Cala MancinaSan Vito lo Capo
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
West cove, easy entry; sheltered from the Mistral, good to start.
Google MapsSan Vito lo Capo spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.4
wave 0.5 m head-on
visibility5m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 16:03
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 16:03
San Vito lo Capo — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · strong wind 9 km/h, gusts 34 — caution
wave 0.5 m head-onwind 9, gusts 34 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 15:00–21:00
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 7 m · Water 29.1°C
confidence high · 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.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
06:03–20:27 · first quarter
▲ 04:00▼ 10:00▲ 17:00▼ 22:00 · 0.2 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.49 m
Wave0.52 m
Wind1 km/h
Water29 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:15 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:30 · high · moonrise 14:46 · moderate · moon overhead 19:50 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.50 mperiod 3.3 s head-onwind 11→35surge 0.8viz 4 m
0.50 mup to ~1.00 · 305° head-on
3.3 sswell moderate
11→35gusts 35 km/h
0.8weak surge
0.22m/s
4 mrecent swell
29.1°C5 mm + hood
▲17:00tide turn near
Atmosphere41 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
- strong wind 11 km/h, gusts 35 — caution
- northerly wind picks up after midday
- visibility ~4 m
confidence highday
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 spotsThe 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
Monte Cofano / Cala FirriatoSan Vito lo Capo
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Walls on the east flank, sheltered from the Mistral; deep rock, dentex.
Google MapsSecca del Faro / Punta San VitoSan Vito lo Capo
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
North tip by the lighthouse; sea bream, dentex, open and deep. Not in the MPA.
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.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Cameras · live
Look at the water
right now.
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».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- European seabassmin. 25 cm · legal target
- Gilthead seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- White seabreammin. 23 cm · legal target
- Two-banded seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Sharpsnout seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Annular seabreammin. 12 cm · legal target
- Common dentexmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
- Red porgymin. 18 cm · legal target
- Common pandoramin. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
- Axillary seabreammin. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
- Blackspot seabreammin. 33 cm · legal target
- Striped seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- Black seabreammin. 15 cm · legal target
- Boguemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Salemamin. 15 cm · legal target
- Dusky groupermin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Wreckfishmin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Brown meagremin. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
- Greater amberjackmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
- Leerfishmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- Grey mulletmin. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
- Red scorpionfishmin. 15 cm · legal target
- Moray eelmin. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- European congermin. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
- Wrassemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Red mulletmin. 11 cm · legal target
- Atlantic bonitomin. 25 cm · legal target
- Common octopusmin. 450 g · legal target
- Cuttlefishlegal 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 (16+): scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). A speargun may not be handed to under-16s.
- ✓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.
- ✓Hand-collecting crustaceans/molluscs is BANNED for the spearfisher (art. 128-bis): only cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish). No crab lane for Italy.
- ✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
- •Daily cap ~5 kg/person (or a single heavier fish) — set by a D.M. implementing Reg. CE 1224/2009, not by the DPR; max 1 grouper/day. Verify the current D.M. number.
- ✓Sicily (autonomous): on top of the national frame, di Porto ordinances apply per stretch of coast (seasonal/distance tightening) — check locally.
- ⛔ Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) — TOTAL BAN: fishing, possession, transport, sale (D.M. 16/10/1998; EU-protected). Never touch.
- ⛔ Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio / naccarii) — capture BANNED (D.M. 3/5/89, D.M. 11/6/07).
- ⛔ Dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) — 45 cm, max 1 grouper/day (art.142 D.P.R.1639/68, amended by L.154/2016); fully BANNED in Sardegna & ALL .
- ⛔ Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) — MASAF RecFishing authorization only: season 16 Jun–14 Oct, 1 fish/outing, min 30 kg / 115 cm.
- ⛔ Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) — min 100 cm; seasonal closures, RecFishing declaration required.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with MASAF (registration) and the Guardia Costiera / Capitaneria di Porto; Sicily and Sardegna add regional tightening.
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 San Vito lo Capo: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing in San Vito lo Capo turns on one wind. The town sits on a cape facing north, and the northwest Maestrale is what closes the coast, blowing across the arc from the west-northwest round to the northeast. On flat days you can work Punta San Vito by the lighthouse, open and deep, noted as outside the marine protected area. When the Maestrale fills in you drop into Cala Mancina, the sheltered west cove, or round to the east wall of Monte Cofano. Freediving only, on a free MASAF registration, with Sicily adding local tightening.
