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.
01
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.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
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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0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 20:49
Sines — solo, off the rocks
Day is over
That is it for today — the day's windows have closed.
Tomorrow, best window 09:00–12:00
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 · today2026-09-09
07:11–19:52 · new moon
▲ 01:00▼ 07:00▲ 14:00▼ 20:00 · 2.8 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.44 m
Wave1.62 m
Wind15 km/h
Water18 °C
fish activity: moonrise 05:08 · moderate · moon overhead 12:10 · high · moonset 19:02 · moderate · moon underfoot 00:00 · high
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
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−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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Vasco da Gama Beach (Sines bay)Sines town bay, inside the double breakwater · Praia Vasco da Gama
dangerous
⛔ Banned here
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning out of season for quiet; in summer it is busy and lifeguarded.
tide
Any tide; mid to high covers the rocks mid-beach.
shelter
Deeply sheltered by the Sines cape and two breakwaters from N/NW/W; almost always calm inside the bay.
conditions
Diveable in almost any conditions except strong W/SW swell wrapping into the bay; water can be murky near the port.
hazard
Boat and fishing-vessel traffic — the fishing port and jetty are adjacent; stay close to shore and run a float. Hunting is questionable here (swimming/port beach).
access
Right in town: promenade, steps to the sand, parking nearby. Entry off the sand, very gentle.
Not a hunting spot but a storm-day fallback and a flat-water apnea/snorkel training entry; the central rocks hold small fish.
São Torpes BeachSouth of the Sines cape, by the EDP power-station outflow piers · Praia de São Torpes
dangerous
best candidate for today
swell on the quarter today
window
Early morning before the sea breeze; water is noticeably warmer from the power-station outflow. Note: inside the PNSACV park spearfishing is only allowed Thu–Sun and holidays, daytime.
tide
Low to mid tide exposes the shale-rock ledges at the north end.
shelter
The Sines cape and the power-station piers at the north end shelter it from N/NW wind and north swell; open to W/SW.
conditions
Diveable in small W/NW swell (roughly up to 0.8–1 m) with N/NE/E wind; bigger W/SW swell brings shorebreak and stirred-up water.
hazard
Shorebreak and longshore drift in swell; the shale ledges at the north exit are slick and dangerous to climb out on as swell builds. Surfers/kiters share the water.
access
Turn off the N120-1 to the large car park (~700 spaces), walk down the dune to the sand; walk north along the beach to reach the rocks.
The most accessible and best-documented entry in the area; warm water and shale ledges hold octopus and fish. Check the PNSACV calendar before hunting.
Costa do Norte (Sines cape)Open coast north of the Sines cape · Costa do Norte (Cabo de Sines)
dangerous
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
Only a morning calm before the breeze, with a buddy; late-summer/early-autumn gives the most stable spells.
tide
Low tide in calm is safer for reading the rocks, but the sea is still powerful here.
shelter
Essentially unsheltered — fully open to N/NW/W wind and swell; only ever workable in a rare flat calm.
conditions
Very rare window: small swell (<0.5 m) plus light E/NE wind. Otherwise not a shore entry.
hazard
Open ocean with heavy shorebreak and dangerous depths close in — officially not for swimming. Entrapment on the rocks as swell builds, offshore drift. Solo is high risk.
access
Dirt tracks and footpaths from Sines out to the cape/lighthouse; descents to the water are steep and rocky — find a sheltered gully.
Rocky and fishy, but the town site explicitly calls it dangerous for swimming. Scout from land first; enter only in an exceptional calm and never solo.
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.
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≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
In season now: Sea bass, White seabream, Gilthead bream, Salema, Octopus, Mullet
In season now
Robalo (sea bass)
<4 m · end of ebb → start of flood · dawn/dusk
Prime target. Shy of light — pick early/twilight windows.
Sargo (white seabream)
1–5 m · flood (rides the surf onto the reef) · dawn
Dominant reef target. Visibility matters more than time of day.
