diving only: scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). The 16+ rule comes from a different act — D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 6 c. 5; handing a speargun to an under-16 is an offence (art. 13-octies c. 3 b, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only from dawn to sunset (art. 129e DPR 1639/68).
✓Distances (art. 129 DPR 1639/68): ≥500 m from beaches with bathers; ≥100 m from fixed gear/set nets and from vessels anchored outside ports.
✓Buoy MANDATORY (art. 130 DPR 1639/68): float with a red flag bearing a white diagonal stripe, visible ≥300 m; the diver stays within 50 m of the buoy/support boat.
✓The speargun may not be kept armed out of the water (art. 131 DPR 1639/68) — load only when submerged.
✓The spearfisher may NOT gather corals, crustaceans or molluscs — the second paragraph of the same article (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68; the same rule in D.M. 249/1987, art. 2). BUT cephalopods are EXCLUDED: octopus, cuttlefish and squid may be taken — the exception is kept in terms by the official guidance (circolare 6227201 of 23.07.1987). Mussels — up to 3 kg per person per day, but only with the Capo del Compartimento Marittimo's authorisation. The 5 kg daily cap counts EVERYTHING taken that day (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by L. 75/2026).
✓You MAY carry a speargun and a breathing apparatus on the same boat — but at most ONE cylinder of up to 10 L per vessel, and using it to fish is prohibited (art. 128-ter DPR 1639/68). While you are down, at least one person must stay aboard ready to intervene, and there must be a rope long enough to recover the diver.
✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
✓The 5 kg/person daily cap IS in force and carries a fine: €500–3 000 up to 10 kg, €2 000–12 000 up to 50 kg, €12 000–50 000 above (D.Lgs 4/2012, art. 13-octies c. 4, as replaced by Law 21 Apr 2026 no. 75). Exception: a single fish heavier than 5 kg. Recovery-plan species and bluefin tuna: +1/3 (c. 5).
✓Sicily (autonomous): on top of the national frame,

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 Portopalo-Marzamemi

Where can I spearfish in Portopalo-Marzamemi?

Portopalo-Marzamemi has rock entry points such as Isola di Capo Passero, Isola delle Correnti and Marzamemi / Isola Piccola. The southeast corner of Sicily, where the Ionian meets the Mediterranean: Capo Passero island always has a lee side, but currents are strong around it. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

When is the best season in Portopalo-Marzamemi?

You can dive almost all year, with first-rate visibility; summer and autumn remain the best months. The Tyrrhenian side (San Vito, Cefalù) and the Ionian/south (Siracusa, Portopalo) are complementary: pick the headland with the day's sheltered side.

How cold is the water in Portopalo-Marzamemi?

Warm and among the clearest in Italy: ~15–27 °C. A 3 mm suit in summer, 5 mm in the shoulder months. Visibility often over 15–20 m on calm days.

Is Portopalo-Marzamemi good for a beginner?

Intermediate: superb water, but the best fish is often near the MPAs where it's banned — know the boundaries exactly. Rock and reefs on every side; pick the lee side. Buoy always.

Do I need a licence in Portopalo-Marzamemi?

No — in Portopalo-Marzamemi there is no paid licence; a free MASAF declaration is mandatory (the recreational sea-fishing communication, online via SIAN/SPID, renewed each year), which is not a «licence». Breath-hold only (no scuba), with a marker buoy and no selling the catch. See the guide.

Full guide: spearfishing in Italy →

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Help us make it better

The water column

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The seabed

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

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

What's in season,
what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Portopalo-Marzamemi

Campania

Apulia

Portopalo-Marzamemi spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Portopalo-Marzamemi by email

Spots in Italy

🇮🇹Italy

Nearby towns

Sicily

Calabria

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

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

Where to get in off the rocks.

What's in season, what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Portopalo-Marzamemi

Campania

Apulia

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

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

Where to get in
off the rocks.

What's in season,
what the law says.