Where can you spearfish near Rovinj?

The listed entries are Sv. Ivan na Pučini, Sv. Andrija on Red Island, Rt Montauro and a stone point by Rovinj. Check special-area and harbour boundaries before entering.

Is spearfishing banned in Lim Bay?

Lim Bay is not one of the listed Rovinj entries here. Treat it as a separate special-area question and confirm the current boundary and conditions before diving.

What fish can you spearfish in Rovinj?

The spot notes mention dentex, black bream, white seabream, conger eel, gilthead seabream and sea bass. National minimum sizes apply.

Do you need a license to spearfish in Croatia?

Yes. You need the sport sea-fishing licence for a speargun. The ordinary recreational licence does not cover spearfishing.

Can tourists buy a spearfishing licence in Croatia?

Yes. Tourists can buy day and multi-day sport sea-fishing licences online at ribarstvo.mps.hr.

When is kirnja closed in Croatia?

Kirnja, the dusky grouper, is closed to spearfishing from 1 Jul to 31 Aug. Outside the closure, the limit is one specimen.

Rovinj spearfishing forecast — Croatia

Q: How much does the Croatia sport licence cost in 2026?

It costs €10 for 1 day, €25 for 3 days, €45 for 7 days and €79.63 annually, plus mandatory HSSRM membership of €10.

Rovinj · Croatia

8.0

wave 0.1 m

visibility3m

Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 04:05

Sources & confidence

Sources: MeteoAlarm · 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 04:05

Rovinj — solo, off the rocks

BEST WINDOW

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

wave 0.1 mwind 8 km/hvisibility ~3 mwindow 06:00–21:00

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 3 m · Water 21.2°C

confidence high · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

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

07:34–18:03 · full moon

▼ 02:00▲ 09:00▼ 15:00▲ 22:00mid-range tides · 0.9 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.24 m

Wave0.04 m

Wind7 km/h

Water21 °C

fish activity: moonset 06:38 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:00 · high · moonrise 17:20 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish

Hs 0.14 m · calmperiod 2.3 swind 8→12surge 0viz 3 m

0.14 mcalm · up to ~0.28 · 341° at an angle

2.3 sswell moderate

8→12gusts 12 km/h

0weak surge

0.17m/s

3 msatellite: water here is usually murkier

21.2°C5 mm + hood

▲09:00tide turn near

Atmosphere24 kmlandmarks visible

moderatemoonset

calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
flood toward high water

confidence hightwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

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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».

connecting to the stream…

Rovinj — stari gradwhatsupcams live — Rovinj — stari grad. Direct HLS (open CORS) plays in the browser. Check the water before you go.camera: whatsupcams ↗

connecting to the stream…

Rovinj — lukawhatsupcams live — Rovinj — luka. Direct HLS (open CORS) plays in the browser. Check the water before you go.camera: whatsupcams ↗

connecting to the stream…

Rovinj — obalawhatsupcams live — Rovinj — obala. Direct HLS (open CORS) plays in the browser. Check the water before you go.camera: whatsupcams ↗

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

common dentex
Dentex dentex · 12–40 m
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m
dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus · 8–40 m · ⛔ closed 1 Jul–31 Aug
Kirnja (grouper): spearfishing for grouper is closed 1 Jul–31 Aug. A vulnerable, slow-growing fish — please release it. National daily limit 5 kg.
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · 0–15 m
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–12 m
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · 2–20 m

Law

✓Speargun fishing is allowed ONLY with the SPORT sea-fishing licence (dozvola za športski ribolov na moru) — the ordinary does NOT cover it; tourists are eligible. 2026 fees: 1-day €10 / 3-day €25 / 7-day €45 / annual €79.63, plus mandatory HSSRM membership €10. Buy the day/multi-day online at ribarstvo.mps.hr; the annual is issued via HSSRM/clubs.
✓Breath-hold only, from age 16, and daylight only — from sunset to sunrise speargun fishing is prohibited; in the water you must be marked at the surface (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 31.).
✓Kirnje (Epinephelus spp., Polyprion americanus, Mycteroperca rubra): closed 1 Jul–31 Aug (Pravilnik NN 64/2023, čl. 5.); outside that season, at most 1 specimen for the whole group (Pravilnik NN 48/2026, čl. 11.). The general daily bag is 5 kg per fisher (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 33.). A vulnerable, slow-growing fish — release when in doubt.
✓Marking in the water: an orange or red buoy at least 30 cm across at the centre of the dive area — or a diver's flag (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 31., which sends you to Pravilnik NN 47/99, čl. 4.). There is NO national «10-litre buoy» rule: it lives inside PP Lastovsko otočje (NN 154/2009, čl. 34.) — and that is where, and only where, the two-speargun limit applies too.
✓Sport and recreational catch may not be placed on the market — selling it is prohibited (Pravilnik NN 48/2026, čl. 8.).
✓Towing the fisher behind a vessel and using an underwater scooter are both prohibited while spearfishing (Pravilnik NN 48/2026, čl. 9.).
✓Per-piece caps on top of the five kilos: octopus — 2, Eunice roussaei — 2, all Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) — 0. Kept fish of the 23 listed species must be marked immediately by cutting off the lower lobe of the caudal fin, and cephalopods by a deep incision between the eyes (Pravilnik NN 48/2026, čl. 11.). The five-kilo day itself is set by the act (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 33.).
✓Aquaculture: no fishing of any kind on a farm or within 300 m of the mark showing its position (50 m for shellfish-growing areas), or of the concession boundary (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 14., in the NN 14/2024 redaction).
✓Inside a national park, a special marine reserve or a nature park you need a SEPARATE permit from the managing public institution on top of the state licence; the nature-protection ministry may also close fishing there outright (Pravilnik NN 48/2026, čl. 13.). In waters under a special management regime the limits of the acts that establish that regime apply (Pravilnik NN 125/2020, čl. 2.).
✓One national minimum-size table: dentex 30 cm, brown meagre 30 cm, scorpionfish 25 cm, white seabream 23 cm, gilthead 20 cm, amberjack 35 cm, dorado 35 cm, octopus 1 kg (Pravilnik NN 64/2023, čl. 3.). Dorado (Coryphaena hippurus) is closed to sport and recreational fishing from 1 January to 14 August (NN 134/2024, čl. 2.). Bluefin and albacore tuna, swordfish, eel, large crustaceans, corals and sponges — do not take them at all (ZOMR NN 62/17, čl. 32., in the NN 14/2024 redaction).