Dourada (gilthead bream)
1–4 m · flood over sand/weed · dawn
Very skittish — static ambush.
Salema
0–2 m · — · daytime
Easiest target at 0–6 m. ⚠️ Do NOT eat the head/guts (ichthyosarcotoxism).
Polvo (octopus)
1–6 m · high water · twilight
Peaks in autumn. Spot the den by the pile of shells. Don't take egg-bearing females. Min. weight 750 g (DGRM).
Tainha (mullet)
0–2 m · — · —
Extremely wary; murky water HINDERS it. Opportunistic, in calm coves.
Santola (spider crab)
1–10 m · low water (reef shelf exposed) · calm morning (≤force 2)
Carapace ≥12 cm. Peaks Jul–Aug. CLOSED 15.02–15.06. Limit 2 kg/day.
Law
🦀 spider crab open (season 16.06–14.02)
✓Spearfishing licence required, daily/monthly/annual (~€25/yr). Speargun = licence required. (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º + 12.º-A; fees in , .) There is no minimum age for the licence, but under-16s are exempt from holding one when fishing accompanied by a licence holder (art. 12.º n.º 2 al. b).
✓Hand-gathering shellfish with NO gear — no licence; but if a speargun is on the dive, a spearfishing licence is required (DL 246/2000, art. 12.º n.º 1; ).
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset→sunrise not allowed). Artificial light as a means of finding/attracting fish is banned — a torch for safety only (, art. 8.º/3 + 3.º/5; DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 1 d).
✓Signalling buoy MANDATORY for spearfishing: buoy/float with an «Alfa» flag (red/orange/yellow, ≥8 L), no more than 30 m from the diver (, art. 4.º/2).
✓Spearfishing daily limit: fish + cephalopods — 15 kg (excluding the largest specimen). General rod-and-line recreational fishing — 10 kg (, art. 12.º/1).
✓Spider crab: min. carapace 12 cm; (closed season) 15.02–15.06 — applies to recreational gathering too (, ; table).
✓Min. sizes: robalo 36 cm, sargo 17 cm, dourada 19 cm, choupa 23 cm, corvina 42 cm; octopus 750 g ( + EU Reg. 2019/1241; minimum-size table).
✓Grouper — fully protected, may not be taken (
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. At Cabo Raso/Arriba a 0.5 m rise in swell makes a boulder exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer here.
Headland rip: at Cabo Raso there is 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.
Nortada (Jun–Sep): wind builds from midday — be out of the water by ~11:00; 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 · Sines
Spearfishing in Sines: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing in Sines is a narrow-window plan. Sao Torpes is the usable shore option: the cape and power-station piers give partial shelter, while shale ledges hold octopus and fish. Go early, before the nortada, with small W/NW swell and offshore or northerly wind. Bigger W/SW swell brings shorebreak and dirty water. Vasco da Gama is an urban apnea fallback; Costa do Norte is red/scout open-ocean risk.
TL;DR
For Sines, the honest shore-hunting entry is Sao Torpes, south of the cape beside the EDP outflow piers.
Best window: early morning, small W/NW swell around 0.8 to 1 m or less, N/NE/E wind, and low to mid tide over the shale ledges.
Vasco da Gama is an urban bay fallback for apnea, not a main spearfishing mark; Costa do Norte is red/scout and too exposed.
Best spearfishing entry in Sines
The table stays short because only one entry is defensible as a shore-hunting candidate. Vasco da Gama is a sheltered urban fallback and Costa do Norte is too exposed to recommend.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Sao Torpes Beach
Shale ledges south of the Sines cape
Shallow to moderate along the north-end ledges
Intermediate
Turn off the N120-1 to the large car park, walk down the dune to the sand, then north to the rocks.
Sheltered from N/NW wind and north swell by the cape and piers, but open to W/SW swell. Shorebreak, longshore drift, slippery shale ledges, surfers and kiters are the main issues.
