Today — sit it out — wave, wind and noticeable surge.
Sources & confidence
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.
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.
Safety gates
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Santa Barbara, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
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.
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
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 spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
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.
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 mapA long staircase down to a kelp bed and a shore-parallel reef, 5–8 m: kelp bass and perch. A good first dive in the area; little current, but the climb back out is punishing — save some energy.
Google MapsInner and outer reef in front of the Biltmore in Montecito, 4.5-6 m inshore and up to 9 m on the outer ledge. Fair to good spearfishing off the outer reef; a short ramp leads to a narrow beach, but the entry is a steep slope with plunging breakers and surge is common.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
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».
Pinnacle and arch reef about a kilometre offshore, 6–18 m, boat access. Inside the Naples SMCA: by spear only white seabass and pelagic finfish — reef fish and invertebrates are off-limits. Busy at weekends.
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.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
Santa Barbara has rock entry points such as Naples Reef, Mesa Lane and Hammonds Reef (Biltmore Steps). South-facing kelp reefs sheltered by Point Conception — WSB, halibut and lobster off Naples and Mesa Lane. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.
Year-round in the kelp; white seabass/CA halibut/yellowtail, SoCal best summer–fall.
Cold California Current, 12–20 °C; kelp, viz best in SoCal.
Intermediate–advanced: cold, kelp and surge — the MPA network (SMR closed, SMCAs vary).
Yes — in Santa Barbara almost certainly, but the licence is the STATE's, not a federal one: nearly every coastal state requires its own saltwater fishing licence, and several add a free registration or an extra endorsement on top (Florida's free State Reef Fish Survey for reef fish, Texas's saltwater endorsement, California's Ocean Enhancement Validation). Hawaii asks nothing of residents and charges visitors the NRMFL. What may be speared, and with what gear, is state law too — the price and the details depend on the state, so read the «Law» block below.
buoy East Santa Barbara, CA: 22.2° · wave 0.6 m/10 s · 3 h ago
transparency ~9 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