⛔ Fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) — strictly protected, taking/disturbing prohibited (mass die-off from a pathogen).
⛔ Date mussel (Lithophaga lithophaga) — harvesting strictly banned (destroys the reef).
⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and monk seal (Monachus monachus) — protected, taking/disturbing prohibited.

Rules change and fees/seasons are updated yearly. Before heading out, check the Ministry of Agriculture fisheries portal (ribarstvo.mps.hr) and get the SPORT licence (the annual via HSSRM/a club); a speargun without it is illegal.

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.

Spearfishing in Rovinj: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing in Rovinj is built around an offshore archipelago rather than a single city beach. The useful mapped names are Sv. Ivan na Pučini, Sv. Andrija on Red Island, Rt Montauro and a stone point by Rovinj. The coast faces the more open northern Adriatic, with a bad sector from 165 to 285 degrees and the worst direction around 225 degrees. In plain terms, west and southwest energy matter. Before that local choice, handle the Croatia licence issue: spearguns require the sport sea-fishing licence, not the ordinary recreational one. Then check special-area boundaries, harbour traffic and the rock exit you plan to use.

TL;DR

Rovinj is an Istrian island-and-reef plan: Sv. Ivan na Pučini, Red Island, Rt Montauro and the town stone point are the mapped entries.

Croatia's speargun licence rule is strict. You need the SPORT sea-fishing licence; the ordinary recreational licence does not cover spearfishing.

The 2026 prices are €10 for 1 day, €25 for 3 days, €45 for 7 days and €79.63 annually, plus mandatory HSSRM membership of €10.

Breath-hold only, age 16+, daylight only, max two spearguns and a marker buoy. Kirnja, dusky grouper, is closed from 1 Jul to 31 Aug and capped at one fish outside that period.

Best spearfishing spots in Rovinj, Sveti Ivan and Red Island

Rovinj's list is more offshore than Split's. Sv. Ivan na Pučini is a shoal with dentex and black bream in the note. Red Island gives a rock-islet setting with white seabream and conger. Rt Montauro is the current-marked rock point for gilthead and sea bass, while the town stone point is the closer white seabream and gilthead option. Access instructions and safety ratings are not provided, so treat every entry as a forecast-and-exit decision, not as a guaranteed easy shore dive.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Sv. Ivan na Pučini	Shoal	Shoal, no separate depth number	Not separately rated	Access note not specified	Dentex and black bream are named in the spot description. Use it only with a calm enough island forecast and a marker buoy that boats can see.
Sv. Andrija (Crveni otok)	Rock islet wall

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in Croatia

🇭🇷Croatia

Istria

Kvarner

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

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.

Spearfishing in Rovinj: spots, seasons and rules

TL;DR

Best spearfishing spots in Rovinj, Sveti Ivan and Red Island

North Dalmatia

Central Dalmatia (Split)

Spearfishing conditions in Rovinj today

Spearfishing gilthead, sea bass and bream in Rovinj

Do you need a sport fishing licence to spearfish in Rovinj?

Is spearfishing banned in Lim Bay or Brijuni near Rovinj?

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

Rovinj spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

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

Spots in Croatia

🇭🇷Croatia

Istria

Kvarner

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.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Best spearfishing spots in Rovinj, Sveti Ivan and Red Island

North Dalmatia

Central Dalmatia (Split)

Spearfishing conditions in Rovinj today

Spearfishing gilthead, sea bass and bream in Rovinj

Do you need a sport fishing licence to spearfish in Rovinj?

Is spearfishing banned in Lim Bay or Brijuni near Rovinj?

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

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.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.