TL;DR
- San Vito lo Capo sits at the tip of a north-facing cape, so the northwest Maestrale is the wind that shuts the coast down. The exposed sector runs from west-northwest through north to northeast.
- You read the three shore spots against that wind: Punta San Vito by the lighthouse for calm days, Cala Mancina as the sheltered west cove to start in, and the east flank of Monte Cofano when the Maestrale is up.
- Italy needs no paid licence, only a free MASAF registration: freediving from 16, daylight only, a buoy within 50 m, 500 m off bathing beaches. Sicily can tighten seasons and distances locally, so check first.
Best spearfishing spots in San Vito lo Capo
All three are shore entries, none inside a protected zone. The data carries no per-spot severity rating, so read each on the day: the lighthouse point is exposed, open into the Maestrale and only for a calm morning; Cala Mancina is the sheltered cove to learn on; Monte Cofano is deep rock in the lee of the northwest wind.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secca del Faro / Punta San Vito | Open point by the lighthouse | Open, deep ground off the point | Intermediate; wants a calm day | Shore entry at the north tip by the lighthouse | Sarago and dentex over open rock, and the point is noted as sitting outside the marine protected area. It is the exposed one, facing straight into the Maestrale sector, so it fishes on the flat mornings and closes fast when the northwest gets up. |
| Cala Mancina | West-facing cove | Easy cove entry | Easy; the place to start | Shore entry into the cove on the west side | Sheltered from the Maestrale, so it holds when the point is blown out. A gentle entry and the softest option here, where a careful solo diver gets a feel for the coast. |
| Monte Cofano / Cala Firriato | Rock walls on a headland | Deep rock walls | Intermediate; deeper ground | Shore entry on the east flank of Monte Cofano | The east side of the Monte Cofano headland sits out of the northwest wind, the other bolt-hole in a Maestrale. Deep rock for dentex. |
When is the sea right for spearfishing in San Vito lo Capo?
Watch the Maestrale. The cape faces north, so the trouble comes off a sector running from west-northwest through north to northeast, the northwest being the worst of it. When that wind lies down the open lighthouse point comes into play; when it fills in, Cala Mancina and the east wall of Monte Cofano stay workable in the lee. Tides here are Mediterranean and small, so water clarity and sea state count for far more than the tide table. There is no local buoy, so read the swell yourself before you drop in.
What can you catch around San Vito lo Capo?
Sarago is the everyday fish on the shallow reef: the big white sarago at 23 cm, the two-banded and sharpsnout kinds at 18 cm. Dentex is the prize on the deeper rock off the point and under Monte Cofano, 15 cm as the national floor, though divers let it grow past that. Gilthead sits at 20 cm, sea bass at 25 cm, octopus at 450 g. One Italian quirk trips people: taking crabs and shellfish by hand is barred for spearos, and only octopus and cuttlefish are yours. Dusky grouper is capped at one a day and 45 cm, and off the table inside any protected area.
What are the rules for spearfishing in San Vito lo Capo?
Italy does not sell a spearfishing licence. What you need is the free MASAF registration, filed online, so calling it a paid licence is wrong. It is freediving only from age 16, no scuba or rebreather, dawn to sunset. The buoy is mandatory, a red flag with a white diagonal that shows at 300 m, and you stay within 50 m of it. Keep 500 m off beaches with bathers and 100 m from set nets and anchored boats, and never carry the gun loaded out of the water. Sicily is autonomous, so the local Capitaneria di Porto can close stretches or tighten distances by season. Leave the date mussels in the rock, since taking them is banned outright.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in San Vito lo Capo?
Punta San Vito by the lighthouse on calm days, Cala Mancina the sheltered west cove to start in, and the east flank of Monte Cofano for deeper rock when the Maestrale blows.
When is the best time to go?
Whenever the Maestrale drops. The coast is open across the west-northwest to northeast arc, and that northwest wind closes it. Tides are small, so you read the sea state.
Do you need a licence to spearfish in Italy?
Not a paid one. You need the free MASAF registration, filed online via SIAN with SPID. Freediving only, no under-16s, daylight only, with a signalling buoy.
What is the minimum size for sarago and dentex?
White sarago is 23 cm, the two-banded and sharpsnout saraghi 18 cm, and common dentex 15 cm nationally, though Sardinia sets 30 cm. Gilthead is 20 cm, sea bass 25 cm, octopus 450 g.
Is spearfishing different in Sicily?
The national frame is the same, but Sicily is autonomous and its Capitaneria di Porto issues coast ordinances that can tighten seasons or distances. Check the local notices before you go.
Sources
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