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The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appToday — right on the edge — 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 Setúbal / Tróia, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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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: 1391 spots across 205 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 mapThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appCameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
In season now: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Octopus, Mullet
Sines buoy: wave 1.3 m · 2 h ago(model: 0.7 m)
Eastern boundary of the marine park. Gorgeous reef alongside, but hunting is banned — listed as a WARNING, not a destination.
The benchmark Arrábida reef with a dive centre — but it is no-take. Listed to mark the ban, not as a hunting spot.
Google MapsThe only legal side by this town — but it is a sand barrier, not a reef. Scout from land only; fish hold near rare rock/oyster patches. ⚠️ Real beach but hazard is DISHONEST/inverted: Troia-Mar is a calm, sheltered, Blue Flag, family/kitesurf beach with low wave action (sources: 'shallow calm waters where everyone brings the kids') - NOT 'powerful shorebreak and rip currents, the real killer.' That hazard appears fabricated. Coords also wrong: real beach is at ~38.486,-8.908 (Google pin) / 38.491,-8.908 (praias.pt); claimed -8.898 is ~0.9 km too far WEST toward the estuary/marina tip. The 'lado atlantico' label is also dubious - several sources describe it facing the Arrabida across sheltered water.
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.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with DGRM / ICNF / Capitania and the defeso table.
Spearfishing around Setúbal and Tróia works off the Sado estuary mouth, under the Arrábida ridge. The water is calm and clear, which earns it a beginner reputation, but the prettiest coves sit inside the Prof. Luiz Saldanha Marine Park, where spearfishing is banned. Legal hunting starts only west of Cabo Espichel, at Foz, Bicas and Meco. The Sado outflow lowers visibility, which opens on the ebb. A licence is required, freediving only.
No. Spearfishing is banned throughout the entire Prof. Luiz Saldanha Marine Park, not only in the full-protection cores. Wardens fine you and seize the gear. Beaches like Figueirinha, on the eastern boundary, and Portinho da Arrábida, the benchmark reef with a dive centre, are no-take: you may freedive and snorkel, but not hunt. The water stays clear almost year-round, which draws crowds and is why the Arrábida keeps surfacing in beginner searches. To hunt within the law you must leave the park: only west of Cabo Espichel, at Foz, Bicas and Meco.
By the town, everything that holds fish is reef inside the marine park, where spearfishing is banned, so there is no legal hunting spot next to Setúbal. The ocean-facing Atlantic sand of the Tróia peninsula is a sand barrier, not a reef: it holds little fish inshore, the sandy bottom clouds fast, and it is a scout from land at best. The Sado mouth and spit are sheltered from ocean swell, but the estuary outflow cuts visibility; the best water comes on the ebb. For real reef within the law, head west of Cabo Espichel, to Foz, Bicas and Meco on the Sesimbra side, open oceanic coast unlike the calm park coves.
On reef you mostly take white seabream, black seabream, gilthead and sea bass, with salema all year, but species and minimum sizes are national, the same along the whole coast. White seabream (17 cm minimum) and black seabream (23 cm) come through spring and summer; gilthead (19 cm) and sea bass (36 cm) fish better in the warmer months, over rock and sand on the flood and at first light. Salema (18 cm) is the easiest target from 0 to 6 m, but never eat the head or guts. Octopus (750 g minimum, regulated by weight) peaks in autumn, and meagre (42 cm) is closed nationwide in June. Grouper is fully protected and may not be taken.
| Species | Minimum size | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Sea bass | 36 cm | June to October |
| White seabream | 17 cm | April to September |
| Gilthead bream | 19 cm | May to September |
| Black seabream | 23 cm | January to May |
| Salema | 18 cm | All year |
| Meagre | 42 cm | Closed in June |
| Octopus | 750 g | September to November |
| Spider crab | 12 cm carapace | Closed 15 Feb to 15 Jun |
| Mullet | 20 cm | All year |
The water is calm and clear, so it looks ideal, but spearfishing is banned across the whole Prof. Luiz Saldanha Marine Park. The Arrábida is a place to learn freediving and snorkelling, not to start spearfishing. A beginner who wants to hunt must go where it is legal, west of Cabo Espichel, at Foz, Bicas or Meco, open coast far harder than the sheltered coves.
Yes. A recreational spearfishing licence is required from age 16, daily, monthly or annually, around 25 euros a year. Spearfishing is allowed in daylight and on a single breath only; scuba is banned.
No. Spearfishing is freediving only. Using a speargun on scuba or any surface-supplied air is prohibited nationwide.
No. Spearfishing is permitted in daylight only, from sunrise to sunset. Using artificial light to find or attract fish is banned; a torch is for safety only.
The daily limit is 15 kg of fish and cephalopods combined, not counting your single largest specimen. Invertebrates, including spider crab, are capped at 2 kg per day.
The national rules set no single distance from the shore. What matters is staying out of summer bathing zones and no-take areas like the marine park, and keeping your signalling buoy within 30 m. Check local limits with the Capitania.
transparency ~3 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore