Santa Maria (Sal) · Cabo Verde

5.3

visibility: 3 m

visibility3m

Today — right on the edge.

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 14:25

Sources & confidence

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus
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.

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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

3 Caves (3 Grutas)Santa Maria (Sal)

borderline

Near the Ponta do Sinó reserve (DL 3/2003, approx. boundary); fishing rules inside it are unknown. DL 54/2005: spearfishing on breath-hold only (scuba banned, art. 5), with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva (art. 20), sunrise to sunset only (art. 13(2)); max 3 demersal fish a day (art. 14), no selling (art. 18).

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —

Caves and overhangs in the rock, depth ≤18 m, boat access. Caves are an overhead environment — do not enter on a breath-hold. Busy dive site — watch for divers. Near the Ponta do Sinó reserve (DL 3/2003, approx. boundary); fishing rules inside it are unknown. Cabo Verde: breath-hold only, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, sunrise to sunset; 3 demersal fish a day, no selling (DL 54/2005). Coords approx.

Google Maps

Calheta FundaSanta Maria (Sal)

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

no targets this month

Law

Spearfishing in Cabo Verde is allowed only on breath-hold, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, from sunrise to sunset, at least 200 m from bathing beaches and outside ports; max 3 demersal fish a day, no selling. Scuba spearfishing is banned. Marine reserves (Santa Luzia, Baía da Murdeira, the Boa Vista and Rombo islets) are closed. Source: Decreto-Lei 54/2005. Check locally.

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.