Conditions and season essentials
Aim for dawn before the nortada builds. Sao Torpes works with W/NW swell around 0.8 to 1 m or less and N/NE/E wind. Low to mid tide opens the shale ledges and makes the exit easier to read. Inside the SW Alentejo and Vicentina Coast Natural Park, the local note limits spearfishing to Thursday through Sunday and holidays, in daylight. National rules still apply: licence from age 16, apnea only, Alfa buoy within 30 m and protected grouper left untouched.
✓Breath-hold only: spearfishing may be practised in apnea alone. Scuba, rebreather and hookah are banned; the speargun may not be powered by a detonating charge or by compressed gas (DL 246/2000, art. 9.º n.º 3 — o antigo art. 6.º foi revogado).
✓The catch may NOT be sold: displaying for sale, offering or selling recreational catch is prohibited — it is for the fisher, the household, or donation to charitable, scientific or museum institutions (DL 246/2000, art. 7.º).
✓A loaded speargun out of the water is an offence (DL 246/2000, art. 14.º n.º 2 f). Same article: no fishing closer than the legally set distance from concessioned beaches during the bathing season (n.º 2 d), nor in places closed for health or marine-traffic reasons (n.º 2 e). The exact metres come from the regulation and the capitania — check before you go.
✓Distances between people: at least 20 m from another spearfisher (, art. 6.º n.º 3) unless you agree otherwise; from a boat, 50 m from other vessels, divers and set gear (art. 6.º n.º 2); every vessel must keep 50 m from your signalling buoy and from boats flying flag Alfa (art. 7.º n.º 6). The figure that circulates — «30 m between hunters» — is wrong: 30 m is the distance to YOUR OWN buoy.
✓What you may take into the water: the CAPTURE gear on a spearfishing dive is the speargun, a shellfish knife, a gaff (puxeiro) and an arrelhada (, art. 3.º n.º 3). That is not a ban on everything else: art. 4.º n.º 1 expressly allows equipment for cold protection, for buoyancy, for protection or safety and for carrying the catch, and any other equipment that does not permit the direct capture of specimens. Bait and groundbait are PROHIBITED in spearfishing (art. 5.º n.º 3). You may not carry or keep a speargun and a breathing apparatus aboard at the same time, nor carry the gun ready to fire out of the water or in a zone where spearfishing is banned (art. 3.º n.º 6). On any recreational-fishing boat the whole crew wears a lifejacket (art. 4.º n.º 3).
✓Where recreational fishing is closed altogether (, art. 8.º n.º 1): in marked shipyard zones (no exception) and in aquaculture establishments — in the LATTER only, fishing is possible when the concession-holder or owner formally authorises it; the shipyard bar has no such carve-out; within 100 m of the mouth of any marked sewage outfall; over beach-concession waters, to the extent the POOC sets; and in other zones closed by the port or maritime authority. For spearfishing and boat fishing specifically (n.º 2) the navigation channels of port and river bars, the approach channels and the buoyed channels are closed. There is NO «300 m from the beach» rule on the mainland — that number comes from Madeira's own act; on the mainland the distance is set by the POOC and by the capitania's edital.
✓The border rivers Minho and Guadiana: spearfishing is BANNED along both international stretches — bilateral Portugal-Spain agreements, art. 9.º n.º 3 (Minho, RAR 34/2023, in force since 26-05-2023) and art. 6.º n.º 1 (Guadiana, RAR 173/2025, in force since 07-12-2025), both reading «É proibida a pesca submarina». On the Guadiana it is also a serious offence (art. 19.º), and a 100 m strip alongside the Sapal de Castro Marim reserve is closed separately (art. 5.º). The stretches run from the confluence with the Trancoso / the Chança down to the closing line at each mouth.
✓On the other Portuguese-Spanish border river stretches (outside the TIRM and the Guadiana maritime-jurisdiction zone) — Decreto 30/88, art. 6.º n.º 1: harpoons, gigs, tridents and any blunt instrument used to take fish are prohibited (al. e), as is «a pesca ou caça subaquática» with artificial light, and night fishing (al. g).
Portugal
Spain