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

Scilla · Italy
5.4
wave 0.4 m
visibility5m

Today — right on the edgewave, wind and visibility.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicushigh confidence · data 16:01

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

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code
point your camera
0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app
calmupdated 16:01
Scilla — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · strong wind 10 km/h, gusts 31 — caution
wave 0.4 mwind 10, gusts 31 km/hvisibility ~7 mwindow 15:00–21:00
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 7 m · Water 29.5°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
05:5120:15 · first quarter
04:00 10:00 17:00 22:00 · 0.1 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.46 m
Wave0.36 m
Wind8 km/h
Water29 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:02 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:10 · high · moonrise 14:34 · moderate · moon overhead 19:30 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.34 mperiod 3.4 swind 18→37surge 0.1viz 5 m
0.34 mup to ~0.68 · 292° at an angle
3.4 sswell moderate
18→37gusts 37 km/h
0.1weak surge
0.42m/s
5 mrecent swell
29.5°C5 mm + hood
▲17:00tide turn near
Atmosphere37 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
  • strong wind 18 km/h, gusts 37 — caution
  • current 0.42 m/s
  • visibility ~5 m
confidence mediumday
Open the seafloor map with entry points

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code
point your camera
−10 m

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 spots
−20 m

The 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
ChianaleaScilla
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Boulder front below the village; sea bream, mullet, Costa Viola rock.

Google Maps
FavazzinaScilla
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Pebble-and-rock shore of the Costa Viola between Scilla and Bagnara; sea bass and sea bream, strong current in the Strait.

Google Maps
Grotta del MonacoScilla
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Caves along the drop; grouper, conger. Closest point to the Strait: dive only at slack.

Google Maps
Grotta dello SparvieroScilla
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Cave and rock west of Marina Grande; grouper, bottom plunging to the abyss, great visibility.

Google Maps

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.

One morning glance — and you know.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code
point your camera

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».

connecting to the stream…
● LIVE
Scilla — Chianalea (RC)YouTube live — Scilla, Chianalea, Strait of Messina. Embeddable under YouTube's terms (owner left embedding on, oEmbed 200). Read the water and surf before you go.camera: youtube
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

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
  • 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.
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.
Local guide · Scilla

Spearfishing in Scilla: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing in Scilla is built around caves, rock, and current. Grotta dello Sparviero has rock west of Marina Grande, grouper, excellent visibility, and bottom dropping into the abyss. Chianalea is the boulder front below the village, with seabream and mullet. Grotta del Monaco is closest to the Strait and should be dived only at slack water. Favazzina adds pebble shore, rocks, seabass, seabream, and strong current.

TL;DR

  • Scilla is Costa Viola plus Strait current: read current first, fish second.
  • Grotta del Monaco is the hard warning: closest to the Strait, dive only at slack water.
  • Favazzina also notes strong current; bad sector 205-295, worst near 225.

Where can you spearfish in Scilla?

These are yellow-caution rock spots. Current is the first filter, especially near the Strait.

SpotTypeDepthLevelAccessNotes
Grotta dello SparvieroCave and rock west of Marina GrandeSteep drop, no numberIntermediate to advancedShore, planned exitGrouper, excellent visibility, abyss-like drop.
ChianaleaBoulder front below villageShallow to mid rockIntermediateShore below villageSeabream and mullet on Costa Viola rock.
Grotta del MonacoCaves along a slideSlide, no exact depthAdvancedShore only at slack waterClosest point to the Strait; dive only at slack.
FavazzinaPebbles and rocksRock and pebblesIntermediate to advancedShore between Scilla and BagnaraSeabass and seabream, strong Strait current.

When are conditions best in Scilla?

Slack water matters as much as sea state. Grotta del Monaco requires slack, and Favazzina warns of strong current. The coast also has a 205-295 degree bad sector, worst near 225. Italy rules apply: free MASAF declaration, apnea only from age 16, no night spearfishing, buoy within 50 m, 500 m from bathers, 100 m from nets or anchored vessels, and about 5 kg daily catch.

FAQ

When should you dive Grotta del Monaco?

Only at slack water.

Is Scilla beginner-friendly?

Not really; current, caves, and slides raise the level.

Do you need MASAF?

Yes. The free declaration is mandatory.

Can you spearfish at night?

No. Dawn to sunset only.

Grouper limit?

45 cm and max one per day outside MPAs; banned in MPAs.

Sources

Nearby towns

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